Chapter 4

Those words traveled loud and clear through Marcus’s phone straight into his livestream.

And straight into my own phone hidden behind my back.

Working blindly from memory with my hands behind my coat, I had opened my verified account, the one with over ten million followers.

I hit ‘Go Live,’ mirroring the stream.

A quiet chime echoed from my app in the background.

Holding his phone high, Marcus grew impatient as I hesitated to pull off the coat.

Comments from his top donors flooded the live stream, demanding action.

He lost his temper completely.

Marcus lunged forward, grabbing my wrist with enough force to shatter my bone.

"Giving you a chance and you're acting like a snob?"

Marcus’s breath reeked of alcohol as he glared at me.

"Jason! Rip off her mask! Let the guys see what this hideous freak actually looks like!"

Jason stepped up with a nasty grin.

He reached out, snagging the strap of my mask behind my ear.

"Let's give everyone a show!"

Jason shouted, yanking his arm back hard.

The tight mask strap dug into my skin with a sharp, dangerous stretch.

With a loud snap, the strap broke.

The mask and my oversized sunglasses were violently torn away, clattering onto the deck.

The cold sea breeze slapped against my bare face.

Jason waved the broken mask in front of Marcus’s phone camera, laughing hysterically.

"Look close, guys!

"Here's my scary fiancée! Today she’s performing a little striptease to keep us entertained!"

In Marcus’s chat, the trust-fund crowd went wild.

[Gagging already! Take it off!]

[That ten grand is mine! Great job, Jason!]

[Get closer to her face! I wanna see how disgusting those buckteeth are!]

Using the moment, I yanked my wrist out of Marcus’s grip.

My pinned-up hair tumbled down in the wind, dark strands framing my porcelain skin.

I slowly raised my head, squinting into the bright sunlight, looking directly into the lens of Marcus’s phone.

Flawless bone structure.

Porcelain skin without a single blemish. Sharp, piercing eyes that radiated pure cold authority.

No acne. No buckteeth.

Only a face that regularly drove hundreds of thousands of followers wild online.

Jason’s laughter died instantly.

His face froze.

Staring at me, he rubbed his eyes in utter disbelief.

His mouth hung open like a dying fish, unable to squeeze out a single sound.

Beside him, Marcus froze too.

His hand shook violently, the selfie stick trembling as the crude insults caught in his throat.

The stream camera wobbled crazily.

Right at that exact second.

The millions of followers from my main account flooded into Marcus’s stream through the linked location tag.

The storm of vicious taunts in the chat came to a sudden, dead halt.

Then, rows of verified fan badges began spamming the screen at light speed.

[???]

[What the hell is going on? Isn't that Lily?!]

[Who are these trash-talkers here? You dare insult our queen?!]

I straightened the collar of my trench coat, a cold smile touching my lips.

I took a step toward the frozen Jason, my voice crisp and razor-sharp.

"A striptease? Ten grand?"

I took another step closer, glaring at him as if he were already dead.

"Jason, did you honestly think I spent the last three years in Europe begging on the streets?"

Jason stood paralyzed, holding the broken mask, as the old comments vanished completely, replaced by a wall of bright red texts.

[HOLY SHIT! Isn't that Lily Vance, the mega-influencer with ten million fans?! Who the hell is forcing her to do a striptease?!]