pped toward me. The silenc

with wide, tear-filled eyes. "Ellery... how could you

res... they aren't real, Adrian. They're fake! But

sn't me," I said, my voice barely a whisper.

gut-wrenching sob and th

she hit the floor. He scooped her up and ran

at me. His eyes were like chips of ice. Th

ry," he snarled. "I swear to

of the party, the damning flyers scattered at my

f, something to clear my name. But before I could even start, Adrian's

ation, but to a private clinic.

d, his voice void of any emotion. "She needs a tran

equest. It wa

dn't do anything!" I struggle

at me. "Do it," he

edle slid into my arm. They took bag after bag of my blood

e. They drove me to a deserted stretch of coastli

odyguards dragged

" I cried, my voice

pushed me into the

owing salty water as the waves crashed over my

, my voice raw. "I d

roke the surface, he would push it back under. The world beca

nd ove

dispassionately during one of my brief gasps for air. "What i

hey just watched, their faces blank, as I slowly lost th

back to the shore and threw me on

rivate clinic, but a public one.

nightstand. It was a

saw the news. Did you and

gossip blog. My hands tre

e. Deepfaked. Obscene. The same kind of pictures that

internet. My name was a trending topic, attached to hashtags