Chapter Five

Karen hated that Max wasn't affected by her closeness with the brothers or by the fact that she got a contract despite leaving. Karen smiled innocently, channeling her best acting as she said, "Theodore and Fred knew that I really wanted to be on the show because of how much I liked it. So, Fred talked to the director about bringing me with him. The director said he could." The picture became clearer to Max then.

Before Max could say anything, Theodore said, "Even without you giving up your slot, we were still able to get her on the show." The pride shone in his eyes as he looked Max in the eyes, like they had done something impossible when all they had done was what Max had suggested before she severed ties with them.

The five brothers all worked for the family's company. Jonah was the CEO. Theodore was a manager—the 'top' manager, but only to those who shared their views. Gabe was a K-pop singer, as the family was originally from Korea. Dallas was a talented director, and then Fred was a movie star.

Max laughed softly as she looked at the three clowns. "It must've felt good trying to bully me into giving up my slot when you could've easily used this method. If you had asked, maybe I would've given it up, but you didn't ask. You demanded it from me, like I was a slave instead of your sister." She shrugged as she looked Karen in the eyes.

"The only reason you got on the show is that Fred is a top actor, and the director didn't want to offend him by saying 'no'. So, technically, you're riding his coattails or using him to get ahead. Must be nice to have a brother who loves you that much." Max reached out and patted Karen's cheek gently before she caressed her like one does a doll. So pretty. She really was Bonnie's daughter.

She pulled her hand back. "Congratulations, Karen. I'm happy for you." Max said politely, with an air of playfulness around her as she turned around, skipping away. She would remain civil unless she were pushed too far. All three of them went into the building so Karen and Fred could sign their contracts. Each of them felt complicated emotions, as they always did when Max was involved.

Karen touched her cheek, wondering why Max was being so gentle with her even though she ruined her relationship with her family. She thought back to what Jakob blurted out, but there was no way that she wasn't their daughter. The name was the same. What the hell was going on?

Max returned to her penthouse, knowing that she had left Karen feeling confused and made her question what was happening. That was exactly what she wanted because that meant Karen would approach her more, trying to get her to react, which meant more time to play with the prey. Her master would always tell her not to play with her food before she ate it, but she thought her master wouldn't mind if she did this one time.

Max sat on her couch, which she really needed a cover for. She hated leather, especially if she fell asleep on it. She felt like she was peeling herself off of it. Anyway, she took out her phone and logged into her I*******m account. The first thing she did was change her password because Theodore always had her account under his control, as he was her previous manager. A shitty one at that.

He would post every month or so if he remembered. He never helped her with her fans or if there was anything that she needed help with. Underneath each post were curses and insults from Zac's and Fred's fans. Of course, the paparazzi had to stick their nose into everyone's business.

Once they found out that Max and Zac were childhood friends, Zac's fans couldn't sit still and be quiet. Since their relationship was never made public, everyone assumed that she was attempting to ride his coattails like a parasite. She could see it from their point of view, but when she wanted to explain at the time, Zac and Theodore told her not to worry about it.

Zac said, "You don't need to explain because there is nothing to explain. The silent treatment will do." Only she knew it wouldn't, because it made her seem guilty. She became a parasite, trying to leech off her childhood friend, and became shameless in the eyes of so many. So, she decided to go to Theodore.

Theodore said, "There's no reason to waste energy on a small matter." Her heart sank because she knew it would only get worse. She worked hard for her fans before she joined their company. Since she joined, it was like a black cat had crossed her path, ruining her. Both of them would rather watch her being insulted and cursed instead of lifting a finger to help.

This was when her reputation started taking a nosedive, and the fans that once adored her because of her career abandoned her without hesitation. Only a small group of die-hard fans remained because they knew that there was more to the story. The situation felt off to them. The heaviest blow was from Fred's fans.

After being 'recognized' by the McDonald family and taken back, Fred let her accompany him to a dance practice because of guilt. Somehow, the paparazzi knew and were lying in wait. They took a couple of photos of them together and uploaded them onto the internet.

She faced the bullying again, except it wasn't just cyberbullying. Online, she was being called a "Clout Chaser" and "Shameless Slut", along with even worse names. During live events, fans would throw rotten eggs at her. Her car would be vandalized if she went anywhere. She asked Fred to explain to his fans, but no.

He said, "The innocent don't need to explain themselves." She went to Theodore and asked for his help, only for him to be a parrot and repeat back what Fred said. This was the time she seriously started thinking of leaving their company. Karma was a bitch because Karen was photographed eating with Fred. Karen became the subject of ridicule and was subjected to online hate.

Unlike her, Fred immediately stepped up to clarify for Karen's sake. No one knew that they were from the McDonald family, as they used fake names. Fred was Robbie. He made his sibling relationship with Karen public, as well as who he really was. Theodore had his team jump in to help with public relations, setting up the story for a princess-like sibling relationship.

In her past life, it was those events that caused he to start distancing herself from the family, and the resolve to leave grew stronger. She tried to handle them because they were Maxina's family, but they weren't like that little girl, who was scared the entire time before she died, but she kept a smile on her face. Before she could leave, she was kidnapped and killed.

She deleted and blocked the users with the most vulgar comments, and let herself keep the others because she wanted to see how they would react when the truth came out. The first thing she did was write a fresh post.

"@TheMcDonaldFamilyCompany: Thank you for terminating my contract. It was a pleasure working for you, and I hope you can support my success, as I will yours. Good luck to you all. :)"

As soon as the post went live, comments came flooding in from her die-hard fans. "Congratulations, Maxina."

"I hope you will make a comeback!"

"Stay positive, Maxina. That's the best way for good things to come your way."

There were no negative comments, as the fans who left her had no idea what to say to that. Who thanks someone for terminating their contract, and then wishes them good luck as if they ended on good terms? They started doubting if they had Maxina wrong the entire time.

Meanwhile, at the company, Theodore saw the post and ran to the CEO's office, entering before knocking as he normally does. He walked in and closed the door quickly as he saw the head under his desk, bobbing up and down. "Hey, Jonah. Look at this." He walked to the front of the desk and showed him the post. Jonah was stunned by it because he wasn't expecting this response from her. He had different responses in his head, but gratitude and thankfulness weren't among them. The worst thing was that they knew that she meant every word.

They knew they had to comment, or it would look bad on the company, and they had to be careful of what they said because their words could be twisted to fit people's hidden agendas. They went to the comment section of Max's post and commented.

"@MaxHeart: Thank you for the year that you were here. We're sorry that you decided to leave our company, but we wish you the best in the future, wherever your path leads you." Jonah and Theodore saw that their post got pinned to the top and liked multiple times, and for the first time, they didn't seem to hate Maxina.

Max was surprised that they even commented on the post, but she assumed they were keeping up their company's image. The I*******m news refreshed as the director announced the participants for the show. There was Fred, Karen, three other celebrities, and her, along with two mystery guests whose identities had yet to be revealed.

There was only one mystery guest in her last life. Max shared the official post on her account with the comment, 'Might be the start of my comeback. Kissy Face.' The wave of criticism that followed was to be expected.

"Maxina is participating? Is she there to be comic relief?"

"I was so excited to see Fred was just invited as a special guest, but now Maxina is on the show too! She's just going to cling to our Fred."

"Maxina, stay away from my Fred!"

"Fred brought his sister to the show. Maxina, don't dare bother them."

"How did Maxina land a spot on spot on the show? She has no influence, no popularity, and has such a terrible character."

She's good at hooking up with guys; maybe she has a sugar daddy that helped her."

"She hasn't been active for a year. What a waste of a pretty face, since we know that most sugar daddies are old and don't look good."

"Her photos are photoshopped because I've seen her in person, and she was hideous."

She was used to her I*******m being full of criticism, and it didn't bother her. What bothered her was that everyone was assuming she had a sugar daddy. Stupidest shit ever. Frankly, it was no one's business how she got on the show. Other insults or comments about her were directly under the Director's post.

Apart from the comments throwing hate at her, there were messages from fans cheering on their favorite artists. It was clear when Theodore made his move, as a large swarm of commenters all praising Karen appeared. They were praising her as a little princess with a beautiful appearance and an equally beautiful heart.

Max ignored the comments, knowing her chance was coming to make them see the real her. Not the one others made her out to be. She closed I*******m and turned her screen off as she wanted to game as much as she could before she had to go.

She and Viking played some matches of Overwatch on stream when she told everyone that she wouldn't be streaming for a bit, but she would be back. Viking messaged her before she got off. "I'll be heading off for a bit as well because my agent got me on this reality show because I found a friend of my father's daughter. I'm trying to bring her back home." Reality show? Just like her. She wondered if they were heading to the same one. She never thought of Viking being a star. She was curious about the daughter thing, but that wasn't her circus and definitely not her monkeys.

"I'm heading onto a reality show as well because I need a fresh start." Max was as honest as she could be without giving away her real identity.

On the other side of the screen, Viking read the message multiple times, thinking that there was no way they were going off to do the same thing. Was there another reality show going on? He checked, and there wasn't. Only the one he was a part of. "The rural one that is being live broadcast?" He sent back, as he was desperate. He could meet his friend in real life, which wasn't something he ever thought was possible.

Back on Max's end, she was in total shock. This wasn't happening! Stuff like this doesn't happen in real life. Only in books. "Yes. That's the one, Viking. I bet I can figure out who you are before you can figure out who I am." She laughed softly. She'd win because she knew his real voice.

"Raven, that's not fair! You know what I sound like! Give me a hint. That'll make it fair." She smiled brightly because this was the most fun she had had in a while. She thought of a hint as she twirled a piece of her hair, and the lightbulb turned on. "You won't be able to miss me." Shitty hint, but she did have bright red hair.

Before he could say anything back, she logged off because she knew what was coming. Viking really could be a brat sometimes, but he wasn't over the top with it like Karen. She was debating whether to give Viking her phone number once the show was over because she trusted him. There was something about him that made her want to open up, but she never did because she thought they lived in different states or different countries. Since he was in the same state as her, it seemed like she had someone she could talk to and hang out with besides Spicy.

In the week leading up to the first recording of the show, Zac called her from a bunch of different numbers. He was becoming a stalker at this point. She would've gotten a restraining order, but they were about to be on the reality show together. It would be no use. So, no matter what number he used, she would delete and block them. Finally, after about 15 minutes of that, the phone stopped ringing. Either he gave up, or he ran out of phones. Either way, she was happy for the silence.

The week flew by, and now it was time for 'Village Reality' or 'Life in a Village', as Max wanted to call it, because from her knowledge, it wasn't going to be in the rural areas each time.