1: "He looked at me like he hated me."

Lilith Pov

I was trending on T*****r, though not for anything good.

My hands trembled as I watched the numbers climb with each refresh, ten thousand views morphing into twenty thousand and then fifty thousand while the video played on endless loop. I couldn't tear my eyes away even though my stomach twisted tighter with every second that passed because there I was in that blue dress I'd spent two weeks choosing, laughing at something Tyler said before he kissed me, the camera angle so perfect it could only mean one thing.

He'd planned this.

My phone vibrated constantly with notifications flooding in so fast I could barely process them, comments calling me things I'd never been called before, each one cutting deeper than the last. Someone had photoshopped my father's campaign logo onto screenshots while another person created a poll asking whether Mayor Richard Black should drop out because of his daughter, the yes votes piling up faster than I could count.

I scrolled through more comments watching strangers dissect every moment of the video like I was entertainment instead of a real person watching her life disintegrate in real time. My chest constricted until breathing became work, the room tilting sideways while I tried calling Tyler only to hear it go straight to voicemail once, twice, three times before the truth settled over me like ice water.

He'd blocked me, which meant this wasn't some accident or hack but exactly what it looked like.

My bedroom door crashed open without warning and there stood my father already dressed in his suit despite the hour being barely past six, his face flushed red with that vein pulsing in his temple the way it always did when he was holding back rage. He thrust his phone toward me with the video paused mid-frame.

"What the hell is this?" The words came out sharp enough to make me flinch back against my headboard.

I pulled my blanket higher even though I was fully dressed in pajamas, my mouth opening and closing as I searched for words that might fix this. "Dad, I didn't know he was recording."

"I don't care whether you knew." He started pacing, each footstep heavy with fury. "Every news outlet in the state has been calling since five this morning demanding comments while my campaign manager is having a complete breakdown and my opponent is probably drafting some statement about family values right now, about how I can't even manage my own daughter."

Tears spilled down my cheeks before I could stop them but he didn't seem to notice or maybe he just didn't care. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't fix this." He stopped moving and when he looked at me his eyes held none of the warmth I remembered from childhood bedtime stories. "I'm three months from election day and instead of discussing my policies or record, everyone is talking about my daughter's sex tape and how it's going to tank my chances."

Something in my chest cracked at hearing him say it like that. "It's not a sex tape, it's a video posted without my permission which makes it a crime and Tyler should be arrested."

"It doesn't matter what we call it." His voice hardened further. "What matters is that it's out there for everyone to see and now I have to do damage control because of your poor judgment."

"My poor judgment?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "I didn't do anything wrong, Tyler recorded me without consent and posted it online but somehow this is my fault?"

"You should have been more careful about who you trusted." He dragged his hand through his hair and I could see the exhaustion etched into his features but I couldn't summon any sympathy when he was standing there blaming me for Tyler's betrayal. "This is exactly why I never trusted you, you're reckless and careless, you never consider consequences or how your actions affect other people."

The words landed like physical blows. Fresh tears burned behind my eyes. "That's not fair."

"Fair?" His laugh held no humor, only bitterness. "You want to discuss fair? I have to hold a press conference in two hours explaining why my daughter was stupid enough to let her boyfriend film her, I have to call my lawyers to scrub this video from every website, I have to rebuild my entire campaign strategy because you couldn't keep your legs closed."

"Get out." My voice shook along with my entire body as I forced the words past my lips. "Get out of my room."

"I'm not finished."

"I said get out!" The scream tore from my throat and I didn't care who heard it.

He stared at me with his jaw clenched so tight the muscles jumped beneath his skin. "You're grounded, you don't leave this house for any reason, you don't see friends, you don't go anywhere until I say otherwise and I want your car keys now."

"You can't do that."

"I can and I am." He held out his hand waiting.

I wanted to argue, to tell him how unfair this was, that none of it was my fault but the look on his face told me he'd already decided. I climbed out of bed, grabbed my keys from the dresser and hurled them at his chest as hard as I could. They bounced off and clattered to the floor where he bent to retrieve them without breaking eye contact.

"This is what happens when you make selfish decisions," he said quietly, his voice colder than I'd ever heard it. "You deal with the consequences and learn from your mistakes."

Then he left, slamming the door hard enough to rattle the picture frames on my walls. His footsteps faded down the hallway and then the stairs before the front door banged shut and his car engine roared to life in the driveway.

I stood frozen in the middle of my room while my phone continued its relentless buzzing with more notifications, more comments, more people sharing the video. I picked it up and saw three missed calls from Sophia along with a dozen texts asking if I was okay, if I'd seen what was happening, did I need her to come over.

I called her back and she answered immediately like she'd been waiting. "Oh my god Lil, are you okay? I've been trying to reach you for an hour."

"I just saw it." My voice came out raspy and raw. "Sophia, everyone has seen it, it's everywhere and I don't know how to make it stop."

"I know and I'm so sorry." The sympathy in her voice was almost worse than the cruelty in the comments. "Have you talked to Tyler?"

"He blocked my number." Speaking the words aloud made them real in a way that hurt more than I expected. "He did this on purpose, he recorded us and posted it and now everyone thinks I'm a joke."

"You're not a joke, anyone with half a brain knows that." Her voice turned fierce. "Tyler is a piece of shit and everyone knows it."

"That's not what the comments say." I sank back onto my bed, pulling my knees to my chest. "They're calling me names, making fun of me, saying my dad should drop out because of me and some of them are so cruel I can't even finish reading them."

"People are idiots who hide behind screens saying things they'd never say to your face." Sophia's tone was firm. "This will blow over eventually."

"No it won't." The tears came harder now, unstoppable. "My dad just told me he never trusted me, that I ruined his campaign and he took my keys and grounded me like I'm a child."

"He's just angry and scared for his campaign," Sophia tried to sound reassuring. "He'll calm down once he has time to process."

"You didn't see his face or hear what he said." I wiped at my eyes uselessly since the tears kept flowing. "He looked at me like he hated me, like he wished I'd never been born."

Sophia went quiet for a moment, her breathing audible through the phone. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know." I glanced at my phone screen where the view count had jumped another fifty thousand. "But I can't just sit here doing nothing while Tyler gets away with this, I need to see him and make him explain why he did it, make him understand what he's done to me."

"Lil, I don't think that's a good idea." Worry crept into her voice. "You're upset and he's clearly not going to listen and it might make everything worse."

"I don't care if it's a good idea." I stood and moved to my closet, pulling out clothes. "He doesn't get to destroy my life then hide from me like a coward."

"But your dad said you're grounded."

"My dad can go to hell." I grabbed jeans and a hoodie, balancing the phone between my shoulder and ear while I dressed. "I'll call you later."

"Be careful, please don't do anything stupid."

I ended the call and finished getting ready, pulling my hair into a ponytail as I studied my reflection in the mirror. My eyes were swollen and red from crying but I didn't care anymore because Tyler owed me answers and I wasn't leaving until I got them, until he looked me in the eye and told me why he'd chosen to do this.

My father had stationed guards at the front entrance but my bedroom window overlooked the side yard where a tree grew close enough that I'd used it for sneaking out before, all those times I wanted to see Tyler or attend parties my dad hadn't approved of. I opened the window and climbed out carefully, working my way down the trunk until I dropped to the ground and crept along the house's edge to reach the street where the guards couldn't spot me.

I pulled out my phone to order a cab and waited three houses down while notifications continued buzzing that I ignored because I couldn't handle reading more comments or seeing more shares or knowing that even more people were watching the video right this moment. When the car arrived I climbed in, gave the driver Tyler's address and settled back into the seat trying to figure out what I'd say when I finally saw his face.

But all I could think about was my father's expression, the cruel things he'd said, how my entire existence had imploded in less than an hour and nothing would ever be the same again.