Chapter 2

The next morning, Sam called me again, his tone exhausted and exasperated.

"Penelope, I admit things went a bit too far with this. Let's meet up for lunch. Austin and Bailey will be there too. We'll sit down and clean up this mess for you once and for all."

So I went.

When I pushed open the door to the private dining room, Sam and Austin were sitting on either side of Ruby Price.

In front of Austin sat a plate of peeled shrimp, and he was leaning over, meticulously shelling them one by one. The freshly peeled shrimp meat was stacked neatly on a small side plate.

Out of habit, I reached out my hand to take one. Austin had been shelling shrimp for me for eighteen years, so it felt like second nature. However, halfway through my gesture, the plate was gently pushed toward Ruby instead.

Austin didn't even look up as he casually remarked, "Ruby's got small hands, so she can't really deal with these."

Ruby smirked, picked up a piece with her fork, and ate it. "Thanks, Austin."

Only then did Austin glance up at me, his brow furrowing. "Penelope, don't you have hands of your own? You're an adult. Stop expecting everyone to cater to you all the time."

My hand froze, suspended in midair.

Right on cue, Bailey leaned over with her phone raised.

"Penelope, since we're all here, why don't we start a livestream to help clear your name?"

Without even waiting for my response, she tapped the screen to go live. Tens of thousands of viewers flooded into the stream within seconds, and the chat began scrolling at lightning speed.

[Oh look, the main character is here?]

[Didn't she claim it was an AI deepfake? Why doesn't she just drop the authentication report then?]

[If it were really fake, she would have called the police immediately. Why wait until now to go live?]

Bailey shoved the camera right into my face.

"Come on, Penelope. Tell everyone in the chat—is that video really you?"

I stared blankly into the camera lens, my mind going completely blank.

"It... it's an AI deepfake. It really isn't me..."

Bailey immediately turned to the camera and chimed in, "Guys, stop pushing her. She's sensitive and can't take this kind of pressure. Even if you all know the truth in your hearts, at least leave her with some dignity and refrain from saying such harsh things."

She sounded so sincere and deeply concerned on the surface. Yet, behind every word, she was deliberately forcing me to take the fall and accept the dirty narrative right in front of everyone.

[Even her own friend is saying that, so what is there left to defend?]

[Is she so desperate to become an influencer that she uses this kind of video to get attention? Absolutely shameless.]

As I read those words, cold sweat soaked my palms.

Sam sat beside me, making no effort to speak up on my behalf. Instead, as Ruby poured some sparkling water, he reached over to take the glass from her, making sure she didn't spill on herself.

"Careful," he murmured softly.

Then he turned to look at me, frowning as he lowered his voice. "Penelope, stop shaking. There are millions of people watching this stream. Shaking like that just makes you look even more guilty."

Just then, the braided bracelet on Ruby's wrist slipped off and clattered onto the table.

It was the custom bracelet I specifically made for him.

Sam picked it up, naturally took hold of Ruby's wrist, and fastened it back on for her.

"Look at you, you can't even tie a simple bracelet," he said with a faint smile before turning to explain to me. "Ruby really likes this bracelet, so I'm letting her borrow it for a few days."

I stared at Sam, and he met my gaze without a trace of guilt.

"Penelope, smile. Don't make people think you're being unreasonable."

I stood up abruptly, shoving my chair back.

"I'm not doing this anymore."

Sam grabbed my wrist, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper. "Penelope, if you walk out right now, the tens of thousands of people in this chat will tear you apart online tomorrow."

In that fleeting moment, I caught my reflection in the glare of the phone screen. I looked utterly disheveled and pale, like a stripped-down clown put on public display.

I whipped my wrist free of his grip, said nothing, and bolted from the room. Through the narrow gap of the closed door, I heard Bailey scoff after shutting off the stream.

"Alright, that takes care of that. Ruby, go on! Make a wish and cut the cake!"

My heart skipped a beat.

Inside the room, the lights suddenly dimmed, and both Sam and Austin escorted Ruby to the cake from either side.

Austin's nonchalant voice drifted out through the crack in the door. "Speaking of which, Bailey, you're really something else. The source footage you grabbed of Penelope was super low-resolution. It took forever to render cleanly."

Bailey cut into the cake, answering casually, "Oh, come on, it was good enough to get the job done."

Sam sat nearby, his tone carrying a sense of settled relief. "Good thing I went over it and touched up the weird frames. Otherwise, it would’ve looked completely fake. I guess that officially completes all the tasks Ruby assigned to us."

I froze on the spot as the blood in my veins instantly ran ice-cold.

It turned out that Bailey provided the source material, Austin handled the technical editing, while Sam ran the final quality check. The video that had brought me to the brink of a mental breakdown wasn't just a malicious prank by Ruby.

From inside the room, cheers erupted.

"Happy birthday!"

"Thanks, everyone! This is the best gift I've ever received..."

In that moment, I could no longer hear the sound of my own heartbeat. Then, my phone buzzed with a text message from my mother.

[Get home right now!]