Beast Tamer's Rebirth National Treasure Edition novel Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Natalie froze at Sierra’s question, totally caught off guard. ‘What her angle?’ she thought. ‘We’re at the same age. I’m still in college, and Sierra dropped out ages ago. She says she’s interning, but where exactly?

‘Unless it’s some shady program, no one her age lands a legit internship this carly. Maybe she already flunked out.’

But Sierra pushed harder, her tone soft but cutting. “Or do you just look down on people like that?”

Natalie’s face shifted instantly. “I never said that,” she rushed to clarify.

So many of her fans were young, and plenty didn’t have much education. Sierra’s words were cornering Natalie. One wrong move, and her career could crash and burn. Tears welled up in Natalie’s eyes as she glared back, furious and helpless.

New viewers tuning into the live stream thought Natalie was being bullied again. But after scrolling through the chat and catching up, they went quiet.

Vivian, who’d been watching from the sidelines, had seen enough. Natalie had snooped through Sierra’s stuff without asking and even read it out loud. Talk about rude.

Come to think of it, Vivian realized Shawn and Natalie always seemed to gang up on Sierra, both on and off camera. And they shared the same last name. She sniffed something fishy.

Vivian stepped in. “If you don’t know the full story, don’t jump to conclusions. You’ll just cause misunderstandings.” She softened her tone. “Seeing Quickie hurt like that breaks my heart. Sierra cares deeply about him. That is obvious, whether the surgery works or not.”

Natalie stared back, pale and speechless. She’d spent the whole day trying to win Vivian over with no luck. But now, Vivian was defending Sierra.

Vivian acted like she didn’t notice Natalie’s shock. She’d never liked Natalie much anyway. Sierra, on the other hand, was the kind to quietly do the right thing. The good and the bad were pretty clear here.

Meanwhile, online chatter about Natalie and Sierra was blowing up. After the first day, WonderWild Live

was

everywhere.

Click-hungry bloggers began dissecting every second of Natalie’s dramatic moments. The tide was slowly turning in Sierra’s favor. But the Sterling family reacted fast. The second they saw things going south, they threw money at the problem, wiping searches and burying negative buzz.

When Sierra checked the trends the next morning, sure enough, Natalie’s image was already bouncing back. ‘Figures, Sierra thought bitterly. “The Sterlings treat Natalie like royalty. Erasing scandals is just another day for them.

What she didn’t expect was running into Shawn on her way to check on Quickie before filming started. He was clearly waiting for her.

“Sierra, enough is enough!” Shawn snapped, storming over and grabbing her arm.

She tried to pull away, but he held on tightly, like a leech. Her arm stung, and she’d had enough.

She landed a hard hit across his face. “If you’re sick, go see a doctor. Or I can treat you like one of my animals and see if I can fix that brain of yours.”

“You!” Shawn’s cheek was already swelling. He raised a hand to hit back, but Sierra was quicker. She caught his wrist and slapped him again with her free hand.

‘Never again,’ she swore silently. In this life, no one from the Sterling family would lay a hand on her without payback.

Her palm throbbed, but the satisfaction was unreal. Compared to the beatings she’d taken in her previous life, this was nothing.

1/2

Shawn just stood there, stunned, like he couldn’t believe she’d hit him twice. His eyes were wide with disbelief. “Sierra… you actually hit me?”

“Damn right I did,” she shot back, raising her hand again.

This time, Shawn flinched backward, finally letting go of her art

Sierra snorted coldly, her gaze full of contempt.

“Sierra, have you lost your mind? I’m your brother,” Shawn barked, his face dark with rage. He couldn’t wrap his head around it–since when did Sierra, who used to jump at his every word, turn into this defiant stranger?

Was it all an act?’ he wondered. ‘She’s from some backwater town. People like that are always scheming. She probably sucked up to us just to compete with Natalie, and now she can’t keep the act together.’

Shawn shot Sierra a look full of contempt. “You targeted Nat on the stream yesterday and almost ruined her career. But since we’re family, I’ll let it slide. Later, you’re going to apologize to her live. That’s final.” His tone was pure arrogance.

Sierra let out a bitter laugh as she really looked at him. Back when she first returned to the Sterling family, she’d do anything he asked.

She’d even pushed herself to drink with investors till her stomach bled, all to secure him a leading role. But he turned around and used his influence to get Natalie in the cast, too.

She’d flown over 700 miles with a high fever, just to cook for him since he wouldn’t eat healthy food.

They walked all over her because she let them.

Just as Shawn expected her to back down, Sierra grabbed his collar and slapped him hard across the face again.

“You Sterlings really think you’re something, don’t you?” she said, her voice cold but steady, even as her hands trembled. “Give you an inch and you take a mile. Smile at you once and you think you own me.”

She locked eyes with him. “I told you, Shawn. From now on, you stay out of my way. Try to boss me around again, and I won’t hold back.” She shoved him away.

Stumbling backward, Shawn hit the floor hard, clutching his cheek in shock. “You’ve lost your mind, Sierra,” he yelled, scrambling to his feet. “Tell me, was Nat wrong? You’ve got no degree, no connections. Without this family, you’re nothing.”

Blinded by anger after being slapped repeatedly, he didn’t even notice the crew walking in, until he looked up and saw the camera lens staring right at him.

2/2

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