Chapter 1: The Smell of Smoke
The lights were sharp as knives.
Camera flashes exploded in my face one after another while the music shook the massive hall like the heartbeat of something anxious. Dozens of eyes clung to me, following every step I took across the glossy black runway.
I smiled.
That perfect smile everyone loved.
“Lia Voss!”
“Over here, Lia!”
“Look at the camera!”
The reporters’ voices blended with the music, but I had gotten used to it years ago. People didn’t want the truth. They wanted a beautiful image they could hang inside their fantasies.
And I was the prettiest lie they could believe in.
I lifted my chin confidently as I walked, the long black dress flowing behind me like smoke, diamonds around my neck glittering beneath the cold lights.
Queen of Ashes.
That’s what they called me.
Funny…
If only they knew how much I hated fire.
In the front rows sat businessmen, celebrities, actors—every one of them staring at me the same way: admiration, desire, curiosity. I knew those looks well.
And I knew how to use them.
Another step.
Then it happened.
The smell of smoke.
Faint… but enough.
My body froze for a brief second.
Fire.
A woman screaming.
Small hands pounding violently against a wooden door.
“Lia…!”
My mother’s voice.
I saw flames swallowing the curtains. I saw my father’s face through the smoke, terrified for the first time in his life.
He was screaming.
And me…
I was running away.
I blinked quickly, and the hall returned again. Music, lights, applause… everything exactly as before, as if my mind had buried the memory once more before it could destroy me.
I kept walking without anyone noticing.
That’s what I’ve always been good at.
Hiding the fire.
---
“You were stunning tonight.”
Selena said it while walking into my dressing room, carrying her tablet and an iced coffee like always.
I slipped off my heels lazily without looking at her.
“I know.”
She smiled faintly, shaking her head. “Your confidence is terrifying sometimes.”
“Confidence is the cheapest way to make people believe a lie.”
She raised an eyebrow while watching me remove my diamond earrings. “There are three businessmen outside asking you to dinner.”
“Decline.”
“Even Daniel Ross?”
My hand paused slightly.
Daniel Ross.
Rich. Famous. Married… unfortunately.
I finally looked at her. “Tell him I don’t have dinner with men who cheat on their wives.”
Selena laughed. “You sleep with them sometimes.”
“That requires less effort.”
Before she could answer, someone knocked.
A man in his forties entered, dressed in an expensive suit with a heavy cologne that arrived before he did. His smile instantly made me want to throw something at his face.
“Miss Lia.” His gaze lingered far too long during the handshake. “The show was enchanting.”
“You exaggerate.”
“True beauty deserves exaggeration.”
Selena quietly stepped back, leaving space for the usual performance.
The man moved closer. “I’m hosting a private party tonight at the hotel. It would be an honor to have you there.”
I looked at the hand attempting to touch my arm.
Then smiled coldly.
“I don’t attend cheap parties.”
His smile froze.
I added calmly, “Especially when the host is older than my father.”
Selena lowered her head to hide her laughter while the man’s expression darkened completely.
“I think you misunderstand yourself, Miss.”
“And I think you forgot that I don’t care.”
He finally left with restrained anger. I picked up my cigarette and lit it without interest.
“Sometimes I think you enjoy breaking people,” Selena said.
I exhaled smoke slowly. “People break easily anyway.”
---
Midnight.
The city glowed beneath the windows of my luxury suite, distant and cold…
Just like me.
I sat beside the glass with a cigarette between my fingers, watching my reflection silently.
A perfect face.
Empty eyes.
My phone rang.
Selena.
I closed my eyes tiredly before answering. “What now?”
“There’s someone asking to meet you.”
“Refuse.”
“I think you’ll change your mind this time.”
I took a slow drag from the cigarette. “And who is it?”
A brief silence.
Then she said:
“Adam Kael.”
My breathing stopped for a second.
The name hit harder than any memory.
Adam.
The orphanage.
The freezing winter.
A childish promise beneath a broken lamp.
I opened my eyes slowly and, for the first time in years, realized my fingers were trembling.
Selena whispered from the other side, “Do you know him?”
But I didn’t answer.
I only stared at the tiny flame burning at the tip of my cigarette…
Thinking that the only person who had ever known the real me…
Had come back.
