Just like that, the heat vanished.
On the way to the hospital, Lucia finally got the tea.
Someone outed Alice online—not Michael and Joanne’s real kid. Just a poser heiress.
Even though the parents scrambled to explain, the leaker dropped a paternity test. Solid receipts.
The internet? Lost its mind.
Alice had over ten million followers. Her whole brand? Rich girl energy. Now she was exposed as a fraud, and people were pissed.
The comments went feral. She’d never faced hate like this—and snapped. Tried to end it with poison.
By the time they rolled up to the hospital, Jared had just wrapped a call with PR.
He didn’t move. Just turned to Lucia.
“Lucia.” His tone was all command. “You need to go public. Say Alice is your sister.”
She let out a dry laugh. “Why would I?”
“Because it works better coming from you.” He sounded fed up. “If I say it—or your parents—no one buys it. They’ll think we’re covering for her and feel bad for you. But if it’s you, they’ll believe it.”
