Chapter 9

<p>On the other end, Summer sounded like she was about to cry. "Sophie! Something huge just happened! You need to check TikTok right now! The whole internet's coming for you! Your comment section is getting spammed by bots and trolls!"</p><p>I raised an eyebrow, not even a little bit rattled.</p><p>Honestly, this was totally expected. Rose, that fake innocent act, just got hit hard. Of course she'd try to stir up trouble.</p><p>I opened TikTok. My notifications were exploding—99+ messages, and the comments were flooded.</p><p>Top comment: ["So much for being a 'girlboss' hustling for cash. It turns out she's just a copycat! All her videos are stolen. Shameless much?"]</p><p>Second top comment: ["Major red flag! Everything she promotes is fake! I tried one and my face got wrecked! Seriously, don't get fooled!"]</p><p>Third top comment: ["No wonder the Lane Family wants nothing to do with her. With a personality like that, she's basically the villain straight out of a drama. Guess she's not even acting!"]</p><p>Every comment was identical, obviously paid trolls.</p><p>Summer was practically freaking out on the phone. "Sophie! What are we supposed to do? The brand saw everything and said if we don't fix this, the whole deal's off, and we'll have to pay double the penalty!"</p><p>I bit my ice cream and smiled. “Don't panic. I've handled worse.”</p><p>After hanging up, Lily, my media partner and bestie, blew up my phone with a dozen frantic voice messages.</p><p>"Sophie! You're getting slammed online! Want me to rally my fan squad and take over your comment section? Let's wipe out these trolls!" Lily shouted in her messages.</p><p>I sent back a calm emoji. "No need. Just watch me clap back and snag a wave of new followers while I'm at it."</p><p>Come on, I've been in the social media game for three years. I've seen every kind of smear campaign out there. Rose's tricks? They're like a kid playing pretend to me.</p><p>Honestly, the very first time she tried to set me up, I already had my own backup plan ready.</p><p>I opened my laptop and pulled out everything I'd prepared</p><p>Original scripts for every video, timestamped and dated a full two weeks before those so-called "victims" even posted theirs.</p><p>Full project files, raw footage, and storyboard drafts for each video, not a single frame missing.</p><p>Authorized contracts stamped by the brands I worked with, plus official national quality inspection reports and authenticity certificates for every product.</p><p>Even my own purchase records and unboxing videos, all straight from the official flagship stores, clear as day, no funny business.</p><p>I spent twenty minutes piecing all the evidence together into a three-minute video, with a title that went straight for the jugular: [How The Lane Family Imposter Rose Blew $7,000 on Bots to Smear Me].</p><p>The video kicked off with me, bare-faced, no filters, arms crossed. No nonsense, just straight talk.</p><p>"No fluff, just facts. Here's the proof to crush every rumor for good," I said.</p><p>First up, I dropped the original scripts to slam the plagiarism rumors. Then came the quality reports and contracts to obliterate the fake product claims. And finally, the juiciest part came. I exposed the hard evidence my data geek friend dug up.</p><p>It turns out, every single bot account was ordered from the Lane Family Villa in Hillside District, Riverdale.</p><p>The $7,000 payment for the bot army is straight from Rose's own bank account.</p><p>I even dug up screenshots of her chats with the Botmaster, where she was all, "Do whatever it takes to destroy her. Make sure her reputation is trashed for good."</p><p>At the end of the video, I rolled my eyes at the camera.</p><p>“Rose, spend your money on acting lessons, not trolls.”</p><p>After hitting publish, I turned around and started cooking up a pack of snail noodles, my favorite comfort food.</p><p>Just as the noodles were done, my phone started blowing up.</p><p>Lily's messages flooded my screen: "Damn, Sophie, you freaking killed it! Your video just exploded. You're trending everywhere!"</p><p>Summer called again, practically shrieking with excitement. "Sophie! You just went god mode! Not even ten minutes and your video's already past ten million views and a million likes! The brand's CEO called me himself, saying he wants to lock you in for a year, and the ad fee? Triple what it was!"</p><p>I checked TikTok and my eyes lit up.</p>