Chapter 1

Two in the morning, and my best friend pounded my door down with her mother in tow.

She dropped to her knees, hair a mess, sobbing so hard she was hiccuping.

"That blind date you set me up with, he raped me last month while I was drunk."

"You knew exactly what kind of man he was. You did this to me on purpose!"

I froze, mouth already opening to protest.

Then a stream of floating comments drifted past my eyes.

【Don't deny it! She's two months pregnant, and the baby is her ex-boyfriend's!】

【She's waiting for you to protest, then she'll throw out fake chat records to nail you for putting him up to it!】

【Last time your parents were harassed so badly they had strokes on the spot, and your family paid eight hundred grand to settle!】

【Admit it! Get her to file a report at the police station. That night's dashcam footage is your blade!】

I looked at her mother, quietly filming from the corner, and I smiled.

"Yes, I told him to do it. Come on. I'll go report it with you right now."

……

Loretta James clearly never expected me to go along with her and admit it.

The sob stuck in her throat cut off all at once, and right on its heels came one loud hiccup.

Jean Whitney had been hunched by the door, holding her phone dead steady, secretly recording me.

At my words her fingers jerked, the phone nearly cracking against the security door, and then she shoved the lens right up to my face.

"You all heard that!"

"She admitted it herself. She put my daughter up to it!"

"Eleanor Fox, how could you be so heartless!"

Loretta recovered fast, pushing herself up off the floor and yanking open the canvas bag she'd brought.

A thick stack of printed A4 pages slapped down hard on the living room coffee table.

"What are you still playing the good person for?"

She jabbed a finger at the top page.

"These are all the chats between you and me!"

"You even coached me. Sleep with him first, make it a done deal, then squeeze him for money!"

"Eleanor, I treated you like my best friend for ten years, and to you I was just a way to make cash?"

My mother heard the commotion from the master bedroom and came running out in her coat. She saw the mess on the floor and her hands shook with rage.

"What on earth are you two babbling about!"

"Our Ellie would never do something so vile!"

I hurried over and grabbed her, steering both her and my father back toward the bedroom.

"Mom, don't come out. I've got this."

The door locked behind them.

I turned around. The stack of pages was already spread open across the table.

I walked over, picked up the first sheet, and my mouth twitched.

"Quite the thorough job."

"Even splurged on color printing."

The first page showed my WeChat profile picture, my ID down to the last character.

In the chat thread, this so-called me was earnestly urging Loretta to go meet her blind date, Jeremy Dickerson.

Jeremy's family got three units from a buyout. You have to land him tonight.

I flipped to the second page.

Once he's drunk he won't know which way is up. Take your chance and sleep with him.

Once the pregnancy shows, you can name whatever engagement money you want.

"What day was the dinner?"

"What exactly did I say to you then?"

"Read it out loud, right now, to my face."

Loretta bit her lip and stared me down, fingers pinching that sheet of paper until her knuckles went white.

Her voice trembled, and she had the wronged-victim act down cold.

"The fifteenth of last month."

"Eight in the evening, the Blue Harbor Restaurant on the West Side."

"You left early and had me take Jeremy home."

"You said he was drunk, that it was the best chance."

The further she read, the smoother it got.

Time, place, people, all of it fabricated to look real, right down to exactly when I'd supposedly slipped out.

Seeing her daughter had the upper hand, Jean set her phone down at once, dropped onto my sofa, and crossed her legs.

"Eleanor, the evidence is right here. What's the point of arguing?"

"My daughter was a virgin, and you ruined her just like that. She barely wants to go on living now."

She held up one hand, first showing five fingers, then slowly adding three more.

"Settle it privately."

"Eight hundred grand."

"Not a cent less."

"If you don't pay up, tomorrow I'll post this video to the group chat at your dance studio."

"Let's see who'll dare send their kid to a teacher who pimps people out after that!"

I didn't answer her. I slid my hand into my pajama pocket and pressed record.

One by one I picked up the chat records off the table and photographed each one, clear as day.

Page one, click.

Page two, click.

As soon as I finished each shot, I uploaded it to the cloud, right in front of them.

Loretta faltered.

"What are you taking pictures of that for?"

I put my phone away, turned, and went to the entryway for my car keys.

"Locking in the evidence."

Shoes on, I pulled the door open.

"There's nothing to settle privately."

"You've got evidence, don't you?"

"Come on. You're coming with me to the police station to file the report right now."

I stood in the doorway. Loretta didn't move.

Jean froze on the sofa too.

I looked back over my shoulder.

"What?"

"You get raped and don't report it? Waiting around here for a lucky day on the calendar?"