Chapter 1

As a travel influencer with forty million followers, I revealed Ryan Cole during my peak traffic hours.

Just a single photo of his face pulled in over eight million likes.

The comments were all asking the same thing—was he my boyfriend?

I confirmed it outright.

But barely half a day later, the tide turned completely. My comment section was flooded with mockery and abuse.

"He just did a livestream with his girlfriend and said he doesn't even know you. How's that slap in the face feel?"

"Go check out the Ryan&Zoe account. They're the cutest couple ever. You're posting someone else's boyfriend and claiming he's yours? Bullying a smaller creator just because she has fewer followers?"

I froze for a few seconds, then followed the account name mentioned in the comments.

It had three hundred thousand followers.

The account belonged to Zoe Lane—a girl Ryan had grown up with since childhood.

I screenshotted it and sent it to Ryan, demanding an explanation.

His tone was dismissive.

"Zoe doesn't have many followers. Her account's been stagnant forever. I'm just doing some couple-style content with her to help her grow."

"It's not a big deal. Don't take it to heart."

He said he didn't like filming videos, didn't like showing his face, didn't want to be on camera—yet he turned around and shot over a dozen couple clips with Zoe, even livestreaming together.

Even that one photo I'd posted—I'd had to beg him for two weeks before he reluctantly agreed.

I hung up in silence and deleted the photo.

Fine. I'd step aside for them.

Within an hour, I lost nearly a hundred and fifty thousand followers. Meanwhile, Zoe's account gained over a hundred thousand.

I clicked into her page again.

Ten minutes ago, she'd posted a new photo. It was a picture of her and Ryan together.

Neither of them was looking at the camera. They were gazing at each other, smiling.

Just that one simple photo—in ten minutes, the comments had already surpassed a thousand, likes had crossed twenty thousand, and the numbers were still climbing.

I opened the comments and saw the pinned account.

No need to guess. It was Ryan.

The comments were all screaming that this was the real couple.

Someone mentioned me.

"Never thought a big influencer would post someone else's boyfriend and try to claim him. Isn't that right, @Emma Reed?"

That comment shot straight to the top.

I replied to her.

"Sure. Whatever you say."

Because of that single line, my DMs were invaded all over again.

This time it wasn't just mockery—there were curses and things far more vicious.

People even dug through my old videos, dissecting every caption word by word, insisting I'd always been problematic.

Several brand partners messaged me, wanting to terminate our collaborations.

They said the controversy around me had damaged their brand image and demanded I compensate them for their losses.

That evening, Ryan came home carrying a blueberry ice cream cake—my favorite.

He walked over and set the cake on the table.

"Still mad?"

His tone was the same as always—exasperated, like he was coaxing someone being unreasonable.

"It's just some couple-style content. It's not like I'm actually with her."

Just some couple-style content?

When I wanted to go public, he said it was a hassle. Said he didn't want to show his face, didn't want to film videos with me.

So his biggest concession had been that one photo.

Ryan had never used any of these platforms, never even registered an account.

After that photo went up, he didn't even acknowledge it.

"Stop being upset," Ryan said. "Zoe's account has been lukewarm forever. This was her idea to fix that. You know what she and I are—I'm just helping her make content."

Of course I knew.

Ryan and Zoe had grown up together. They roughhoused and bickered like family.

Zoe always said she was nothing more than Ryan's buddy—a bro-type friend—and couldn't possibly be into him.

So when she found out Ryan and I were together, she let out a scoff and asked me with exaggerated disbelief:

"What do you even see in him?"

She clicked her tongue twice, laughing so hard she doubled over.

"Ryan still wet his pants at six years old. Had one dream during puberty and panicked about it all day."

"You probably don't know this, but the first time I wore a spaghetti-strap dress, his face turned red as a tomato. Ha!"

It wasn't until Ryan got angry that she reluctantly shut up.

That was supposedly their relationship.

I looked at Ryan.

"Do you have any idea what people are saying about me right now? The brands I work with have been affected by this too—they're all terminating their contracts. My reputation is ruined, and I have to pay breach-of-contract penalties."

Ryan clearly didn't think the money mattered.

He clicked his tongue.

"How much? I'll transfer it to you."

"Ryan, this isn't about money."

I closed my eyes, then opened them. My chest felt blocked, a dull, suffocating ache.

Hearing me say that, Ryan's patience was visibly running out.

"Then what do you want?"

"Zoe finally has some momentum. If we clear things up now, she'll definitely be affected."

"I promise you—once her account is fully established, I'll set the record straight."

I looked at him. He was worried about Zoe being affected. But it never once crossed his mind that I might be affected too.

Especially when I'd gone public with him at the peak of my career.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Zoe's video call came through first.

Ryan raised his hand, cutting off whatever I was about to say.

He answered the call.

Zoe's voice came through from the other end.

"Ryan, are you free right now? The fans want to see us livestream. I'm almost at your place."

Ryan instinctively glanced at me.

Zoe raised an eyebrow, her tone light and breezy.

"Oh, Emma's there too? It's just a livestream. She shouldn't mind, right?"

"She has nothing to mind." Ryan answered for me. "You know the code. Just let yourself in when you get here."

After he hung up, I spoke.

"Why does she know our door code?"

Ryan said, "Last time she was too lazy to go home, so she crashed here for a night."

As if remembering something, he added:

"When Zoe gets here, don't make a face. It'll affect the livestream."

I looked at Ryan. And suddenly, I had nothing left to say.