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I'm a travel blogger with a million followers, and the whole village begged me to help them promote their hometown tourism.
The rustic village-life vlogs I shot with my team went viral across the internet.
They pulled in crowds of tourists coming to check the place out.
Every household in the village opened a country bed-and-breakfast, and their income shot up a hundred times over.
But at the celebration dinner at the end of the month, the mayor and his people surrounded me.
"Ruby, it's about time you paid everyone."
The villagers around me jostled to chime in.
"Every blade of grass and every tree in this village is the shared property of all of us. You put it on camera, so you owe a filming payout."
"Seeing as you're a local, we won't ask for much."
"Ten thousand for each villager who appeared on camera, five thousand a head for livestock, a thousand for each tree, flower, or plant."
I just stood there, stunned.
Back then, I'd brought my whole team out here. Scouting, surveying, and all the post-production had kept us busy for three straight months.
Every cent came out of my own pocket. I never took a dime in commission.
I felt for how hard the village had it, scraping to get by, and I'd meant to eat dinner and quietly slip away.
And now they were demanding a filming payout?
I laughed out of pure disbelief and terminated the contract on the spot.
Six months later.
The whole village took out enormous loans to expand their tourism project.
The mayor came back to me. "You need to shoot us a promo video right now! The whole village is waiting on it to make money and pay off the debt."
I smiled, strictly business.
"One tourism promo. Five million."
"No rush. Get in line."
...
"The tourism pipeline for Brook Hollow is finally open."
I slumped in my chair, worn to the bone.
So exhausted my vision swam black, and yet something in my chest finally eased.
Three whole months.
My team and I had hauled heavy camera gear over mountain after mountain to shoot our footage.
All to help my hometown build up its tourism economy as fast as possible.
The team ran around the clock, everyone pushing through even while sick.
And finally we watched the tour buses roll into the village, one after another.
"You've all worked so hard these three months."
I paid every member five times their usual wage, my eyes red as I thanked them.
"This road out of poverty for the village, you built it with your lives."
"I'll never forget what you've done."
But my mother looked at me, aching on my behalf. "Ruby, sweetheart, you're the one who worked hardest of all."
"No commission, promoting the village for free."
"Building out the whole tourism route, even paying for the ads out of your own pocket..."
I smiled and started packing up the equipment.
"Making money out here isn't easy, and our team charges high. The village probably couldn't afford it."
"We'll slip away quietly in a bit, so we don't put anyone in an awkward spot."
The words had barely left my mouth.
Then the mayor walked into my house with a crowd of villagers reeking of liquor.
His face was sour, and he flung a few dozen QR codes at me, smacking them into my face.
"Ruby Pruitt, did a dog eat your conscience?"
"Folks haven't been paid their appearance fees, and you're already packing up to run?"
I froze. What appearance fees?
The mayor's son, Luther Welch, shoved his way out of the crowd.
He came forward with a cold sneer.
"Go on. Keep playing dumb."
"Aunts and uncles, if I hadn't been watching her so close, she'd have grabbed the money and skipped town today."
"I saw it with my own eyes. One of your videos gets millions of views."
It hit me all at once.
Every time I'd posted a promo video before, he'd secretly screenshotted and saved it.
So this had all been planned from the start.
"Ruby Pruitt films videos in our village, posts them online, cashes in on the traffic, and gives nobody a cent of appearance fees. So who pocketed that money?"
The villagers backed him instantly.
"Pruitt girl, tell us the truth. Did you really swindle us out of our blood and sweat?"
"Ha. And everyone used to say how capable you were. Turns out all that cunning went straight into robbing your own people!"
"Millions of views. Even if each of us only got a dollar from you, that's still millions."
I watched them all point and curse at me, and all I felt was the sheer irony of it.
Three months ago, they'd been crowded at my door begging me to save them.
Aunt Hope Fletcher had knelt down before my mother, saying there was no other way to bring in money and all four of her grandkids would have to drop out of school.
The mayor had gripped my hand, sobbing. "If you can help this village get rich, I'll hand you my seat as mayor."
But now their bed-and-breakfasts were booming.
Aunt Hope wore five gold rings on her fingers, and the mayor had traded up for a crisp suit.
The way they looked at me now, though, was as cold as if they were interrogating a criminal.
"You people! How can you do this?"
My mother's eyes rimmed red with fury.
"My daughter ran herself ragged with her team. Did she ever ask this village for a single cent?"
"The kids paid out of their own pockets to help you all, and now that's a crime too?"
The villagers' eyes darted away, and they fell silent.
The mayor cleared his throat and smiled.
"That's a separate matter. Ruby helped the village develop its tourism, and we're all grateful to her."
"But what everyone's owed still has to be squared away, doesn't it."
Luther jutted out his neck and jabbed a mocking finger at my mother.
"Hmph. No wonder Ruby Pruitt had the nerve to rob the village. The rot starts at the top and runs right down."
"You old hag, you won't stand up for the village, and you shield your daughter's dirty deeds instead. You're no good either."
The liquor going to his head, Luther lunged forward and shoved my mother.
She hit the ground, her forehead striking the step.
Blood poured out at once.
"Mom!"
Horror clenched through me as I rushed over and pressed down on her wound.
The moment they saw the blood, every face went white with fear.
They stumbled back a few steps, each of them scrambling to distance himself from Luther.
Frantic, I hoisted my mother onto my back to get her to the hospital.
But I'd barely reached the door when Luther blocked it with a club.
"Robbed us blind and now you want to run? Not a chance!"
"Nobody leaves until this account is settled today."
