?Chapter 55:


    Hearing Elliana’s words, Vivien shot Hailee a look and scoffed, her voice subdued enough not to be caught by the live stream. “She’s just a nobody. She’s lucky we even let her on this show. What does she even bring to the table—fetching water? Collecting freebies? Sucking up paychecks she hasn’t earned?”


    With a sharp sneer aimed at Hailee and Elliana, Vivien turned on her heel and stalked toward the bus. “An ugly face and a useless extra,” she muttered. “You two really are made for each other.”


    Elliana’s eyes narrowed as she watched Vivien strut away, her figure retreating like a shadow that clung too long to the light.


    Beside Elliana, Hailee shifted uneasily. “I’m sorry, Ms. Marsh,” she said softly. “I got you involved in this.”


    Elliana turned and gave Hailee a quiet once-over. Hailee looked like someone cut from a different cloth entirely—honest, untouched by scheming, with eyes too clear for a world this cruel.


    “Why didn’t you take a regr job after college?” Elliana asked, her voice calm but curious.


    Hailee hesitated for only a moment before answering with quiet conviction, “Because this show pays better. My boyfriend… He’s very sick. He needs surgery, and we don’t have time to save up the slow way.”


    Then, with a small, grateful smile, she added, “Thank you for speaking up earlier. Really. But I knew what I was signing up for. I’m not one of them—I’m just passing through their world. I had expected the bullying. But if it means I can help the person I love, I’ll take every insult they throw at me and keep going. I just have to make it to the end.”


    Hailee’s fear was in to see—being kicked off the show halfway through would mean losing her full payout. And without that money, her boyfriend’s surgery might never happen.


    Elliana hadn’t expected this delicate-looking girl to be so quietly tenacious. For just a boyfriend—not a husband—Hailee was enduring public ridicule, emotional strain, and the venom of women like Vivien. Most would’ve walked away by now, found someone new, and cut their losses.


    Hailee reminded Elliana of herself—of the younger version who bore cruelty in silence, who clenched her fists through every indignity and refused to back down. She had once needed someone to stand up for her. Now, she could be that person for someone else.


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    Elliana’s gaze flicked toward Vivien, who had just reached the bus steps, all smug confidence and swinging hips.


    A smirk tugged at Elliana’s lips. With a flick of her fingers, a silver needle slipped into the air, invisible to all but her. A beatter, Vivien let out a startled shriek and went crashing backward off the bus.


    Vivien hit the ground hard, her skirt ring up in a humiliating arc. Lacy ck panties—scandalously sheer—shed under the sun, broadcast live to millions. Gasps exploded across the live stream. “What the—did I just see that?” “Vivien’s wearing that on a daytime show?”


    “So much for the elegant heiress image—looks like she’s ready for a midnight rendezvous!”


    “Who was she nning to seduce on set, exactly?”


    “No wonder she acts so high and mightypensating for something wild under the surface!”


    The show had been pushing a love story angle—Paige and Ran as the golden couple. Paige had been basking in the limelight until Vivien’s unfortunate tumble stole the show.


    The chat exploded with Vivien memes, screenshots, andmentary. Paige’s name all but vanished from the feed. Haley, behind the scenes, snapped to action, instructing the crew to pan away from the chaos. But the damage was already done.


    Paige, seething inside, kept her smile frozen in ce. She wanted nothing more than to kick Vivien out of her way—and possibly off the—but Ran stood beside her, and millions were watching. So, she put on a show of concern and rushed to Vivien’s side, her voice dripping with faux empathy.


    The camera zoomed in as a bodyguard draped his jacket over Vivien’s lower half. Her cheeks burned as red as her exposedce.


    Vivien wailed dramatically on the ground, her voice echoing across the set. “It hurts! Ah—it really hurts!”


    Paige clenched her jaw, restraining the fierce urge to kick Vivien. Instead, she bent down with practiced sympathy and said sweetly, “Vivien, hang in there. The doctor’s on the way.”


    Right on cue, the show’s apanying physician arrived. A brief examination was all it took. “Severe soft tissue bruising. She needs rest and observation. I rmend hospitalization.”


    “No!” Vivien sobbed harder, clutching the hem of her designer skirt. “I don’t want to go to the hospital! This is my first variety show! I still have so much to show! My dream of bing a star hasn’t even started!”


    But her cries did nothing to change her fate. Momentster, she was whisked away—suitcase and all—still crying about lost dreams and camera time.


    With Vivien out of the picture, the filming resumed. Ran, though still by Paige’s side, seemed uneasy. His sister was injured, hospitalized—and it just didn’t feel right to continue with showy romance while she was lying on a stretcher. Paige, stuck ying the grieving girlfriend, wore a mask of polite concern and somber elegance. Internally, she was fuming. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go.


    Elliana, watching the whole thing unfold, barely held back a chuckle. She leaned toward Hailee and said with a grin, “Well, the bully’s off the board. You can breathe a little easier now.”


    Hailee nced up at Elliana, and while no one else had noticed Elliana’s little sleight of hand, she had. She’d seen the flick of the fingers. The needle. The smirk.


    Eyes wide with a mix of awe and disbelief, Hailee whispered, “Ms. Marsh, I—I want to tell you a secret.”


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