Troy didn't know what excitement was.
His mother being an actress and his father being a producer, he was born in the world of glamour and fame where everything was handed down to you. The world's most incredible experiences had already been tasted by him when he was only a child and so, the more he grew up, the less he could find that "thrill" in anything.
He was numb, almost like a zombie.
Despite all, Troy was good at pretending. When he was in front his fans and cameras, he could make himself seem like the happiest person on planet earth. Even his parents didn't know the darkness that lurked within him. He kept it hidden and it was slowly brewing, waiting for the day it would finally overflow and expose itself to the world.
Troy was ashamed of his unhappiness.
He wondered why he couldn't appreciate life when he was so blessed. That was one of the reasons why he kept the truth about himself hidden. Who would understand? The most successful pop singer of his generation had no right to be unsatisfied with anything.
Staring at his reflection through the wide mirror in his bedroom, he felt like punching the glass and seeing his own blood flow out of his injuries. Troy was a stranger to himself. He didn't know the person staring back at him in his fancy clothes and perfectly styled hair. The real him wasn't like that. The real him was ugly and foul and disgusting.
The knock on his bedroom's door made him snap out his hurtful self talk. Morticia, one of the family's maids, slipped inside and bowed respectfully to him.
"Good morning, young master Allen."
And just like that, Troy was back to smiling. He'd do anything in his power to hide the ugliness within him when there was an audience.
"Good morning to you too, Morticia."
The maid was a middle-aged woman who spent the last ten years of her life working for his family. She'd brought in her cleaning supplies and Troy took it as his hint to go downstairs and have breakfast with his parents.
Both of them were quite busy but they made it a ritual to eat breakfast every morning with their only son. One could think that they were doing it out of love but Troy knew better. This was his parents' way to keep him monitored and make sure that he was behaving according to their principles.
There was nothing that the Allen's cared about more than their public reputation and so far, their only goal had been to keep it immaculate. Troy had long wanted to get his own apartment but his parents refused since that would mean losing control over him.
He went down the stairs and walked into the dining room of their large mansion. The maids were just finishing to display the various meals on the table and they retreated swiftly after.
Troy saw his parents on their usual seats, facing each other across the table. His father was handsome but never smiled so it was easy to forget about his good looks. His mother on the other hand, never stopped smiling ever since she heard that it was a way to keep the wrinkles away. Yet, with all the failed surgeries she went through to remain youthful, Troy didn't believe that a smile would make much of a change.
"Oh, my sweet pie. Hello...Come here."
Her voice over dripping with honey made Troy cringe. He sat next to his mother and she quickly passed a hand over his cheek with a fond expression on her face.
"My sweet...Sweet, beautiful boy."
"Mother, stop."
She flinched at her son's cold voice. He glared at her once before grabbing the coffee pot and pouring some for himself. Troy ignored his father's presence completely. It was never a good idea to share meaningless conversations with him in the morning. He'd rather read the news on his phone than talk to his own child.
That is, unless he has some criticism to make.
Troy had the curse to not only be his father's son, but his employee as well. He was the most prominent singer signed under Allen Label and of course, that meant he could never be good enough to hold that title in the eyes of his perfectionist father.
"Troy?"
The young man sighed heavily before sipping on his coffee.
"Troy." His father repeated in a much harsher tone.
He finally looked at his father for the first time since he came into the dining room. Troy got his electric blue eyes from him and that's probably the reason why he hated them so much. His father's orbs were nothing but a window to hell.
"I have just checked your statistics this morning." The older man said, picking at his eggs. "I can tell you that it's not very satisfactory."
"Oh really?"
Troy sipped on his coffee again with the most bored expression on his face.
"It's only been a month since you dropped your song and it's already going down the charts."
"Father...You have more experience than me in this field. You know that's only a normal occurrence. A song is bond to get less popular with time, I can't stay at the top of the charts forever."
"But you're going down way too soon, son."
"...What do you expect me to do about it?"
Father and son glared at each other in silence. Troy's mother ate her sausages as if she wasn't feeling the violent tension filling the dining room.
Mr. Allen slid his phone over the table to Troy's side. The latter picked it up and stared at the screen. There was the picture of a young woman. Her face was also quite familiar...He was certain that he'd seen her somewhere before. But that was beside the point anyway. Why was his father showing him that picture?"
"Who is she?" Troy wondered.
His father remained silent only to be dramatic, his fingers interlocked over the table.
"Who is she, dad?" Troy asked again.
"Your new girlfriend."
The young man's eyes widen in shock. His father's lips stretched into the most twisted smile, the only one he would wear.
"Her name's Delancey and you've seen her in the TV show "Killer mother". She's gained a lot of popularity in the last six months."
"...So?"
"You will date her and revive people's interest in you. I've already contacted her agency and they also think that it's a good plan. Both of you will gain a lot of attention from this and your future breakup will be even more popular...Believe me, as soon as this information is out, your song will be back at the top of the charts."
Troy's fist clenched around his father's phone. He'd been through this before. In order to spike his popularity, his father will make him do the most horrendous things and now, he's meant to date this girl who he doesn't even know.
"But won't that upset the young ladies who love our Troy, Darling?" Mrs. Allen asked all of a sudden.
"Who cares? As long as they keep sharing their frustrations online and using our son's name on every platform, I'm fine with it."
"Uhm...I'm just saying. There are a lot of crazy girls out there."
"I love them crazy."
And Mr. Allen broke into loud laughter again, being the only one to find his own words funny. To troy, it all sounded demonic. Everything coming out of his father's mouth was demonic and yet, he knew he had no other choice but to follow his wills.