Chapter 8: The Entire Internet Waits for Me to Disappear

The ten-minute countdown was livestreamed online.

#HasEvelynSigned

The hashtag suddenly climbed to number three worldwide.

The entire internet seemed to be watching an execution that had already been decided.

Everyone had pulled up a chair and was waiting to watch me kneel and beg for mercy.

The gossip accounts had prepared their articles long ago.

All they had to do was press send.

“Deep Dive: The Ten Most Self-Destructive Moments of the Vicious Ex-Wife Evelyn.”

“Walking Away With Nothing Is Inevitable: The Award-Winning Actor Has Already Been More Than Generous.”

“A Woman’s Greatest Tragedy Is Destroying a Winning Hand.”

They had even photoshopped images of me crying uncontrollably and signing the agreement on the spot.

Liam’s fan club had already begun celebrating.

“Girls, just ten more minutes! The vicious woman is about to leave the entertainment industry!”

“Eight tonight! We’re giving away prizes across the internet to celebrate our idol’s new life!”

“He deserves the best! Selena is the real angel!”

Selena’s fans were even more excited.

Their fan community was already flooding with messages congratulating her on taking over as the official wife.

They placed photographs of Selena and me side by side.

On one side was me, edited to look grotesque.

On the other was Selena, with every possible beauty filter applied.

The caption read:

“The old one cries, the new one smiles. Justice may arrive late, but it never fails to arrive.”

Even random bystanders joined in.

“If this woman manages to turn things around, I’ll livestream myself eating a keyboard.”

“Even the capital has entered the game. How could she possibly turn this around?”

“Waiting for her to disappear. From now on, she’ll be as if she never existed.”

Not a single person believed in me.

In everyone’s eyes, I was a dead fish nailed to a cutting board, with only one final breath left.

They were certain I would break.

That I would compromise.

That I would obediently sign the papers.

Then I would be thrown away like garbage and removed from this glamorous industry.

Someone even opened a betting pool.

They were betting on which minute I would start crying.

Which minute I would sign.

The comment section was full of laughter and celebration.

As if they were not cyberbullying a human being.

As if they were celebrating a grand festival.

The highest odds were placed on one outcome:

I would kneel and beg Liam for forgiveness.

What a familiar script.

Three years ago, they had all worked together to raise Liam onto a pedestal.

I stared at those words.

Strangely, the final ripple of emotion in my heart became completely still.

Being despised by the entire world suddenly didn’t seem so frightening.

What was frightening was believing them.

Believing their judgment of you.

But I refused.

I would make every person who had placed a bet lose everything.

I closed the livestream.

Then I gently placed the fountain pen the lawyer had given me back on the table.

After that, I picked up my phone.

I opened the encrypted cloud drive that had been sealed away for three years.

No one knew it existed.

The progress bar slowly loaded.

The light from the screen reflected in my eyes.

Like a flame being rekindled.

Outside this door, the entire world was waiting for me to lower my head.

Inside this room, I had already begun digging their graves.

The cloud drive contained every piece of truth I had collected over three years.

Every word.

Every frame.

Every detail.

The countdown reached its final ten seconds.

The lawyer impatiently tapped the table.

“Ms. Thorne, time is up.”

“Are you signing or not?”

I raised my head.

Slowly, the corners of my lips curled upward.

Then I said something no one expected.