As George stepped out of the room, Rina glanced at the clock. It was nearly time for her planned livestream. She’d decided earlier that morning to address her fans directly, to try and regain control of the narrative.
She sat in front of her ring light and adjusted her camera, her heart racing. For someone used to the spotlight, this felt different. This wasn’t a red carpet or a press event-this was her, raw and vulnerable, speaking directly to the people who had the power to either support her or tear her down.
After a deep breath, she hit the “Go Live” button. Within seconds, thousands of viewers flooded in, the chat scrolling rapidly with a mix of messages:
“We’re with you, Rina!”
“Is it true what they’re saying?”
“Why didn’t you address this sooner?”
“Hi, everyone,” she began, her voice steady despite the storm raging inside her. “I know there’s been a lot said about me in the past few days. I wanted to take a moment to speak to you directly, without any filters or edits.”
Just as she started, a notification popped up on her screen. It was from George. The subject line read: URGENT: Check the news NOW.
Her stomach twisted. She kept her composure and continued speaking, even as she reached for her phone off-camera to check the message.
In the split screen of her phone, she saw the headline: Man Confesses to Being Paid by Rina Powers to Frame Kayla Reese.
Her heart stopped. She clicked on the link, and the video began to play.
A middle-aged man with unkempt hair and a shaky voice sat before the cameras in a dimly lit room. His eyes darted nervously as he spoke.
“She… she promised me money,” he stammered, glancing at a piece of paper on the table in front of him. “A lot of money. Said if I helped frame Kayla Reese, I’d never have to worry about bills again.”
The reporters leaned in closer, their pens and cameras capturing every word.
“And you’re saying Rina Powers orchestrated this whole thing?” one journalist pressed.
“Yes,” the man nodded emphatically. “She was furious at Kayla for… for something personal. Said she wanted to ruin her completely. I didn’t want to do it, but she threatened me. I didn’t know what else to do.”
The video was posted online within minutes, and the internet exploded.
#RinaExposed began trending almost instantly. News outlets picked up the story, headlines screaming accusations of Rina’s supposed vendetta against Kayla. Social media was ablaze with outrage.
“She’s gone too far this time.”
“How can someone be so vindictive?”
“I knew Rina Powers wasn’t as innocent as she pretends to be!”
Her chat exploded.
“Did you see this?!”
“Rina, is it true?”
“What the hell is going on??”
For a split second, Rina froze. The betrayal, the shock, the sheer audacity of the lies being spun against her-it was all too much. But she forced herself to keep calm. This was exactly what Kayla wanted: to make her crack, to make her lose control in front of her audience.
“I’m just seeing this now,” she said, addressing her viewers with as much poise as she could muster. “And I want to make one thing very clear: this is a complete and utter fabrication. I have never, and would never, stoop so low as to pay someone to frame another person. That’s not who I am.”
Her voice grew firmer, more resolute. “For those of you who have supported me through everything, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. And for those who have doubts, I understand. But I promise you, the truth will come out. This… this smear campaign? It’s just another tactic to distract from what’s really happening.”
She paused, letting her words sink in. The chat was a whirlwind of reactions-some supportive, others skeptical-but she didn’t let it deter her.
“I will not let lies define me,” she continued. “And I will not let anyone silence my truth. Thank you for listening, and please, don’t believe everything you see or hear. I’ll prove it to you. I’ll prove all of it.”
She ended the livestream, her hands shaking as she set her phone down.
Just then, George burst back into the room, his phone pressed to his ear. “They’re escalating,” he said, his tone urgent. “But we’ve got leads on the guy. He’s got a record, Rina-fraud, extortion, you name it. If we play this right, we can expose him.”
Rina clenched her fists, the fire in her chest reigniting. “Do it. I don’t care what it takes. We’ll expose him, Kayla, all of them. They wanted a fight-well, they’ve got one.”
Meanwhile….
Kayla sat in her cell, watching the chaos unfold on Damien’s Ipad. She couldn’t contain her grin. This was even better than she had imagined.
“It’s working,” Damien said clearly excited. “The public’s eating it up. Rina’s reputation is crumbling by the hour.”
“Good,” Kayla replied, leaning back against the cold wall of her cell. “But don’t let up. Keep the pressure on. Leak more ‘details’ if you have to. I want her drowning in this.”
Damien hesitated. “And what about the trial? This guy won’t hold up under cross-examination. The defense will tear him apart if they push.”
Kayla rolled her eyes. “By the time we get to trial, it won’t matter. Public opinion will be so against her that no one will care about the truth. Just keep him in line until then.”
At the same time, Rina sat in her villa, staring at her laptop screen. The fabricated confession was playing on loop, each word hitting her like a blow to the chest.
“Unbelievable,” George muttered beside her, pacing the room. “This is a blatant setup. The guy can’t even keep his story straight.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Rina said quietly, her voice void of emotion. “People will believe it because they want to.”
George stopped pacing and turned to her. “We can fight this, Rina. We have evidence, witnesses-Just as George was speaking, his phone rang cutting him off. His phone had been blowing up all day with calls and texts and now, he considered turning the shit off. But the moment he glanced at the screen and saw the person calling was the contact he had saved as ‘Admirable Mr. Graham’, he answered at once.
“Mr. Graham” He was about saying when Zayn silenced him.
“Are you with Rina?”
“Yes!” George replied respectfully, glancing at Rina for the briefest moment.
“Move away from her ear’s reach.” Zayn instructed. George was confused, but did as he was instructed. “What’s going on?” Zayn’s baritone caught through the line, calm, but frightening even to George who was equally a man. “The mess claiming Rina paid him to hurt someone? Did you manage to find anything on him?”
“He managed to find something. He has a criminal record of fraud, theft and the list goes on.”
“Good! Do nothing more about him. I’ll take it from here.”
George nodded. But when he remembered Zayn couldn’t see him, he said, “Yes, Mr. Graham.”
Zayn said nothing else. George, assuming he already hung up, made to throw his phone into his pocket when…
“How is Rina?”
George instantly put the phone back to his ear on hearing his speaker crackle. “Mr. Graham?!”
“Rina, how’s she doing?”
George was surprised. Wasn’t Zayn supposed to know first hand how his fiancee was doing? But despite his confusion, “she’s handling the matter well. Rina is very strong Mr Graham. Stronger than you think.”
Zayn said nothing in reply. Then after a while, “mm. Don’t tell her I called.” He said and hung up directly.