
1 chapter • 3 scenes




Gilded cage
A mahogany-paneled office on the top floor of Titan Studios with windows overlooking the studio lot—every stage, every life, under surveillance from above.

Claustrophobic glamour
A mirrored dressing room backstage at Titan Studios, cramped with props from Marcus's act: velvet curtains, scattered playing cards, and a half-packed trunk revealing his planned escape from Hollywood.
Marcus Webb's transformation from complacent illusionist to truth-teller, confronting his stolen illusions being used as murder weapons while facing the studio head who weaponized them.
Marcus Webb discovers his stolen illusions are murder weapons, teams with Eleanor Vance to expose Arthur Sterling, and chooses truth over silence in a final confrontation that destroys his career but saves his integrity.
Marcus packs his trunk to flee Hollywood until Eleanor Vance interrupts his escape with evidence that his stolen illusions became murder weapons.

Eleanor reveals her sister's death and connects the murders to Sterling's consolidation plan, while Marcus realizes who stole his notebooks.

Marcus confronts Sterling in his executive office, rejecting the offer of silence and choosing to expose the truth even at the cost of his career.
