Amelia's mother shook her awake at 7 AM, holding the TV remote like a weapon.
"Amy, you need to see this. Now."
Still half asleep, Amelia stumbled downstairs. Her father was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. The morning news was playing on the television.
"What's wrong?" Amelia asked, rubbing her eyes.
Her mother pointed at the screen. "Ethan's doing a live interview."
Amelia's heart stopped. There was Ethan, sitting across from Sandra Mills, the most popular talk show host in the country. He looked handsome and confident, like he always did on camera.
"Turn it up," Amelia whispered.
Sandra leaned forward. "So Ethan, you dated Liya for almost two years. What was she really like behind closed doors?"
Ethan adjusted his tie and smiled sadly. "Sandra, I thought I knew Amy. I really did. But looking back, there were signs I chose to ignore."
"What kind of signs?"
"She could be... difficult when things didn't go her way. I saw her snap at waiters, get angry with her assistant over small mistakes. I told myself it was just stress from her career."
Amelia felt like ice water was filling her lungs. "That's not true," she whispered.
"But after seeing that video of her with Selene," Ethan continued, "everything made sense. The Amy I saw in that clip was the real Amy. The one she tried to hide from the public."
Sandra nodded sympathetically. "That must have been hard to accept."
"It was devastating. I kept thinking about all the times she might have hurt people when I wasn't around. How many young artists did she crush? How many dreams did she destroy?"
Amelia grabbed the coffee table to keep from falling down. "He's lying. He's lying about everything."
Her father reached for the remote. "Amy, we don't have to watch this."
"No. I need to hear what he's saying."
On screen, Sandra was holding up a photo. "This is you and Selene at a charity event last week, correct?"
"Yes. I met Selene after her interview where she talked about what Amy did to her. Sandra, this girl is so brave. Despite everything Amy put her through, Selene still has hope and kindness in her heart."
"And I understand you're helping her with her music career now?"
Ethan smiled. "I'm doing what I can. Selene deserves a chance to show the world her talent without being bullied or torn down by jealous stars."
Amelia felt like someone was stabbing her in the chest over and over again. "He's helping her? The person who's destroying my life?"
"Amy," her mother said gently, "maybe we should turn this off."
"There's something else troubling," Sandra said to Ethan. "Sources tell us that you have recordings of private conversations with Liya. Is that true?"
Ethan hesitated for just a second. "I... yes. Amy said some disturbing things when she thought nobody was listening. Things about other artists, about fans, about people she worked with."
"And you're willing to share those recordings?"
"If it helps people understand who Amy really is, then yes. The public deserves to know the truth."
Amelia's phone started ringing. It was a number she didn't recognize.
"Don't answer it," her father warned.
But Amelia was already pressing the green button. "Hello?"
"Enjoying the show?" It was the same unknown voice that had been texting her.
"You made him do this," Amelia said. "You're controlling Ethan somehow."
The voice laughed coldly. "We didn't make him do anything. We just gave him a better offer."
"What kind of offer?"
"A record deal with our company. A starring role in three movies. Everything he ever wanted but couldn't get while dating a falling star like you."
Amelia's legs gave out. She collapsed onto the couch. "You bought him."
"We showed him his future with you versus his future without you. He made the smart choice."
On television, Ethan was still talking. "Amy always said the music industry was about survival of the fittest. I guess she was right. And Selene is clearly the stronger artist."
"How long?" Amelia whispered into the phone. "How long has he been working with you?"
"Since your second date. We approached him at that restaurant where you first said you loved him. Remember that night? He stepped outside to take a 'business call.' That was us, offering him a deal."
Amelia remembered that night perfectly. She had been so happy, so full of hope for their future together. But Ethan had come back from that phone call acting slightly different. Distant.
"Everything was fake," she said. "Our entire relationship."
"Not entirely. He did care about you at first. But when we showed him how much money he could make by helping us destroy you, his feelings changed pretty quickly."
The voice paused, enjoying her pain.
"Turn to channel seven. There's something else you need to see."
With shaking hands, Amelia changed the channel. It was another news program, and they were showing a video she had never seen before.
In the video, she was sitting in her car, talking on the phone. But the audio had been changed again.
"Selene Williams is such a threat," fake-Amelia was saying. "I need to find a way to stop her before she takes my spot. Maybe I can spread rumors about her, or find some dirt from her past."
Then fake-Amelia laughed meanly. "These young singers are so naive. They have no idea how cruel this business really is."
"When did you record this?" Amelia asked the voice on the phone.
"We didn't record it. We made it. Just like we made all the others. Amazing what computers can do these days, isn't it?"
Amelia felt her world spinning out of control. "You can fake anything."
"Anything at all. And we will, until you give us what we want."
"What do you want? Just tell me!"
"You know what we want. The notebook from your childhood. The one hidden in your old bedroom. You have eighteen hours to bring it to Miller's Bridge, or we release the hospital video."
The line went dead.
Amelia looked at her parents, who were staring at her with worried faces.
"Who was that?" her mother asked.
"The people who are destroying my life. They want something I took from our old house when I was nine years old."
Her father frowned. "What could you possibly have taken as a child that someone would want now?"
"I don't know. But apparently it's worth ruining my entire career to get it back."
On television, the news anchor was reading breaking news: "In a shocking development, more recordings of Liya have surfaced. We warn viewers that the content is disturbing..."
They played audio of fake-Amelia saying terrible things about her fans, calling them "pathetic losers who worship someone they'll never meet."
Amelia's mother muted the television. "Amy, we need to go to our old house right now. Whatever's hidden there, we need to find it before these people destroy what's left of your life."
"But what if it's a trap? What if they're waiting for us?"
Her father stood up. "Then we'll face it together. But we can't let them win."
As they prepared to leave, Amelia's phone buzzed with a text message from Ethan: "I'm sorry it had to end this way, Amy. But you understand, don't you? I have to think about my career. Good luck with everything."
Amelia stared at the message. Two years of love, of shared dreams, of promises about their future together. All thrown away for money and fame.
She was about to delete the text when another message appeared, this one from the unknown number: "By the way, Amy, Ethan wasn't just recording your conversations for us. He was also copying your house keys, taking photos of your personal documents, and reporting your daily schedule. He's been our inside source for over a year. Sweet dreams knowing that the person you trusted most was betraying you every single day."
Amelia dropped her phone and ran to the bathroom, where she threw up until there was nothing left in her stomach.
Every kiss, every 'I love you,' every moment of happiness with Ethan had been a lie.
But as she knelt on the cold bathroom floor, one terrifying thought kept repeating in her mind:
If they could buy Ethan so easily, who else in her life had been secretly working against her?