Chapter 2

She casts her screen onto the jet's giant LED wall.

The hashtag burns bright red across the display:

— #IceQueenHeiress72HoursInTheSahara #Trending1

It's the most watched video on the internet right now.

A hidden drone captured everything from every angle.

Three days and three nights of me clawing to survive.

I lunge at the screen, screaming.

"NO! I don't want anyone seeing me like that!"

But I'm dead. Nobody can hear me.

The HD screen keeps playing. Every humiliating second, crystal clear.

There I am, kneeling in rags, licking urine mixed with sand off the ground.

Too little liquid. Too much grit.

The second it touches my tongue, I gag and throw it up with bile.

But I still lick the ground clean, sobbing.

"I have to eat… I can't die… Mom and Dad are waiting for me…"

The comments flood in.

"OMG is that the Ice Princess from the Sterling family?? She lost all her dignity to survive lol."

"Hahaha look at her, drinking like some desperate stray."

"People will do anything to live. Wild."

One sane person speaks up:

"Wait, is this real? Is she doing this for clout? Could someone actually die out there?"

But Dad just leans back, legs crossed, looking pleased.

"We spoiled Coco rotten. She was always fighting with Maisie for attention. She needed to suffer a little. Now she'll appreciate everything we gave her."

Mom smiles softly and peels a lychee, feeding it to Maisie by hand.

"After going through this, Coco will finally understand how good she had it."

Preston chuckles along.

"I hope Coco understands you guys did this out of love."

Every word out of their mouths cuts me deeper than the last.

So this is "for my own good."

I was terrified my parents would die of thirst. I hiked day and night looking for water. My throat bled and I didn't stop.

I threw away every ounce of dignity to survive, to lead them out of that desert.

They don't feel even a little guilty.

They actually think they're teaching me a lesson.

They even posted my worst moments online for strangers to laugh at.

Preston smirks and swipes to the next video.

The clip shows the moment before he "died", handing me the last bottle of water.

He leans back, smug as hell.

"I told her it was our last bottle."

"Told her if we didn't find camp soon, we'd all die of thirst."

"The heartbreak on her face, God, it was gorgeous."

Maisie rolls her eyes and fast forwards to me guzzling that water down.

She clings to Mom's arm, whining.

"Coco is so selfish. If it were me, I'd never drink that water. I'd die of thirst before I stopped bringing it back to you guys."

Dad shakes his head, disappointed.

"You really don't know someone until you push them to the edge."

"Coco's ungrateful. Always has been."

Mom snorts.

"Raised her for nothing. Thank God we have Maisie."

I hover above them, crying, shaking my head.

"I'm not ungrateful!"

"I cut my own veins open for you!"

"You have a drone. Go back and look at me! I'm dead, I'm already dead!"

Preston smiles, handing slices of cake to the flight attendants.

"Everybody celebrate with Maisie. Her follower count jumped by 300k this week!"

Everyone claps. Praises Maisie's genius idea.

Mom pats her hair proudly.

"You've always wanted to direct, right? Soon as we're home, I'll get you a PR team. Let's see if Coco's little documentary can win you an international award."

The cabin erupts in cheers.

Nobody cares that Maisie's fame is built on my dead body.

Then Maisie's eyes light up.

"Oh! Since it's blowing up, let's go live!"

"Everyone loves raw, unedited streams. Watching Coco struggle in the Sahara? This is gonna go NUCLEAR!"

She jumps up and posts the announcement:

""Going live with my sister's desert adventure. Come watch the show, babes! "

Then she hits the Bluetooth switch on the drone.