The night was cold as Vaelis made her way back to her dorm, exhaustion weighing heavy on her shoulders. The events of the past days—the Grand Showcase, the Charity Gala, the overwhelming shift of attention toward her—had drained her. All she wanted was silence.

But silence was the last thing she got.

The moment she reached the dimly lit pathway leading to her dormitory, she saw them. Standing in the shadows, waiting.

Her parents.

A sharp chill crept up her spine, but she forced herself to keep walking, expression unreadable.

"You think you can just walk past us?" her father’s voice rang out, laced with controlled fury.

Vaelis stopped. Slowly, she turned to face them. "I thought I made myself clear. I have nothing to say to you."

Her mother stepped forward, arms crossed. "And yet, the whole city is talking about you. You humiliated us, Vaelis. You didn’t even tell us about the event!"

"I didn’t tell you," she said, her voice like ice, "because you weren’t invited."

Her mother scoffed. "You’re our daughter. Do you think you can just erase your family?"

A bitter laugh slipped past Vaelis’ lips. "You already erased me long ago."

Her father’s jaw clenched. "After everything we’ve done for you—"

"Done for me?" Vaelis' voice sharpened. "Neglecting me? Treating me like a mistake? Letting me suffer alone while you praised someone else?"

Her mother’s expression twisted. "We gave you a home."

"No, you gave me a cage."

Silence hung thick in the air. The cold wind bit at her skin, but Vaelis felt nothing except the hollow ache of memories she had long buried.

"You’ll regret this," her mother finally said, voice quieter but no less cruel.

Vaelis met her gaze head-on. "No. The only regret I have is ever thinking I needed you."

With that, she turned and walked away, heart pounding. They didn’t follow. They never did.

But once she reached the dormitory entrance, her hands trembled. Her breath hitched.

And for the first time in a long time, Vaelis let herself break.

Vaelis threw herself into her studies, into her music. She spent late nights practicing, her fingers aching from endless rehearsals, her voice carrying through the halls of the music department.

The whispers followed her everywhere—how the sponsors had turned their attention to her, how Serena had been overshadowed.

"Vaelis," one of the organizers approached her after class. "The board wants to discuss potential sponsorships for your future performances."

It was happening. The shift.

Serena, on the other hand, was unraveling.

"You stole this from me," she hissed when they crossed paths, her voice low but venomous.

Vaelis gave her a look—calm, unreadable. "No. I earned it."

Serena’s fingers curled into fists, but she said nothing.

------

That night, Vaelis received an unexpected package. No sender. No markings. Just an old, slightly worn book.

She stared at it, a sense of déjà vu prickling at the edges of her mind.

Eclipsed by Summer.

But this wasn’t the same novel. The title was the same, but the contents…

As she flipped through the pages, her breath hitched.

This was not the story she remembered.

The events had changed. The dialogues, the character fates—everything was different. As if someone had rewritten it. As if the novel itself was adapting to her choices.

Her fingers tightened on the pages.

Then, at the very end, she saw a passage she had never read before:

"The villainess was never meant to be the obstacle. She was the key."

The world she thought she had figured out was shifting.

And for the first time, Vaelis realized—this wasn’t just about rewriting her fate.

It was about unlocking the real story that had been hidden all along.