Chapter 3

Seeing that Chloe wasn't admitting it, I immediately sent her the video link and opened the profile for her to see.

"Since when did you and Brandon get this far?" I teased over FaceTime.

Chloe actually did have a fiancé, but she hardly ever brought him up.

To think she was secretly living this fairy tale behind my back!

"And another thing—when did you take photos of Lucky? You haven't visited him in ages, and he misses his godmother!"

I was in the middle of listing my playful grievances when she cut me off cold.

"Stop."

"That's not me."

"Not you?"

"It's not me! I swear on Lily Vance remaining single for the next ten years, that is not me!"

Now the two of us were staring blankly at each other through the screen.

If it wasn't either of us, then who on earth was this snooty little rich-girl persona?

And where was she getting all these photos?

I drafted a polite direct message on her profile:

"Hi there, I was just wondering where you take the photos and videos on your page? A lot of them seem to feature my and my friend’s personal life and belongings. Could you share where you got this material from?"

I read it over several times to make sure it didn't sound too confrontational, then hit send to "BerryTipsOnly."

By nighttime, having received no reply, I clicked back into our chat to see if my message had gotten buried in her inbox.

However, a small gray "Seen" receipt sat quietly beneath my text. It seemed Miss Berry Tips had no intention of revealing the secret behind her viral fame.

Since it was a one-way follow, the platform only allowed one message to be sent to a stranger.

Curious to see if she had posted anything new today, I went to check her main page, only to see a blank screen—she had blocked me.

Guilty conscience, much?

I hopped onto my burner account and left a comment under her latest video: "Hey, where did the creator actually get these photos?"

I never imagined that single, simple comment would unleash an absolute torrent of hate.

"Sounds like pure jealousy to me! The creator is a real-deal heiress, of course she took them herself!"

"Gotta love broke people exposing their own poverty. Just because you aren't rich doesn't mean everyone else is as broke as you."

"There are way too many bitter, broke haters in this world."

"Why does she owe you an explanation? Could your clout-chasing be any more obvious?"

"She has money to document her life. What are you so jealous of, you broke loser?"

Me? Broke?

I opened my burner profile.

Fair enough—that account was dedicated to sharing cheap budget finds, like two-dollar hair clips and bulk hair ties. It was definitely a monument to my bargain-hunting side.

Still, being thrifty didn't give anyone the right to verbally abuse me.

Besides, I glanced at the eight-figure balance sitting pretty in my bank app...

Who was the broke one again?

The storm in the comments was rapidly blowing up.

Then, Miss Berry Tips posted a new set of images that poured gasoline directly onto the fire.

No caption. Just several screenshots of direct messages.