Lily woke slowly, still wrapped in Jacob's arms on the study couch where they'd eventually fallen asleep after talking until dawn.
For the first moment—one perfect, blissful moment—she felt completely at peace.
No secrets. No lies. Just her and Jacob, finally honest with each other.
Then her phone started ringing.
And didn't stop.
RING. RING. RING.
"Make it stop," Jacob muttered against her hair, still half-asleep.
Lily reached for her phone groggily, squinting at the screen.
47 missed calls.
126 text messages.
83 social media notifications.
[What the...?]
She opened the first message from Emma: "LILY CALL ME NOW EMERGENCY"
Second message from Emma: "DO NOT GO ONLINE"
Third message: "OMG LILY WHERE ARE YOU THE INTERNET IS EXPLODING"
Fourth: "PLEASE TELL ME THOSE ARTICLES ARE FAKE"
[Articles? What articles?]
With growing dread, Lily opened her social media.
The top trending topic: #LilyMartinExposed
Her hands started shaking.
"Jacob. Jacob, wake up."
