Chapter 1

I’ve been able to see floating live chat comments ever since I was born.

But I never knew what those glowing words actually meant.

Until the moment Mom collapsed right in front of me. Looking at the words scrolling rapidly across my vision, my heart skipped a beat.

[Oh my god, the heart attack is happening! It’s normal for artists to pull all-nighters, but she has no idea her heart has been failing for months!]

[This is heartbreaking. The female lead just collapsed right at her easel. Her daughter is only four years old—she has no idea what to do. She’s just going to watch her mom miss the golden window for rescue...]

[I'm crying so hard. The neighbor finds them tomorrow and calls 911, but it’ll be too late. Little Lily is going to end up in foster care.]

[The male lead, Julian Vance—that world-famous director—will never know he had a daughter. He won't ever know that Aria Sterling, the love of his life, died so young because of the toll pregnancy took on her body, compounded by sheer exhaustion.]

I looked at Mom, who was lying pale on the floor, and wiped my tears with the back of my hand.

No! I’m not going to foster care, and I won't let Mom die!

I pushed through the crowd at the film set, ran straight to the man frowning in front of the director's monitor, and screamed with all my might:

"Daddy! Mommy is dying! You have to save her!"

Ever since I was little, I knew my world was different from everyone else's.

Other kids saw a clear blue sky, but mine was always overlaid with countless colorful, floating text bubbles.

Mom was a gentle painter. She always told me I was her perfect little muse.

She thought I was just daydreaming when I stared blankly into the air, and she would laughingly paint me into her canvases.

In reality, I was just trying my best to read the words floating around.

Mom taught me well. Even at four years old, I already knew a lot of words.

Today, Mom didn't look well. She leaned heavily against her easel, her face as white as paper.

I told her to rest, but she just stroked my hair and smiled.

"Be a good girl, Lily. Once Mommy finishes this piece, I can pay for your next semester’s preschool tuition."

Right then, the colorful text bubbles suddenly flashed an angry, warning red, scrolling frantically before my eyes.

[High energy warning! This is the moment!]

[The female lead has been pulling all-nighters for a week straight to meet her deadline. Her heart is completely overloaded. She’s going to collapse any second!]

[Her poor daughter is just watching, totally clueless. This is so sad...]

[Aria, stop painting! No amount of money is worth your life! Your daughter needs you!]

[Where is the male lead right now? Oh, he’s shooting his new blockbuster at a studio in another state. He’s rich and famous, completely unaware that his lover and child are hovering on the brink of life and death.]

My chest tightened. I ran over and yanked on Mom’s skirt. "Mommy, stop painting! We don't need preschool! Go to sleep, please!"

Mom bent down, looking at me gently. She opened her mouth to say something, but her body suddenly went completely limp, and she fell straight backward.

"Mommy!"

I shrieked and started sobbing, desperately shaking her shoulders. But her eyes were shut tight, and she didn't move.

The blood-red chat comments almost completely blocked my view.

[It’s over, the tragedy has started... Poor little Lily is going to stay by her mom's body until the neighbor finds them tomorrow.]

[Ugh, the upcoming plot is so painful. Her only keepsake of her dad is a single photo. She never gets to see him again before she goes to the orphanage.]

[I hate Julian Vance! If he had just looked for her once, Aria wouldn't have ended up like this!]

Julian Vance?

I felt like I had heard that name somewhere before.

I dragged a chair over, climbed up, and opened the walnut box on Mom’s nightstand—the one she never let me touch.

Inside, there was only a single photograph. The man in the photo was tall, handsome, with deep, soulful eyes, looking gently at the camera.

The comments popped up right on cue:

[Yes, yes, yes! That's him! The famous director, Julian Vance! Lily's biological father!]

[He looks like a perfect gentleman, but he's absolute trash for letting my girl suffer like this!]

[Lily, look at him! Remember this face! He is your only hope now!]

I stared hard at the man in the photo, engraving his features into my mind.

Daddy, right?

Since you have so much money to make movies, you must have enough money to save Mommy!