CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY FOUR – THE PREMIERE

Madison stared at the computer screen, a knot of dread tightening in her stomach. "Empty?" she repeated, her voice flat. No sign of the finished movie anywhere on the server. It had vanished faster than a reality TV star's memory of their childhood home. "Empty as a Kardashian's talent pool," chimed in Kyle, leaning against the doorway, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "No sign of the finished movie anywhere. Disappeared faster than Aiden after he met Vanessa." Madison grimaced at the mention of her ex-fiance's betrayal. This couldn't be happening. Months of filming, weeks filled with frantic editing fueled by questionable amounts of coffee and even more questionable takeout, all leading to... a digital black hole. "Okay, don't panic," Sebastian, ever the voice of reason, squeezed her shoulder with a reassuring firmness. "There has to be another copy. Maybe it's on the backup drive?" They descended into a frenzy of clicking and searching, navigating a labyrinth of folders with name