Chapter 23: Threats in Paradise

Scarlett's POV

"Don't play the video," I begged Luna. "Please. Whatever you want, I'll do it. Just don't show him."

Luna's finger hovered over the play button. "What I want is for you to leave. Right now. Pack your bags and disappear from Kai's life forever."

"Why are you doing this?" Kai stepped forward. "What did Scarlett ever do to deserve this?"

"She existed," Luna said simply. "She got everything I wanted. The role I auditioned for. The career I dreamed about. The man I loved."

The last words hung in the air like a bomb.

"You loved me?" Kai looked shocked.

"For years. Since we all met in college." Luna's smile was bitter. "But you only saw her. Perfect Scarlett with her big dreams and her sad eyes. You never even noticed me standing right there."

"Luna, I didn't know—" I started.

"Of course you didn't know! You never noticed anyone but yourself!" Luna's composure cracked. "I was your friend for five years. I helped you through everything. And you never once asked how I felt. What I wanted. What I'd sacrificed to keep you afloat."

"You chose to help me. I never asked—"

"You didn't have to ask! That's the problem!" Luna's voice rose. "I devoted my entire life to supporting yours. And for what? So you could abandon the man I loved and then waltz back five years later expecting him to forgive you?"

"This isn't about Kai," I said slowly. "This is about you being angry I didn't know you were in love with him."

"This is about you being a selfish person who destroys everyone around her!" Luna pressed play on the video.

The footage showed me five years ago entering a building. An abortion clinic.

My knees went weak. "Turn it off."

"Why? Isn't this the truth? The real reason you left Kai?" Luna's eyes were wild. "You were pregnant. And instead of telling him, you got rid of it and ran away."

"That's not—" I couldn't finish. Couldn't breathe.

Kai's face had gone completely white. "Is that true? You had an abortion?"

"I can explain—"

"Did you or didn't you?" His voice was cold.

"Yes. But—"

"But what?" Kai's hands shook. "You told me you had a miscarriage. You said you lost the baby."

"I did lose the baby! The clinic footage is from after! I went there after the miscarriage because I needed help processing everything!"

"You're lying," Luna said flatly. "The dates don't match your story."

"I'm not lying! I went to the clinic for counseling, not for—" I couldn't say the word. "Not for that."

"Prove it," Luna challenged.

"I can't! It was five years ago! I don't have records!"

"How convenient." Luna turned to Kai. "See? She's still lying. Even now, caught on video, she lies."

Kai looked between us, confusion and hurt written across his face. "I don't know what to believe anymore."

"Believe me," I pleaded. "Please. I know I've lied before, but not about this. Never about this."

"Why should I?" Kai's voice broke. "You've lied about everything else. The engagement. The reason you left. Why not this too?"

"Because I loved our baby!" The words came out as a sob. "I wanted that child more than anything! When I lost it, I thought I'd die from the grief! I went to that clinic desperate for help, for someone to tell me it wasn't my fault, that I hadn't done something wrong!"

The truth poured out of me like a flood. All the pain I'd buried for five years.

"I blamed myself," I continued through tears. "Thought maybe I'd caused the miscarriage by being stressed about your career. By being scared. By not being good enough to be a mother."

Kai's expression softened slightly. "Scarlett—"

"Don't." Luna stepped between us. "Don't let her manipulate you again. She's just saying what you want to hear."

"I'm telling the truth!" I turned to Luna. "Why are you doing this? What do you gain from destroying me?"

"Justice," Luna said simply. "You destroyed my life. Now I'm destroying yours."

"I never destroyed your life!"

"You took everything from me!" Luna's mask finally shattered completely. "The role I wanted. The career I dreamed of. And worst of all, you had Kai's love and threw it away like it meant nothing!"

"That's what this is really about," Kai said quietly. "You're in love with me and you're punishing Scarlett for having what you wanted."

"What I deserved!" Luna shouted. "I was there for you after she left! I listened to you talk about her for months! I helped you write songs about your heartbreak! And you never once saw me as anything but Scarlett's friend!"

"Because that's all you were to me," Kai said gently. "I'm sorry if you thought otherwise, but I never led you on. My heart has always belonged to Scarlett."

The words should have made me happy. Instead, they felt like the final nail in Luna's sanity.

"Then you're both fools," Luna said coldly. She pressed more buttons on her phone. "In five minutes, this video uploads to every social media platform. In ten minutes, every news site will have it. In an hour, the whole world will know Scarlett Rose's darkest secret."

"No!" I lunged for the phone, but Luna backed away.

"Too late. The upload is scheduled. Nothing can stop it now." She smiled. "Enjoy your last few minutes before everyone knows what you really are."

Luna walked away, leaving us standing by the pool in the darkness.

"We have to stop that upload," I said desperately. "Kai, please, you have to believe me. That video isn't what it looks like."

"I want to believe you." His voice was tired. "But Luna's right about one thing. You've lied so much that even the truth sounds like manipulation."

"Then what do we do?"

"We find proof. Medical records. Something that shows you're telling the truth about the miscarriage."

"Those records are five years old. I don't even know where to start looking."

"Then we start with Luna's phone." Kai pulled out his own phone. "She had to upload the video from somewhere. If we can track her location, maybe we can delete it before it goes public."

We spent the next hour frantically trying to track Luna's phone, hack into her social media accounts, anything to stop the video from uploading.

Nothing worked.

"Three minutes," I whispered, watching the timer count down. "In three minutes, my life is over."

Kai grabbed my hand. "Then we face it together. Whatever happens, whatever people think, we face it together."

"You still want to be with me? After everything?"

"I never stopped wanting to be with you." He pulled me close. "We'll get through this. We'll prove the truth."

Two minutes.

My phone started buzzing. Notifications flooding in. The video had gone live early.

We watched in horror as my social media exploded. Comments pouring in. News sites picking up the story. Everyone jumping to conclusions based on thirty seconds of footage.

"I'm ruined," I whispered.

"No." Kai held me tighter. "We're not giving up. There has to be a way to prove the truth."

"How? Everyone's already decided I'm a monster."

A sound behind us made us both turn. Someone was standing in the shadows by the mansion, watching us.

"Who's there?" Kai called out.

The figure didn't move. Just stood there. Watching.

"Show yourself!" I demanded.

The figure stepped forward slightly, just enough for the pool lights to catch their face.

It wasn't Luna.

It was Madison.

"How long have you been standing there?" Kai asked.

"Long enough." Madison's voice was strange. Flat. "Long enough to hear everything."

"Madison, I can explain—"

"You don't need to explain." She walked closer, her expression unreadable. "Because I believe you."

"You do?"

"I have medical records," Madison said quietly. "From the hospital. Luna left them in her laptop with her revenge plans. She had your entire medical history, Scarlett. Including documentation of your miscarriage."

Hope surged in my chest. "You have proof?"

"I have proof. And I already uploaded it to social media before Luna's video went live." Madison showed us her phone. "Everyone knows the truth now. That you had a miscarriage. That the clinic visit was for counseling, not abortion."

I started crying. Relief flooding through me.

"Why are you helping me?" I asked. "I thought you hated me."

"I did. But then I found Luna's plans and realized she'd been manipulating all of us." Madison's expression softened. "And I realized something else. Something important."

"What?"

"That you need to search your room. Thoroughly."

"Why?"

"Because Luna's been planning this for months. And if she had your medical records, she must have had access to more than just old documents." Madison met my eyes. "She must have had a way to spy on you. To know your secrets."

Kai and I raced back to my room. Started searching every inch.

Behind my mirror, we found it.

A small recording device. Wireless. Transmitting to god knows where.

"She's been listening to everything," I whispered. "Every conversation. Every private moment."

Kai pulled the device out and crushed it under his heel.

But it was too late. Luna had already heard everything she needed.

"If there's one," Kai said slowly, "there might be more."

We searched frantically. Found another device in the closet. One in the bathroom. One behind the air vent.

Four devices total.

"She's been watching me for months," I said, horror washing over me. "Maybe years."

"Not just watching," Kai said grimly. He'd found something else behind the headboard. A small camera.

"Oh my god."

"We need to find her," Kai said. "Now. Before she uses whatever else she's recorded."

We ran through the mansion looking for Luna. But she'd vanished.

And as we searched, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were still being watched.

That somewhere in this house, another camera was recording our every move.

And Luna was watching, planning her next strike.