Sandra righted herself, blinking in disbelief. She couldn''t process what had just happened. How had she moved so fast? It was as if she had read her mind.


    Tess grabbed Hannah''s arm. "Let''s go, let''s go, I''m starving. Hey, listen to this song with me," she said, quickly stuffing an earbud into Hannah''s ear. The two of them hurried away as if fleeing a gue.


    "Hannah! Hannah, I still need to talk to... Aah-!"


    A loud crash echoed from behind them.


    Even with the music, Hannah and Tess heard it, but they both pretended not to, staring straight ahead and quickening their pace.


    Sandra watched them disappear down the street, shouting their names, but they never turned back. Eventually, a kind stranger helped her up, saving her from further embarrassment.


    Once they were a safe distance away, Hannah and Tess finally slowed down. Hannah nced back cautiously and saw a small crowd gathered around Sandra. Then, she noticed someone standing off to the side, a camera raised, snapping pictures.


    "Tess, look over there!" Hannah pointed. "I feel like I''ve seen that guy before."


    Tess quickly took out her phone and snapped several photos of the man, zooming in. "You''re right," she said, her brow furrowed. "Those pictures of you that went viral before..... they never looked like they were taken by a random person. It was more like someone was waiting to catch you."


    Hannah''s breath hitched. She''d had the same suspicion back then, but with everything else going on, she''d never had the time or energy to investigate.


    "I bet Sandra is working with him," Hannah said, studying the photo. "I''m going to have someone look into this. Maybe we can finally find some concrete proof."


    They spent the rest of the afternoon shopping before parting ways so Hannah could get home for dinner with Grandma. While waiting at a red light, she got a text from Tess.


    [Tess: LOL, check out the trending topics. I bet that guy had something to do with this!]


    Hannah opened the link. It was an article about the incident at lunch, portraying her and Tess as heartless friends who had walked away after theirpanion took a fall. The Comments section was filled with criticism, but this time, it was different. Many users were starting to see a pattern.


    [This woman has been a trending topic three times this month. Is she trying to break into Hollywood?]


    [Seriously, awyer trending this often? Anyone who believes this isn''t bought is a fool. If she bes a celebrity, I''m boycotting everything she''s in.]


    [It feels like she''s always the one getting hurt. But these two are just former colleagues, not even close parents or something? Why does she keep targeting them?]


    friends Did they killep


    [I was actually there today. The two of them were walking together, and the woman in the wheelchair came up to them. They backed away like she had the gue, didn''t say much, and then left. They were wearing earbuds, so they probably didn''t even hear her fall.]


    Reading thements, Hannah couldn''t help but smile. As the saying goes, fool me once, shame on you. Pull the same trick three times, and people just get annoyed.


    When Hannah arrived home, Grandma hadn''t gotten there yet. Lionel was on the sofa, staring intently at his phone, his face a thunderous mask.