Chapter 1
My parents were A-list stars.
My brother was an A-list pop star.
My sister was an A-list model.
Even our dog was an internet celebrity with millions of followers on TikTok.
Only me? I was nobody online, like I didn't even exist.
Okay, fine. Not the whole internet.
Once, during my brother Alex Summers' livestream, I accidentally walked into the frame. For a full minute, the comments kept asking, "Who's that girl?"
Alex glanced over and said, "Oh, that's our new cleaning girl."
Cleaning girl. The person I had called my brother for 23 years called me the cleaning girl.
I was standing right behind him at the time, holding a broom. Yes, I was sweeping because he said his streaming setup was a mess and asked me to clean it up.
I didn't say anything. I just smiled and put the broom down. Then I walked away.
That night, I packed my things and moved out of the house I had lived in for 23 years.
As I left, I turned and looked back at the three-story mansion.
The whole place was lit up. But not one of them was left on for me.
*****
My name was Nina Summers.
My dad was Richard Summers. He was a top movie star. He won three Best Actor awards at the Oscars. He was nominated twice for Best Actor at Cannes. He had 80 million followers on Twitter.
My mom was Olivia Summers. She was a singing superstar. She held 12 stadium concerts in front of tens of thousands of fans. She won 18 Grammy Awards. She had 70 million followers on Twitter.
My brother was Alex Summers. He was a top pop star. Since his debut three years ago, he'd topped the "male celebrity girls most wanted to marry" list every single year. He had 100 million followers on Twitter.
My sister was Chloe Summers. She was a supermodel. She walked in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show five times. She appeared on the cover of six major international fashion magazines. She had 60 million followers on Twitter.
Then there was our dog. He was a Corgi named Nicholas Summers. He had five million followers on TikTok. Every single one of his videos got over a million likes.
He had his own manager, his own nutritionist, and his own pet communicator. He took three brand deals a month. Each one paid him 70,000 dollars.
And me? I had 32,000 followers on Twitter.
Thirty thousand of them were bought by my mom's team. A thousand of them were fans of Alex who accidentally followed me. The last two hundred were bots.
I had no work, no public appearances, and zero presence.
The only time I ever trended on Twitter was for a hashtag that said, "Alex accidentally revealed the girl who cleaned his house in his livestream."
The girl who cleaned his house. Yeah, that was me.
That trending topic lasted two hours. It got over 100 million views.
Alex's team never cleared it up.
Not only that, but they also put out a PR statement. The headline said: [The cleaning girl in Alex's home has been identified. She's a long-term hired employee.]
Long-term hired employee.
I was holding my phone. When I saw those words, my hands were shaking.
Not because I was angry.
It was because I felt cold. Cold from the inside out.
*****
My family lived in a three-story mansion. It was in the most expensive neighborhood in Valenor. The price per square foot there was so high that just a few of them would cover a normal family's down payment on an apartment.
The first floor belonged to my parents. It had a home theater, a gym, and an infinity pool.
The second floor belonged to Alex and Chloe. Each of them had their own suite, complete with a walk-in closet and a private bathroom.
The third floor belonged to me and Nicholas.
No, it was Nicholas' floor first, and then mine.