Chapter 1

A top young actress went live in tears, claiming I'd bullied her in college and that the trauma still haunted her. The comments exploded, my DMs flooded, and hate came crashing down on me.

I said calmly, "I never went to college."

Choking back sobs, she quickly changed her story. "Maybe I remembered it wrong. It was high school."

I said, "Sorry, never went there either."

Her fans said I was twisting words and playing dumb, and told me to quit the act. But the truth was, we'd known each other long before that, so long ago that even she didn't dare talk about it in detail.

Emily Rivers' livestream had a carefully staged backdrop: a pristine white wall, a few abstract paintings nobody could make sense of, and overhead light that wrapped her in a soft glow.

She looked fragile. Beautiful. And fake as hell.

She had her beauty filter off, and even the tiny fuzz on her face showed clearly on camera. Her skin looked ridiculously good, and those pretty eyes were brimming with tears, hanging there without falling.

Emily began, "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, everyone."

Her voice trembled with a thick sob. "I'm not trying to make people feel bad for me. It's just that I saw some recent news, and it brought back a lot of awful memories."

The comment feed instantly filled with messages like [Hugs for Emmy] and [Don't cry, Emmy]. I sat in my rented studio apartment and looked at my phone screen, its pale light reflecting on my face, cold and flat.

Emily Rivers was one of the hottest young stars around right now, everybody's sweetheart. And I was a nobody who made a living drawing illustrations. Our lives should've been two parallel lines that never crossed. Until today.

She kept speaking through her tears.

"I don't know if I should say it out loud.

"I'm scared it'll cause trouble for her."

That only got the comments even more worked up. [Who was it? Who the hell bullied our Emmy?] [Don't be scared, Emmy. Your fans have your back.]

It was like her fans had given her the push she needed. She took a deep breath, and at last the tears rolled down, like pearls slipping off a broken string.

"Back in college, I was bullied by a classmate the whole time.

"She stole my homework, tore up my books, and even dumped cold water on me in the middle of winter.

"I was terrified then. I didn't dare tell my teachers, and I didn't dare tell my family either.

"That time was the darkest part of my life."

The livestream completely exploded. No one had expected sweet-smiling Emily to have gone through something like that, and anger spread through the comments like wildfire.

[Who is she? Dig her up!]

[Bullies deserve hell!]

Emily wiped her tears with the back of her hand. "She's sort of a public figure now too, and I don't want my story ruining her life."

The more she said that, the crazier her fans got. It didn't take long before one gossip account posted: [Deep Dive: Is This the Campus Bully Who Tormented Emily?]

One photo showed Emily at a college arts festival, playing piano with that picture-perfect glow. The other was my student ID photo, with a cold stare and not the slightest hint of a smile.

And right below it was my name. Sophie Wells. That one post set off a landslide.

My Twitter was instantly flooded with hundreds, then thousands, of comments and private messages.

[So it's you, you vicious bitch!]

[You look mean as hell. No wonder you'd do something like that!]

[Get out of the art world! You're trash!]

[Go die!]

My phone kept vibrating nonstop, like it was about to blow up. Then Harper, my manager, called. Her voice was more panicked than I'd ever heard it.

"Sophie! Did you see the trending topics? What the hell is going on?

"Were you and Emily college classmates?"

I looked at Emily, still crying on my screen, and answered in an even voice.

"Harper, don't panic yet.

"Log into my Twitter account for me."

She froze for a second.

"What are you trying to do? Don't say anything stupid, okay?

"Anything you say right now will backfire. We need to put out a legal statement first..."

I cut her off. "No need.

"Just post one sentence for me."

Harper was still hesitating. I repeated myself. My voice wasn't loud, but it was crystal clear.

"Harper, trust me."

There were a few seconds of silence on the other end.

"Okay.

"What do you want me to post?"

I looked at the dull gray sky outside the window and said each word slowly.

"I never went to college."