TWO HEART ONE STAGE

Bellam

e would brea

So when I saw her message-"We need to talk. It's about Rosalie"-I knew it had started

curls back into a bun, trying to ignore th

ew what Sophie did months ago? That I suspected her long before Korex ever dropped his first video? That I'd

't the enemy. I was just a woman trying to hold on

rand My se

ed out at Belleville. Everythin

eyes. We stared at each other for a beat too long. "Can I come in?" she asked softly, I moved aside. She stepped in like she e

ved like it hurt to swallow. "I also told him there's more. That you

rom Korex. From whoev

's more than

about Marc. Or you. Or even me. There's something

ng about?" She hesitated, then pulled

Grainy. But

"That's their mother," Sophie said. "Taken outside a clinic. Two weeks before she died." I frown

unger, but d

Or someone in his family did. I don't know. But he'

The threats that didn't feel like gossip fodder-they felt surgical. "They're

Blanc

at followed made my blood run cold. "She's in dange

ith a criminal record. A cousin with ties to a blackmail ring. She told me

r. Drag her out of her apartment if I had to. But then Maurice a

t away. Because hone

ted to crash. She didn't leak the video. She didn't run. She'd stayed when I was poison to the press a

ali

stay. Sophie had warned me. But it was more than that. There was something in my gut-an ache, a fear-th

ed: Run. But my feet wouldn't move, Another sound, a quiet, metallic click. I grabbe

assed unde

ll connected. "Rosalie?" Marc's voice, "Someone's

hing. Go out

ndow. I kicked it open and started climbing down barefoot, adrenaline spiking so hard

as-they were

rc

ing when I p

her head. "No. But they didn't come for jewelry. They didn't take anything. They were looking for some

We have a problem." He d

c?" he asked instead."No

eally behind this. A

ric

leep,Not aft

s. This wasn't just about music anymore. It was about survival. So I opened the flash d

ocuments. Old emails.

athing when I

Claire

r: Un

icant: Kore

date. 1993. I stared at the

o the handwritten sign

off on a pat

or Korex.

rc

ay holding his phone like

e said, I took the phone.

ke," I whispered. He didn't reply. My

think Korex might be