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."

"I apologize. My three-year relationship got in the way of your one-month true love."

With that, I pulled up over a dozen slides.

Every one of them showed moments from my years with Drew, along with security footage from the tea shop.

The comments shifted instantly.

"That woman kicked an old lady? Is she even human?"

"Wait, was the other woman the real homewrecker all along?"

Right then, the doors to the emergency room swung open.

I didn't care about anything else. I rushed over, only to find the doctor wearing a pained expression.

"Someone from higher up called. They said you have unpaid bills and you're disrupting hospital operations. You need to leave immediately."

Ice flooded my veins. While I was still reeling, Drew's number lit up my phone again.

His voice was tired, threaded with disappointment.

"Ina, you went too far this time."

"Do you have any idea that because of your little livestream, Karen is so upset she wants to kill herself?"

"I told you. If you bully someone weaker than you, I will stand up for her."

"Until you realize what you've done wrong, no hospital in this city will treat your grandmother."

The line went dead. Moments later, I was physically dragged out of the hospital.

Grandma lay on the gurney, her face white as paper, her breathing faint.

I held her frail body and sobbed until I shook.

I carried her on my back from hospital to hospital, begging at every door. My legs were giving out, but I didn't dare stop.

If I stopped, I would lose the last family I had.

"Grandma, the next hospital will take us. I know it."

I pressed forward, one agonizing step at a time. But Grandma started talking about nothing in particular.

"Sweetheart, the new insoles I sewed for you are in the wardrobe."

"If the city hospitals won't take us, we'll go back to the country. They'll help us there."

"I pickled a fresh batch of vegetables for you. They'll be ready next month."

"Just hold on a little longer, Grandma. We're almost there!"

"There are rolls in the pot, still warm. If you don't finish them, put the rest in the freez—"

My feet stopped.

Behind me, there was no sound at all.

"Grandma... let's go home."

Back at the old house, I laid her on the bed and looked at her colorless face. A knife twisted slowly through my chest.

The tears I'd been fighting finally broke free. In this entire world, I didn't have a single person left.

But I had underestimated how vicious Karen could be.

A thick, acrid smell of smoke choked the air from my lungs. By the time I realized what was happening, the entire house was engulfed in flames.

Outside the window, a handful of thugs laughed as they ran off.

I tried to open the windows. Every door, every window was locked from the outside.

My phone buzzed. A text from Karen.

"You made my life hell. Now I'm taking yours."

My arm dropped to my side. Instinctively, I pulled Grandma close.

"That's okay. I get to be with you again."

Meanwhile, Drew's phone lit up with a news alert.

"Fire engulfs suburban residence; casualties confirmed."