Chapter 1

I posted a cute camping picture with my boyfriend, and a "sleep coach" suddenly slid into my DMs:

"Girl, did you know your boyfriend hires me every single night on an audio app to whisper him to sleep?"

"He always flirts and crosses the line. I get bad vibes from him. I really don't want to be the other woman, so... want me to test his loyalty for you?"

I replied, "He does have insomnia and tried an audio app once, but what does that have to do with a 'loyalty test'?"

She responded instantly: "I’ve dealt with countless men. I know exactly what he wants. Don’t you want to know what dirty secrets he whispers to me?"

I thought the whole thing was absurd, so I just ignored her.

The next day, she posted an anonymous rant on TikTok:

"Watching Other People's Relationships Fall Apart While I Lose Sleep"

Attached was the camping photo she stole from my feed, captioned:

"I tried to warn a girl that her man is cheating, and she attacked me for minding my own business. Since when is telling the truth a crime?"

The comment section exploded.

"Don't waste your breath, babe. You can't save someone blinded by love."

"She’ll realize you were trying to save her when he dumps her."

"Expose him! Ruin his life!"

Hundreds of hate messages flooded my DMs. Some called me a pathetic doormat who deserved to be cheated on; others demanded I dump him right away.

Exhausted, I posted a story on Ins: "Thank you all for the concern, but I trust him."

She took a screenshot, reposted it, and sneered:

"Ha. Don’t come crying to me when you catch him whispering my name in his sleep."

Three days later, she posted another update with a SnapChat screenshot:

A newly accepted friend request under the contact name "New Client with Insomnia."

She captioned it: "He messaged me saying he can't sleep lately and needs my voice~ Rumor has it his girlfriend thinks he’s a loyal angel. Fine, let me prove it to you all."

Her followers went wild: "Queen behavior!" "Grabbing my popcorn for part two!"

I opened the screenshot and zoomed in.

I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

I looked closely at the screenshot. The contact name read "New Client with Insomnia," the profile picture was an orange tabby cat, and the handle was clearly a brand-new burner account.

I chuckled and tossed my phone onto the counter.

Liam poked his head out of the kitchen. "What are you laughing at?"

"Some girl claims you hire her to whisper you to sleep every night."

He froze, nearly dropping his spatula. "Who? I literally used one of those relaxation apps once when I had bad insomnia, and you roasted me for it. I deleted it immediately."

I shrugged. "Well, she made a whole post saying she’s going to 'test your loyalty' for me, complete with fake chat logs."

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

Liam went to answer it. As he took our takeout from the delivery driver, he noticed a girl sneaking around our hallway, pointing her phone at our front door and snapping pictures.

I had barely set the food down when my phone buzzed again—

[Anonymous User: Girl, your man is such a good actor. Wake up before you end up heartbroken.]

[Anonymous User: Hate to break it to you, but he was on FaceTime with an audio girl until three in the morning.]

[Anonymous User: Why are you keeping trash around? Dump him already!]

Trolls online began doxxing my workplace and digging through my old photos, labeling me a pathetic, brainless pushover.

Liam glanced at the screen, his jaw clenching. "Are these people insane?"

Suddenly, a flash went off across the street. A girl with a massive telephoto lens was aimed directly at our living room window, taking rapid-fire photos.

Liam’s face darkened. "I’m calling the police."

The moment he dialed, commotion erupted outside. The girl burst into our hallway and screamed at the top of her lungs, "Everyone, come look! The cheating scumbag is right here!"

Neighbors popped their heads out, and some started recording and posting clips online. Soon, the hashtag #CheaterExposed was trending locally.

After a ruined dinner, I opened my social media, only to find my account banned due to mass reporting.

Only a mountain of hate messages remained, along with one specific notification:

[Sleep Coach Chloe: See you on TikTok Live tonight, sweetheart. Let's show everyone how your precious boyfriend begs for my voice~]

I let out a cold laugh, switched to a burner account, and joined her livestream.

At eight sharp, Chloe went live. With beauty filters turned all the way up, she sat on her bed holding a mug of milk.

"Welcome in, guys! Special stream tonight. A certain handsome guy crawls to my DMs every night, but his girlfriend is in total denial..."

The chat went wild: [Expose him!]

[Slap some sense into that clown!]

Chloe pulled up her SnapChat, showing a new friend request:

Display name: "New Client with Insomnia," profile picture: orange cat.

The first message read: [Hey, could you tell me a bedtime story?]

The second: [I've been under so much pressure lately. Feels like nobody truly understands me...]

The chat erupted: [A classic serial cheater!]

Chloe read the messages aloud in a sickly sweet voice: "See that? The classic manipulative guilt-trip."

Someone tagged my burner handle in the chat: [@Audrey care to explain?? How are you gonna defend him now??]

Dozens piled on: [Stupid girl deserves to get played]...

Just then, a random user with a string of numbers for a name dropped a comment:

"Host, are you sure that's him? Better check his IP. Looks like a cheap bot account bought off Wish."

The chat paused for three seconds. Chloe’s smile faltered.

She forced herself to stay calm. "Fake? Please! This is a live chat log!"

The anonymous user replied: "Check the phone number location, then."

Suddenly, an automated system banner flashed across her screen: [Suspicious activity detected. Please complete identity verification, or live privileges will be suspended.]

The viewers went nuts: [Wait, what?! Is this staged?!]

Gritting her teeth, Chloe dismissed the warning, doubling down. "Want me to call him right now so you can hear him yourselves?"

At that exact moment, a voice message popped up from the account—

[Voice Message from New Client with Insomnia]:

"Hey, gorgeous. You there?"

The moment the audio played, the entire chat lost its mind.

[Holy crap, it's real! Is that actually him?]

[Damn, his voice is insanely hot!]

Hearing that deep, magnetic tone, my heart skipped a beat.

It really was Liam’s voice!

And Liam had only stepped out the door ten minutes ago.