Chapter 1

Everyone at Halo Digital said I was lucky to have Sienna Blake looking out for me. Our top streamer, five million followers, and she treated me—a junior content creator with eight thousand—like her own little sister.

That changed the morning she came for my script.

I'd just finished the final draft of my "Ingredient Breakdown" series—a format I'd built from scratch. Three all-nighters, empty cups everywhere, but it was done. One internal review this afternoon and the series would go live.

Sienna walked into the editing room with two lattes and her warmest smile.

"Ruby, you look exhausted. Go rest. I'll review the script and handle the afternoon pitch."

Eight months ago I would've handed everything over without blinking.

Then her makeup bag started talking.

"Her skin is a total wreck and she expects ME to give her that 'naturally flawless' livestream look!" A shrill, fed-up voice—coming from inside Sienna's open makeup bag on the counter. "Her pores could swallow half my body. I'm a beauty blender, not a retouching app. This is misery."

I froze. Looked around. Nobody reacted. Dylan, another creator on our team, had his headphones on, typing away at the next desk.

A second voice—lower, sulky. The lipstick. "At least you get used every day. Sienna says I'm too bold, too attention-grabbing for streams. Never wears me on camera. The only time she remembers I exist is when she's meeting that Victor guy. His stubble nearly scraped me bald last time. Who do I even complain to?"

The setting spray cut in, high-pitched and frantic. "Stop whining, you two—at least you don't pull overtime. Her dark circles get worse every single day this week. Who knows who she was out with until God-knows-when last night. I'm almost empty and she still blames my lasting power. You have no idea how greasy that old man's hands are. Every time she comes back from seeing him her base is completely wrecked, and somehow it's MY fault!"

Then the contour stick, practically vibrating with excitement: "My moment is coming! Once that clueless Ruby hands over the script, Sienna's recording the new video herself—and that means it's finally MY time to shine!"

A thin sting shot through my left temple. I pressed my fingers against it. Three nights of no sleep—probably just that.

But I wasn't hearing things. The voices were real. They were coming from Sienna's makeup.

I looked up. Sienna was reaching across the desk for my script—the full shooting plan, scene breakdowns, everything. Her hand moved exactly the way the contour stick had just described.

The beauty blender screamed. "Here we go again! The 'Ingredient Red & Black List' got stolen the exact same way! She told Ruby to upload it to the shared drive 'for review'—thirty minutes later the main account posted it. Didn't even change the title! Ruby's follower count is tiny. Nobody's going to believe she thought of it first."

I put my hand flat on the script before Sienna's fingers touched it.

"Sienna." My voice came out steadier than I felt. "This series is all about ingredient knowledge. I actually studied product formulas—that's what makes it work. Put someone else on camera and the whole thing falls apart."

Something crossed Sienna's face. Gone in half a second. The caring-mentor look slid right back on.

"Ruby, I was only trying to help with quality control." Her voice dipped, soft and wounded. "The main channel represents our brand image. Your personal account has—what, eight thousand followers? I just hate seeing your hard work go out on a platform nobody watches."

Dylan pulled off one earbud. "She's got a point. Sienna's account has five million. Not really the same conversation."

Sienna tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled.

"You know what, if you want to try it yourself, I fully support that. Just share the shooting plan to the team drive first? I'll do one last pass on the shot list."

The beauty blender shrieked. "The shared drive? Last time the 'Skincare Myths' plan went on that drive, Sienna had it reposted on the main account in twenty minutes! First to post is the original. Second to post is the copycat. She's pulled this at least five times!"

Eight months of memories flooded back.

Last month. The "Skincare Myths" series. My script, my research, my three-a.m. drafts. Sienna offered to "fine-tune the editing flow." The finished video had one name on it: Sienna Blake. Three million views. When I asked about it, she'd said, "Your channel's too small—nobody would see it there. Let the main account build the wave first, and once your numbers grow, all the credit goes to you."

I believed her then. Not anymore.

"Thanks, but I'll handle everything myself. The files stay with me."

The brand review was that afternoon. Leo Marsh, our CEO, sat at the head of the conference table going through proposals.

Sienna sat across from me, pleasant smile in place.

Inside her bag, the contour stick was losing it. "Come on, come on! As soon as Ruby finishes, Sienna's going to say 'I think we should put this under the main account'—I've been counting, this'll be the sixth time! Then she goes on camera and I finally get to PERFORM!"

My temple throbbed again.

I connected my laptop to the projector and pulled up the pilot episode I'd already filmed and edited—on my own channel, my own face on screen.

"This is the 'Ingredient Breakdown' pilot," I said. "Written, shot, and presented by me."

I pulled up the numbers. "The main channel averages twenty-three percent watch-through on long-form content. This pilot hit seventy-one. Engagement: four times the main channel average. New followers per view: six times higher."

The room went quiet.

Sienna's smile didn't drop. But it stopped reaching her eyes. She hadn't expected a finished product.

Leo closed his folder and looked around the table.

"The numbers speak for themselves. 'Ingredient Breakdown' is now a flagship series for the company. Ruby, you run it—your show, your call. You report to me directly, starting today."