Chapter 4
Chloe’s suicide attempt immediately trended online.
My comment section was drowned in a flood of hateful messages:
“Are all influencers this heartless? Serena’s face just screams bad news. She definitely set up the scam.”
“A twenty-something girl kneeling in public and attempting suicide? That alone tells me she’s not faking it. There’s definitely a twist to this story; wait for the police investigation results.”
“Even if the police investigated, everyone knows that money from AI scams is impossible to get back. Chloe fell for it because of Serena, so Serena should be responsible!”
“Didn’t Serena always say she donated to charity every year? Now her own best friend is in trouble, and she’s playing dead?”
“Can you trust an influencer’s persona? It’s probably just a scripted drama for views. Serena is so shameless, using her best friend for popularity.”
“Haha, Serena finally crashed and burned, serves her right! Chloe used to appear in Serena’s videos, and Serena always used Chloe to make herself look better. Hope everyone sees Serena’s true colors soon.”
I’d been in the social media game for so long, I knew exactly how many of those comments were from paid trolls.
Clearly, Chloe didn’t just want my money; she wanted to destroy my career.
An idea began to form in my mind.
Because of this media storm, two major makeup brands had already said they were pausing their partnerships with me.
My brother, Caleb, was furious when he found out.
“How can you be so brainless? It’s just seventy-five grand! You should’ve just paid Chloe and been done with it. Now you’ve jeopardized the whole account. If you can’t handle this, maybe I should take over.”
I scoffed. “Caleb, what the hell are you talking about?”
I started my social media journey in my freshman year of college.
Back then, when my followers first broke fifty thousand, I convinced Caleb to film some fake couple videos with me to attract more traffic.
Those videos unexpectedly went viral because Caleb’s good looks attracted a ton of new followers.
My account growth had hit a plateau, and simple beauty and fashion videos weren’t attracting new fans anymore.
After much thought, I realized I could use the “sweet couple” persona with Caleb to pivot and attract more views.
Even though my brother had plenty of flaws, for the sake of my career, I still convinced him to keep playing along.
I meticulously planned every video, laying groundwork for when I’d eventually split the account.
After this whole mess, I figured more and more fans would demand I go “solo.”
I silently listened to Caleb’s unpleasant words.
His current behavior was exactly what I needed for my next step in the rebrand.
After parting ways with Caleb on bad terms, I contacted Officer Davis.
“Officer Davis, this ten thousand dollars is my personal donation to Chloe. Could you please discreetly transfer it to her? I don’t want to hurt her pride.”
The entire internet was calling me heartless.
But as long as I occupied the moral high ground first, no one could guilt-trip me anymore.
And Chloe? She was now leveraging her “victim” status, starting live streams to milk sympathy.
Chloe began live streaming in the apartment living room, day and night.
“Serena, I don’t even have money for food now. My parents passed away, so I can only rely on live streaming to make money. You don’t mind, do you?”