Chapter 4

"There's no way she can fix it."

"I've watched her streams. She just copies that Poe guy, the one who abuses dogs. No way she'd actually help a dog with anything."

"And I saw it with my own eyes, she threw a dog in a dumpster, then filmed herself 'rescuing' it!"

There were plenty of people in the crowd, and before I could even get a word out, they launched a fresh wave of attacks on me.

These were the same ones who'd been first to claim the little Bichon got beaten all the time.

So they were all Autumn's and Jared's people.

Siri spoke up out of nowhere: "Smart assistant, why is it that every time Autumn demands Gay Pruitt fix the little Bichon's problem, a whole crowd starts cursing?"

The smart assistant let out a cold laugh.

"Because Autumn and Jared never intended to fix the Bichon's problem at all."

"They want to keep smearing her nonstop, to sentence Gay Pruitt in the court of public opinion."

"That's how the internet works. Smear someone long enough and the lie turns into the truth."

"Like when Poe once gave his cat Gilbert a bath and Gilbert died. Every fan knew it wasn't Poe's fault, but enough people piled on the hate, and suddenly it was his fault."

"So even though his account was never banned, he stopped streaming and lay low."

"Autumn and Jared want to strangle Gay Pruitt in the cradle."

Siri asked, not quite understanding: "I don't get it. He didn't do anything wrong, Gay Pruitt didn't do anything wrong, so why are so many people trashing her?"

I didn't fully get it either.

But the smart assistant gave the answer: "When one whale falls, everything else feeds. Take Gay Pruitt out, and a lot of her fans flow straight into Autumn's and Jared's traffic pool."

The hell?

I felt like the smart assistant had just schooled me.

Meanwhile my best friend was pretty sly too. She'd gotten all the ringleaders on camera.

The comment feed picked up a new rhythm:

"See? See? Even the locals know she abuses dogs. Case closed."

"So all those dog-rescue streamers online, they toss the dog in a trash can first and then film it?"

"I'm begging you, Gay Pruitt, go lose your mom right now."

"You're this vicious, your whole family deserves to rot!"

"Her parents are both professors at Riverport University. Her dad's Ronald Pruitt, her mom's Regina Finch. DM me for their phone number."

"Quick, call her parents, ask them how they raised someone this vicious!"

I clenched my fists. I never imagined the competition in this niche could be so cutthroat, so low, so damn despicable...

They were actually about to go after my parents online!

That was when my childhood friend Samuel Swanson showed up and murmured in my ear: "Don't worry. I already called our folks and told them to power off their phones."

Only then did I let out a breath, and I didn't even mind that the guy was slipping in that "our folks."

"Enough!"

I spoke up at once, pointing at Autumn.

"I know why the little Bichon peed everywhere, so all of you shut up right now!"

"Stop trying to sentence me online by smearing me over and over!"

"Right now, in front of everyone here and the hundreds of thousands watching this stream, I'm going to expose the truth about why the little Bichon peed!"

My gaze landed on that ring of Autumn's, the one that gave off a shock.