Watching the two onstage, a wicked smirk curled at the corner of her lips.

Her voice was gentle, but it sent a chill through the air. "It's time for my act. I hope you... enjoy the show."

Penelope and Samuel felt their stomachs drop, a wave of dread washing over them. They wanted to stop her, to do something-anything-but it was far too late.

Behind them, the massive screen abruptly went black, then flickered to life a second later. The image that filled it made the whole room freeze: there they were, tangled together, locked in a passionate kiss, limbs entwined as if they wanted to become one. There was nothing polite or distant about them now- nothing like the careful restraint they'd shown on stage.

"What the hell is this?!"

A gasp rippled through the audience.

It was a video, clear as day. Penelope and Samuel, clothes disheveled, kissing shamelessly, lost in each other. No one could pretend they were innocent now.

"Oh my God! My eyes!"

"Wait, isn't that Penelope? Didn't she swear she and Samuel were just friends?" "She always claimed Juliet was the homewrecker, but look at her!"

"Penelope and Samuel are disgusting!"

Onstage, Penelope and Samuel stared at the screen in horror, faces drained of all color.

How... how was this possible?!

Where did Anastasia get this video?!

Penelope's head snapped toward the front row, searching. Her gaze locked with Anastasia's. Anastasia only smiled, lips curving with a devil's grace, and silently mouthed:

"This is the proof you wanted. Satisfied?"

Penelope's blood ran cold.

"No-no! It's not real, it's all fake, it's not true!" she stammered, but the words fell flat. All around her, eyes burned with disgust and contempt. Insults flew from every direction. Her mind went blank; her legs buckled, and she nearly collapsed onstage.

Samuel was in a panic, shouting at the tech crew, "Turn it off! Shut it down, now!"

Someone yelled back, frantic, "It won't shut off! There's no way to close it!"

The video hadn't even existed in their files. No one knew how it had gotten there there wasn't even an off button.

Chaos erupted onstage and in the audience, but the video kept rolling.

Now, on screen, Penelope looked anxious, worrying aloud what would happen if Sandra found out about them. Samuel just shrugged, completely unfazed. If they got caught, he said, they'd just break up-he was already sick of Sandra anyway.

But Penelope didn't want to risk her reputation. With faux righteousness, she suggested blaming Juliet. “She barely has any friends anyway. If her name gets dragged through the mud, who cares?"

Samuel agreed without hesitation, and the two of them, still wrapped up in each other, began rehearsing their story.

By this point, everyone understood the truth.

"My God, how can people be so shameless?"

"I actually used to like Penelope. Ugh, I feel sick!"

"And Samuel? I thought he was such a good guy! What trash!"

All the anger and scorn that had been hurled at Anastasia and Juliet only moments ago now came crashing down on Penelope and Samuel a hundredfold.

In the audience, Juliet watched the scene unfold with a sweet sense of

vindication. She turned, eyes shining. "Cousin, you're amazing!"

Anastasia smiled, enjoying the sight of the two exposed frauds floundering in front

of everyone. "It wasn't me who did it," she said lightly.

All she'd done was ask Sonder to dig up some evidence. She'd expected maybe

a few blurry photos of the two holding hands or sneaking a kiss. She never

imagined he'd hit the jackpot and come back with a video like this.

Satisfied, she turned to Juliet. “Let's go. Those two are finished."

She was just about to head out when, suddenly-