A beat of silence on the other end of the line, then his voice returned, sharper with impatience.
"Ina, can you stop being so unreasonable? Why can't you be more like Karen — just a little more considerate?"
"Do you really have to make a scene until everyone's embarrassed before you're satisfied?"
"I will never let you bully her just because you think my affection gives you the right. I stand up for the underdog."
The line went dead.
I listened to the flat drone of the dial tone and laughed at myself.
Suddenly, everything felt pointless.
Before I could even collect my thoughts, my phone rang again. Maya Collins.
"Ina! You're being torn apart online!"
Maya's voice was frantic.
My stomach dropped. I opened my phone with trembling fingers.
The pinned post at the top of the feed read:
SHOCKING! Part-time college girl tries to seduce upperclassman — when rejected, sends grandma to fake an injury for a payout!
The video had obviously been carefully edited.
The only footage shown was Grandma falling and spilling something on Karen's clothes.
And Drew standing there, cold-faced, confronting me.
The captions were vicious beyond measure:
Ina Fox — shameless homewrecker.
Scamming old hag, faking injuries for cash.
The comments section had erupted.
"God, she always seemed so quiet. Turns out she's total trash."
"Poor people have zero class. They'll do anything for money."
"Stand with Karen! This homewrecker needs to be expelled!"
Every single comment was a knife, driven straight into my chest.
I was drained — body and soul. My fingers were ice-cold, barely able to hold the phone.
It buzzed again. A text this time.
From Drew.
"Go live right now. Look into the camera and admit that what happened today was your grandmother running an insurance scam. Admit that you're the other woman who tried to come between me and Karen."
"As long as you confess on the livestream and Karen calms down, this whole thing goes away."
He sounded so sure of himself.
"It's just a few words. I love you. I don't care about your reputation."
"You and Karen are both the people I love most. Don't worry about what outsiders think."
I stared at the words on the screen, and a laugh tore out of me — raw and desperate.
He wanted me to go live and confess?
He wanted me to take the filth they'd smeared on me and swallow it whole?
It wasn't enough to destroy my love. He wanted to destroy my life. My grandmother's dignity.
I lifted my head and stared at the red light glowing above the emergency room doors.
The despair in my eyes slowly froze over into something cold. Something resolute.
If you won't leave me any way out, then none of you get one either.
I wiped my tears, and my fingers flew across the screen. I sent Drew one reply.
"Fine. I'll go live."
"But my apology probably won't be what you're expecting."
The moment I went online, the viewer count exploded.
The comments were a wall of rage and insults, scrolling so fast they blurred together.
"Homewrecker, get out of our school!"
"Scum like you don't deserve college! Expel her!"
"Drag the old hag out to apologize! Hicks only know how to con people for money!"
I watched the words fly past. My face showed nothing.
I calmly adjusted the camera until it framed the swollen red handprint on my cheek.
"Hi, everyone. I'm Ina Fox."
My voice was hoarse, but every word carried.
"I'm going live today to apologize."
The comments detonated:
"Oh, so NOW she knows she's wrong? Pathetic. More like she knows she's scared."
"Good. A homewrecker deserves a public execution."
I drew a long breath. The softness left my eyes, replaced by something razor-sharp.
"I'm sorry — for being so blind and so foolish that I let myself suffer like this."
"I'm sorry — for being so powerless that my grandmother ended up in that emergency room."
