Chapter3

Night fell, and the camp's bonfires had died out. The drones were forced back into their docks to recharge, leaving the entire rainforest in pitch blackness.

I had just reached the water station when a dark figure lunged from behind the bushes. Thud! My back was slammed viciously against a tree trunk.

Julian gripped my shoulders, pinning me completely in a blind spot the cameras could never reach.

"Because of what you said on the livestream, the studio's after-hours stock plummeted eight percent! The board of directors just called, threatening to force me out immediately!"

I stared coldly at his twisted face in the moonlight. "That's her own stupidity."

"Shut up!" Julian hissed, his voice dropping to a guttural roar. "Tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM, the moment the stream goes live, you must cry in front of those three million viewers and admit on camera that it was you! Admit that you were jealous of Serena and deliberately hid the pine rosin powder in her tinder!"

The temperature in my eyes dropped to freezing. "You want me to take the fall for a thief?"

"If you don't, the old woman dies tomorrow." Julian leaned in close to my ear. "I am warning you one last time, Chloe. If you don't confess by 8:00 AM tomorrow, at 8:01, the payments for her hospital bills will stop. Do you think that old hag, who can't even last an hour off life support, will make it past noon?"

He shoved me hard against the bark one last time and strode off into the darkness.

I leaned against the trunk, furiously smashing my water bottle to the ground. "Oh, shit!"

It was 7:55 AM the next morning.

The atmosphere in the camp felt suffocating. Serena, her hand wrapped in bandages, leaned against Julian's chest with red-rimmed eyes. The look she shot me, however, held undisguised malice and triumph.

At exactly 8:00 AM, the drones' red recording lights blinked on. The livestream feed connected.

A tidal wave of comments instantly flooded the screen, as everyone waited for the fallout from yesterday's "cheating and arson" scandal:

@notfallingforit: I can't wait to see how this thieving fake heiress tries to clear her name today!

@serenafanclub: Our Serena was framed! That bastard definitely set her up!

@survival_guru: Here for the truth.

Following Julian's strict orders, the camera director shoved the main lens right into my face.

"Chloe." Julian stood just off-camera, arms crossed. He stared down at me condescendingly, silently mouthing a countdown: Three, two, one.

His frantic eyes urged me to begin my humiliating surrender.

I lowered my gaze, staring fixedly at the mud beneath my boots. I took a deep breath, preparing to open my mouth—

Right at that moment, a tall figure brushed past me.

It was Liam, holding two filtered water canteens. In the half-second our bodies crossed, his broad back naturally blocked the drone's lens.

He tilted his head and whispered rapidly:

"Grandma was secretly taken away by my people three hours ago. The first stage of surgery was a success, and my private hospital is completely safe."

He shoved a canteen into my hand, his thumb swiping firmly across my knuckles.

"Go tear them apart, baby."

Liam didn't linger, walking straight toward the creek.

I, however, slowly raised my head.

Standing off to the side, Julian coughed impatiently. Serena smirked, waiting to watch me make a sobbing fool of myself.

I stared dead into the high-definition drone lens and slammed my tactical shovel into the dirt with a loud clang!

"Good morning to the three million people in the stream."

I held the camera's gaze.

"Regarding yesterday’s fire—caused by someone's sheer lack of common sense—I will make no apologies, because the real thief is Serena herself."

"Are you crazy?" Julian’s face distorted in panic. He lunged into the frame, reaching to cover the microphone. "Cut the feed! Cut it now!"

"Too late."

I let out a cold laugh, whipped out the burner phone hidden deep in my tactical pocket, and held it up to the camera. I tapped the screen to wake it, revealing a sending progress bar: [99%... 100%. Sent successfully.]

"To everyone watching, the lossless audio file that was just broadcasted across the internet via an encrypted channel..."

I locked eyes with the now ashen-faced Julian and Serena, dropping every word like an anvil.

"...is the original recording of top Hollywood producer Julian threatening me late last night. It perfectly captures how this so-called prestigious family used cutting off a lonely elder's medical bills and pulling her life support as blackmail. All to force me in front of this very camera today to take the fall for a fake heiress who stole twenty years of my life and cheated in the wilderness!"

A dead silence fell over the camp.

After a solid five seconds of blank space, the live chat erupted into an unprecedented tsunami:

@notfallingforit: OMFG!! Pulling the oxygen tube?! That’s literal attempted murder!!!

@quietobserver_99: The audio is already going viral on the major leak sites! The voice is 100% Julian!

@ferninthewild: Call the police!! Someone call 911!! This is a fucking criminal syndicate!!

Julian's face drained of all color. "Impossible, where did you get that recording?"

I offered a triumphant smile. "From the burner phone I kept hidden on me with the voice recorder running, of course!"

Julian's legs gave out beneath him. He stumbled backward, crashing into the equipment rack behind him.

Serena shrieked and lunged to grab my phone.

I dodged her effortlessly, a smirk curling on my lips.

I didn't even have to look at the screen to know that in two minutes, Julian’s studio stock would suffer a historic market halt.

The game ended right here.

The gates to their personal hell had just swung open.