The internet was still roaring.
But Lena wasn't listening.
She sat on the floor of her apartment—the same tiny, windowless space where it had all started—watching the sunlight spill through the open door Asher had left behind.
No livestream.
No camera.
Just quiet.
Her phone buzzed.
Millions of messages. Interview requests. Conspiracy theories. Hashtags demanding answers.
She turned it face down.
For the first time since she'd gone viral, she wasn't afraid of being forgotten.
Mira sat beside her. "They're begging for you."
"I know," Lena said.
"What are you going to do?"
Lena thought of Asher's smile. The way he had looked at her when he believed in something for the first time.
"I'm going to disappear," she said softly.
Mira blinked. "From everything?"
"From the circus," Lena replied. "Not from my voice."
That night, Lena posted one final video.
No makeup.
No music.
No algorithm tricks.
Just her.
"Fame is a fire," she said. "It keeps you warm until it burns you. I let it burn me once. I won't let it do it again."
People watched.
Not millions.
But enough.
Enough to be real.
Asher felt it wherever he was—the contract loosening, the chain breaking.
For the first time in his existence…
Someone had chosen to be seen without selling their soul.
And that changed everything.