Benjamin Cohen, the billionaire scion, posts a late-night pic from a private jet tarmac. Caption: [Operation Win-Her-Back is a go.] Half an hour later, the newly-crowned heiress, Melody Nolan, posts a pic of a matching rose and a massive diamond ring. Caption: [He found me!] The internet exploded. As fans went into a frenzy, Benjamin himself crashed a live stream and went on the attack: “Win who back? You? Are you allergic to shame or something?” “It’s bad enough I can’t get her back, but now you’re trying to ruin my reputation!” “Do you have any idea how important a man’s reputation is?!” He finished his rant, then whipped his head around, his voice dropping to a pathetic whimper as he looked at me. “Babe, you gotta say something!!!” 1 The day the real heiress returned was the day I was kicked out of the Nolan family home. While the entire internet was laughing at me, a reality TV show offered me a contract. They wanted me to be Melody’s on-air punching bag, her ‘control group.’ To utterly humiliate me, during the ‘borrow money’ challenge, Melody conspired with the producers. We were both forced to call the same person: the infamous Benjamin Cohen. “Let’s just see, sis,” Melody whispered to me, covering her mic when the cameras weren't looking, her smile dripping with venom. “Will Mr. Cohen lend money to a disgraced fake like you, or to the real, beloved heiress?” “We’ll see,” I said, raising an eyebrow. I wasn’t sure Benjamin would lend me the money, but I was damn sure he wouldn’t lend it to her. For dramatic effect, the host had me call first. As the phone rang, a knot of anxiety tightened in my stomach. What if he didn’t pick up? The last time we spoke, when we broke up, he swore that if he ever spoke to me again, he was a dog. Thirty seconds ticked by. Nothing. Melody could barely contain her smug grin, though she feigned concern. “Oh no, it looks like Mr. Cohen isn’t picking up for my sister…” Her comment sent the live chat into a frenzy of mockery. LMAO, who does this fake think she is, calling a Cohen for a million bucks?! She couldn’t even borrow a hundred! If she gets a single cent, I will eat my own shoe on a live stream! Careful what you wish for, buddy. You never know. ^^^ Is that a Thea fan? People actually stan the fake heiress? LOL. Yeah, I said what I said! The chat was a warzone, and the tension on set was thick enough to cut with a knife. Melody’s triumphant smile grew wider. Just as everyone expected the call to go to voicemail, it connected. Melody’s smile froze on her face. For a split second, she looked stunned, before schooling her features back into a mask of disdainful confidence. She was certain he wouldn’t lend me the money. The line was dead silent. Benjamin didn't say a word. I had to be the one to speak first. “It’s me, Thea.” Still nothing. The silence stretched. “Look, um… can I borrow a million dollars?” I heard a sharp intake of breath on the other end. It was a sound of pure disbelief, quickly morphing into fury. “Thea,” Benjamin’s voice, usually a deep, magnetic rumble, was now tight with rage. “You call me for the first time in months just to ask for money?!” “Mhm,” I mumbled, steeling myself. “No money! But you can have me!” he snarled, and then—click. He hung up. He’d spat the words out with such fury that the last part was garbled. Everyone on set, including Melody, only heard one thing clearly: “No money!” “Oh, what a shame. It seems Mr. Cohen isn’t willing to help you out, sis,” Melody said, her voice dripping with fake sympathy while her eyes danced with glee. The moment she finished, Vivian, an influencer who’d been kissing Melody’s ass since the show began, rolled her eyes at me. “Some people need to learn their place. She’s lucky a man like Mr. Cohen even answered her call.” Then, her face morphed into a fawning smile as she turned to Melody. “Melody, you should call him! He wouldn’t just lend you a million, he’d give you fifty!” Melody preened under the praise, but then she noticed I was staring down at my phone, completely silent. She subtly motioned for a cameraman to zoom in on my screen. The live feed was suddenly filled with the contents of my phone: [NOTICE: A wire transfer of $50,000,000.00 from an account belonging to BENJAMIN COHEN has been initiated to your account ending in 0553 on 07-29-2025. Please verify…] “Fifty million?!” Vivian shrieked, sucking in a sharp breath. 2 Her scream snapped me out of my shock. Before I could even process it, a text from Benjamin came through. [Is that enough? If not I can send more… actually just give me your address, I’ll have a black card sent over. Don’t get the wrong idea, it’s just less hassle. You know how busy I am, I don’t have time to keep sending you transfers…] The text was broadcast live, and a fresh wave of gasps rippled through the studio. I stared at the message, clearly sent before he’d finished typing. I knew Benjamin. That dog was about to say something utterly filthy. Without a second thought, I blocked his number. I’d deal with returning the money after the show. After blocking him, I calmly slid my phone into my pocket and looked straight at the camera. “It’s a scam text. Phishing for my address.” But the live chat had already detonated. FIFTY MILLION?! I wouldn’t even burn that much fake money for my ancestors! Is this what life is like for the 1%? Just casually wiring fifty mil?! Hey, where’s that guy who promised to eat his shoe? Don’t be a coward! Who’s a coward? That text is obviously fake! I’ll double down. If Princess Melody gets a single dollar from him, you’re the one eating a shoe! Deal. And if your princess gets nothing, you eat two? …Fine! The entire internet is our witness! The back-to-back bombshells had wiped the smile off Melody’s face. Vivian, ever the loyal lackey, tried to salvage the situation. “Melody, it’s your turn! I bet that text was fake. After all, Mr. Cohen hung up on her.” She shot me a contemptuous look. “If I got rejected like that on national television, I’d quit showbiz forever. The humiliation!” Vivian’s words seemed to soothe Melody’s frayed nerves. She pasted on her signature sweet, innocent smile. “Okay, here I go!” She dialed Benjamin’s number with an air of absolute certainty. The call was immediately rejected. A look of disbelief and mortification flashed across Melody’s face. “He probably just got spammed and rejected the call without looking,” Vivian said quickly, shooting me a pointed glare. “Try again, Melody.” Melody’s expression softened. She took a deep breath, composed herself, and dialed again with a bright, sugary smile. Rejected again. Now she was starting to look desperate. The other guests were watching her with a new, speculative glint in their eyes. She ignored them and tried again. Rejected. She tried one more time, her thumb jabbing at the screen. This time, it connected. A visible wave of relief washed over Melody. She shot me a look of pure triumph. But before she could even say hello, Benjamin’s impatient voice barked through the speaker. [I told you, I’m not buying insurance! Stop calling me, are you crazy?] Click. He hung up. The entire studio fell silent. For a moment, even the live chat froze. All the color drained from Melody’s face. Her eyes were wide with shock as her trembling fingers dialed one last time. A cold, robotic voice answered: [The number you have dialed is currently unavailable…] 3 He’d blocked her. Somewhere in the studio, someone let out an audible snort of laughter. The chat was a waterfall of LMAO MELODY GOT REKT and Where’s shoe-eating guy? Show yourself! But a flood of PRINCESS MELODY IS THE PRETTIEST bots quickly washed them away. Melody’s face was thunderous. Vivian rushed to comfort her. “It’s okay, Mel! So he blocked you? You can just ask him to unblock you later! And you didn’t borrow any money, but neither did Thea, so…” The more Vivian talked, the more flustered she became, each word a clumsy step on a minefield of Melody’s insecurities. Melody’s face turned stony. She shot a dark look toward the production crew, and her manager, standing off-camera, gave a slight nod. Three seconds later, Melody’s body began to sway. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she collapsed. The set was thrown into chaos. Paramedics rushed in and, after a brief examination, announced that Melody had fainted from exhaustion due to her “frail constitution.” Predictably, the chat filled with a new narrative: Melody’s health was poor because she’d spent her childhood suffering in poverty. The live broadcast was abruptly cut short. It was rescheduled for ten o’clock the next morning. 4 Because it was an emergency, the production hadn’t arranged for our accommodations. I found a hotel nearby. After a quick shower, I collapsed into bed. I’d been up all night writing music, and my eyelids felt like they were lined with lead. I slept like the dead, completely oblivious to the drama that had unfolded online overnight. When I finally woke up and checked my phone, I saw that Benjamin and Melody were trending. [BREAKING] #BenjaminCohenAndMelodyNolanSpotted [VIRAL] #OperationWinHerBack MelodyNolan SaysYes [HOT] #CohenNolanMerger WeddingBells The trending page was a wall of their names. Just as I was about to click on a link, the topics vanished. Moments later, Cohen Industries’ official corporate account released a statement. It clarified that the rumors of a relationship between Benjamin Cohen and Melody Nolan were entirely false, and any talk of a merger or marriage was pure fabrication. The statement concluded with a promise to pursue legal action against anyone spreading misinformation. The gossip sites immediately fell in line, deleting their posts and issuing apologies. But Melody’s fans only got louder. They flooded the corporate account’s comments, insisting Benjamin was just playing hard to get and that this was no way to win a girl’s heart. They created a fan page for the “couple,” deepfaking Benjamin’s business interviews and Melody’s reality show clips into romantic montages. As the fans were shipping them to death, they got served. Cohen Industries sued them. Every single fan who had participated in spreading the rumor was named in the lawsuit. Unsurprisingly, this also went viral. The sheer scale of it—suing thousands of people at once—was a jaw-dropping display of wealth and power. The scandal was so huge that even when it was time for the show to resume, Melody was still sulking in her trailer, refusing to come out. The director was pacing frantically. I, on the other hand, was leisurely scrolling through my phone, enjoying the drama. I was watching one of the AI-generated videos of Benjamin and Melody, marveling at how insane fan edits could be, when the director announced we were live in fifteen minutes. I nodded and was about to put my phone away when I realized my thumb had slipped. I’d just liked the video. I LIKED THE VIDEO!!! I frantically unliked it, breathing a sigh of relief at my quick reflexes. But it was too late. A flood of DMs from a “special contact” poured in. Benjamin Cohen: [? You have time to watch garbage edits of me with someone else, but you don’t have time to answer my texts?!] [Thea, you have no heart! I hate you! You seductress who stole my body and my feelings, you evil woman…] [Damn it, why won’t these stupid videos delete?!] [Cry emoji…] [You’re filming a show? Fine. I’m coming to find you.] My eyes widened in horror at the last message. What the hell was that lunatic coming here for?! My fingers flew across the screen. [Respectfully declined.] [Don’t forget what you said when we broke up. If you ever spoke to me again, you were a dog!!] [You don’t want to be a dog, do you?] I hit send, shut down my phone, and prepared to go live. 5 Just then, Melody emerged from her trailer. Her manager must have said something to her, because she looked much calmer. When she saw me, a smug, triumphant look crossed her face. She mouthed two words at me: You’re finished. I just stared back, bewildered. What was her problem? The show resumed. The topic shifted to our love lives. This time, the host started with Melody. “So, Melody, are you seeing someone?” “Mhm!” She nodded shyly, casually tucking her hair behind her ear to flash the enormous diamond ring on her finger. Her cheeks were flushed. “We were, but we broke up. But… we got back together yesterday.” “Wow!” The host’s eyes widened, zeroing in on the ring. “Isn’t that the same ring Mr. Cohen posted on his socials late last night?! So the rumors were true! Are we going to be hearing wedding bells soon?” Melody didn’t answer directly, but she adopted the bashful, glowing expression of a woman deeply in love, which was an answer in itself. The other guests immediately started congratulating her. Vivian, in particular, shot me a look before gushing in an outrageously loud voice. “Oh my god, Mr. Cohen must be so in love with you! A ring that big must have cost hundreds of millions! It’s true what they say, diamonds and flowers for a true beauty!” She then looked at me, adding pointedly, “Unlike some people, who just make things up.” The live chat was now a stream of Congratulations Benjamin & Melody Being Together Forever! Melody basked in the flattery, her smugness growing by the second. She glanced at me and, as if to show off, waved her hand right in front of my face. I couldn’t help it. “You can stop waving it. The diamond is fake.” It was probably a lab-grown diamond. To the naked eye, it looked real enough, but under the studio lights, the fire was just… off. If you looked closely, you could tell. My words were a bomb. The live chat instantly exploded. FAKE?! How dare that bitch Thea slander our princess!! Sour grapes! Melody would never wear a fake! That was a gift from Benjamin Cohen! Exactly! As if a Cohen would give someone a fake ring! She’s just jealous and trashy! You Melody fans are still at it? Benjamin’s company literally issued a statement and is suing people for this. Wake up. Not a fan of either, but as a professional jeweler, I can tell you that ring is 100% fake. ^^^ You’re just a hater! Get lost! Talk trash again and I’ll dig up your ancestors’ graves, I swear! It wasn’t just the chat. The entire studio fell silent. Everyone’s eyes swiveled to Melody’s ring. She instinctively covered her hand, a flicker of panic in her eyes. But Vivian didn’t see it. She leaped to Melody’s defense. “Thea! What are you talking about?! Just because you don’t have one, you’re making up lies! Why would a gift from Mr. Cohen be fake?!” “And you’re so sure it was a gift from Benjamin Cohen?” I shot back. Vivian was momentarily stunned, then puffed up her chest. “Well, who else would it be from? You think Melody would buy a fake ring herself and pretend it was from him? How pathetic would that be!” At that, Melody’s face turned a sickly shade of green. Seeing her reaction, I figured I’d hit the nail on the head. I just shrugged and said nothing more. A strange, awkward silence descended on the set. The host, sensing disaster, quickly tried to change the subject. “So, Melody, can you tell us how Mr. Cohen pursued you?” Melody’s expression relaxed slightly. But just as she was about to speak, the screech of tires from a sports car pulling up outside cut her off. Everyone instinctively turned to look. Stepping out of the car was none other than Benjamin Cohen himself. The set buzzed with excitement. Everyone was thrilled, except for me and Melody. She looked terrified. I was completely dumbfounded. He actually came?! Benjamin strode towards us, his impossibly handsome face a thunderous mask of suppressed rage. Despite the unscheduled arrival, the host was a pro. He hurried forward to greet Benjamin with a warm, respectful welcome before turning the chaos into content. “Mr. Cohen, you really are so devoted to Melody! Following her all the way to the set! We were just asking her how you won her over, but now we can ask the man himself…” The live chat started shipping them again. But at the host’s words, Benjamin, who was usually the picture of cool composure, finally snapped. He whipped his head around to face the terrified Melody and let loose. “Are you insane? Who said I was chasing you? Do I even know you? Who the hell are you? Spreading lies about me all over the internet, is there something wrong with your brain?” “It’s bad enough I can’t win my wife back, but now you have to go and ruin my reputation!” “Do you have any idea how important a man’s reputation is?!” His words hung in the stunned silence. Everyone was now looking at Melody in a completely different light. After eviscerating Melody, Benjamin spun around, his entire demeanor changing in an instant. He looked at me, his expression crumpled and pathetic. “Babe, you gotta say something!!!” Me: ??? The entire on-set audience, mid-gossip: !!! The live chat: ?!?!?! “Mr… Mr. Cohen,” the host stammered. “When you said ‘Operation Win-Her-Back,’ you didn’t mean… you meant Thea?” “Who else?!” Benjamin snapped. He then pulled a small jewelry box from his pocket, opened it to reveal a dazzling diamond ring, and slid it onto my finger as I stood there, completely frozen. While he did it, he threw one last verbal jab at Melody. “Mine’s real, by the way, babe. Not like some people who wear fakes and go around looking for attention. Honestly, she might as well have worn a sugar cube. It would’ve saved her the money, and she could lick it when she gets hungry.” I’d always admired Benjamin’s vicious tongue. After that last comment, Melody let out a choked gasp, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted for real this time. The set descended into chaos, and for the second time, the live broadcast was cut short.
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