My Lost Star by Anna Jane, summary Automatic translate

"My Lost Star" is an online novel by Anna Jane, last updated September 18, 2010. Bibliographies list the book as being published no later than 2011, but its action is set in June 2013 and takes place in the fictional city of Histalia. The plot centers on young actress Linda Soligda, whose fame, outward prosperity, and rare luck gradually unfold into a dangerous story involving crime, stalking, and a fake wedding.

The prologue depicts the heroine’s childhood: little Aina, the future Linda, walks home from school with a rude, conceited boy who dreams of being "the most important" and constantly mocks and quarrels with her. Their squabbles sound childishly funny, but even then, an important connection for the novel is already emerging: it later emerges that, upon parting, the boy gave Aina a good luck bracelet he had woven, and she keeps it as a memento of the only straightforward, honest friend from her early years.

The main action begins with an ordinary day for adult Linda Soligda, a famous actress who has recently returned home after a long absence. Linda lies in her estate undergoing cosmetic procedures, listening to the news, irritated by politics, gossip, and the gossip columns, and learns that she has accepted a new role with director François Storkot, whom she sincerely dislikes. Her inner monologues reveal her character: she is vain, intelligent, ironic, loves comfort, knows the value of her own name, and at the same time clearly sees how the film business works, where everything is tied to profit, connections, and external glamour.

That same day, Linda prepares for a social event, choosing a dress with stylist Emil, and is contractually obligated to appear in a gown from the brand "Aquarelle Ellie." However, her decision changes when she accidentally witnesses the brand’s owner humiliate and hit a model after a botched fitting. Linda quietly refuses the dress she’s already agreed upon, urgently orders another from the little-known brand "Albatross," and thus sets off a new wave of newspaper coverage, with one magazine praising her openness and another accusing her of mocking "Aquarelle."

In the second chapter, Linda travels to the capital with her manager, Sep, for the presentation of the music video for the young boy band "O.L.I.V.E.R. 17," which the Agency has decided to promote through her popularity. Along the way, she recalls how quickly fame separated her from her former life: friends began demanding money and favors, old acquaintances suddenly remembered her, and the name Aina was almost supplanted by her stage name, Linda. Her childhood bracelet is especially significant here: Linda believes it brings her good luck and attributes almost all of her success in recent years to it.

At a social event and afterward, two narratives immediately coalesce around Linda — the tabloid and the dangerous. On the one hand, the press attributes an affair to her with the band’s young lead singer, Alex Page, though Linda herself dismisses such stories as the usual tabloid scams. On the other hand, at a restaurant, an unknown stalker nicknamed "Bunny" shoots her with an arrow bearing the message "I’ll find you anywhere." The arrow penetrates her protective barrier and embeds itself in the wall just next to her head. Linda is genuinely frightened, and she receives help from a calm, collected young man from a nearby closed room, whose demeanor stands in stark contrast to the general panic.

After the attack, fear remains with Linda, making her much more attentive to the people around her. Soon, on the road, she sees the funeral cortege of the head of the Golden Roots syndicate and, among the people associated with Stazecon, recognizes the man in question: Sap explains that he is one of the Lowcart brothers, prominent figures in the Black Stripes. This discovery connects two previously separate worlds for the heroine — the social and the criminal — and the calm stranger ceases to be a random stranger from a restaurant.

Linda then prepares to fly to Cannes, where she is scheduled to appear as a guest at the film festival, but in the airport’s VIP lounge, she falls into a new trap. In the women’s restroom, she encounters a brazen young bride in an expensive wedding dress, who is initially rude, then forces her into a stall and threatens her with a gun. This woman, later named Alice, essentially forces Linda to take her place because she herself doesn’t want to go to the wedding. The scene is constructed as a sharp break with the heroine’s usual order: just a moment ago, she was thinking about the festival and her makeup, and now she is forced to obey an armed stranger and play someone else’s role, no longer on screen, but in real life.

In the fourth chapter, Linda is taken to the ceremony, where the substitution is to take place under a veil and amidst the bustle of the wedding. She finds herself in the "temple of future brides," among Alice’s people and before the astonished participants of a strange, clearly not quite ordinary wedding, where too much is tied to power, money, and secret agreements. The heroine tries to maintain composure, stalls for time, improvises, and watches as yet another role is thrust upon her against her will. This episode particularly clearly reveals the novel’s central contradiction: Linda is accustomed to pretending professionally, but now a foreign scenario is forced upon her at gunpoint, with completely unpredictable consequences.

By the end of the attached text, Linda disappears from the usual public schedule: she doesn’t appear at the opening of the 66th Cannes Film Festival, and her entourage offers no clear explanation for what happened. The press immediately fills the void with speculation, writing that the actress canceled her trip to France and went to the south of the country with her boyfriend, while simultaneously bringing up her Aquarelle affair, her closeness to her fans, and her flirtation with the musicians of O.L.I.V.E.R. 17. The story at this juncture captures the most dramatic turn in Linda’s fate: a happy movie star, confident in her ability to control her own reputation and career, suddenly finds herself caught in someone else’s dangerous game, where her name, face, and very life are being used without her consent.