"Get in, Ms. Moore."
"Stay away from me!" I yelled, stumbling backward away from the black town car.
I spun around and sprinted down the alley. I ran until my legs gave out, collapsing onto a freezing metal bench at a deserted bus stop.
My cracked phone vibrated instantly. A news alert flashed across the screen.
"Ethan is a true gentleman," Olivia Montgomery’s voice echoed from the device the second I tapped the link.
She sat on a pristine white studio couch, dabbing the corners of her dry eyes with a tissue. Ethan sat close beside her, his arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders.
"We are just close friends," Olivia told the morning show host, her voice trembling with practiced perfection. "It absolutely terrifies me to see him targeted by such an unstable stalker."
"You never had a romantic relationship with your former agent, Ms. Moore?" the host asked, leaning forward.
"Never," Ethan replied into his microphone. "I am completely single. My only focus is bringing a championship to this city. Lynn fabricated a fantasy in her own mind."
"She claims she built your career," the host pressed.
"She was an employee," Ethan stated flatly. "She booked my flights. I played the games. When I rejected her inappropriate advances, she turned hostile. Her delusions became dangerous."
"Olivia, how are you handling this?" the host asked.
"I just want Ethan to be safe," Olivia sniffled, resting her head against his chest. "No one deserves to be harassed for simply doing their job and being a good person."
I threw the phone onto the bench.
He played the innocent, pure national boyfriend. She played the terrified, supportive confidante.
Olivia manipulated the narrative flawlessly, erasing her role as the other woman and crowning herself the ultimate victim.
I grabbed the phone again. The live comment section moved at lightning speed.
*Protect Ethan at all costs!*
*Throw that crazy bitch in an asylum.*
*Olivia is so brave for standing by him.*
*I heard Lynn tried to poison his food when he rejected her.*
They swallowed every lie. The entire internet turned into a weapon, and Olivia held the trigger.
I opened my contacts and dialed David Dawson. We started in the mailroom together five years ago. He owed me his career.
"Do not call this number," David answered on the first ring.
"David, I need a favor. Put me in touch with the crisis management team at your firm."
"My firm just issued a company-wide memo," David whispered harshly. "Your name is on a permanent blacklist. No one is allowed to speak to you."
"You know Ethan is lying! You were there when I bailed him out of jail!"
"It does not matter!" David snapped. "Olivia's father threatened to pull broadcasting rights from any agency that associates with you. You are dead in this industry, Lynn."
"I have rent to pay. I have legal bills coming."
"Go work at a grocery store. Actually, don't. A fan will probably recognize you and burn it down."
"David, please."
"Lose my number."
The line clicked dead.
I called my former mentor, Greg.
*Voicemail.*
I called three different rival agents I used to drink with.
*Blocked.*
*Blocked.*
*Number disconnected.*
I was entirely alone. Exiled. Five years of blood, sweat, and favors, erased by a billionaire heiress and a lying athlete.
I stood up from the bench and walked blindly down the sidewalk.
"Hey! You!"
I stopped. A young girl in a blue Ethan Carter jersey marched toward me from the crosswalk.
"You're that stalker," the girl spat, her face twisting with disgust.
"Back off," I warned, stepping to the side.
"You make me sick!" She hurled her iced coffee directly at my chest.
The plastic cup bounced off my collarbone. Freezing liquid soaked into my shirt, dripping down my stomach.
"Leave our captain alone!" the girl screamed. "Homewrecker!"
I wiped the ice from my chin. "He is lying to you."
"Shut up! Olivia is a saint! You're just jealous garbage!"
Several pedestrians stopped, pulling out their phones to record.
I turned and ran. Arguing was useless. The truth did not matter anymore. The world had already decided my sentence.
I didn't know where my feet were taking me until the smell of stagnant water hit my nose.
The city riverbank.
The wind whipped my wet hair across my face as I approached the concrete ledge. Gray clouds mirrored the dead weight in my chest.
I walked past the yellow warning signs.
Dark, freezing water rushed aggressively below the barrier.
My phone vibrated one last time. I looked at the cracked screen.
A text from an unknown number.
*Go jump off a bridge, you ugly parasite.*
"You won, Ethan," I whispered to the empty air. "You both won."
I let the phone slip from my fingers. It hit the water with a soft splash, sinking instantly into the murky depths.
No home. No career. No friends. A looming defamation lawsuit that would put me in debt for the rest of my life.
I stared down at the swirling current. It looked peaceful. It looked like an immediate end to the suffocating humiliation.
I stepped up onto the metal railing.
The freezing wind pushed against my back, urging me forward.
I closed my eyes, leaning my weight over the edge.
"Take one more step, and I will make sure Ethan Carter attends your funeral with a smile."
A voice cut through the wind. Deep, cold, and right behind me.
