Broken Vows and Buried Twins novel Chapter 222

Gael was practically shouting through the speaker.

Hester gripped her phone and instinctively glanced at Gigi, who was still deeply focused on threading a tiny bead.

Standing up, Hester smiled politely at the shop assistant. “Could you keep an eye on her for just a second? I need to take this outside.”

“Of course,” the woman agreed with a warm smile.

Hester stepped out onto the cobblestone street, walking a few yards away but keeping Gigi in her line of sight. Her voice remained remarkably calm. “What’s going on?”

“It’s that total psycho, Seraphina Simpson!” Gael spat, cursing up a storm. “It’s too much to explain. Just open Instagram or Twitter—you’ll see it everywhere!”

“Alright, breathe for a second.”

“I’m just furious! The woman is actually insane. Why is she so obsessed with dragging you through the mud?”

“Let me look into it, and I’ll call you back.” Hester hung up and tapped open her socials.

She didn’t even have to search. Seraphina’s name was plastered across every trending hashtag.

It all started with ‘Thrice,’ a highly popular lifestyle and beauty influencer who had recently blown up online. Over the past few weeks, the account’s PR team had heavily promoted an upcoming livestream where the mysterious creator would finally do a face reveal.

The stream had aired last night at 8:00 PM. ‘Thrice’ had appeared wearing her signature mask, interacting with millions of fans before dramatically taking it off.

Hester watched a screen-recorded clip of the reveal.

She couldn’t deny her surprise. Seraphina was ‘Thrice’?

Wasn’t Seraphina supposed to be abroad, supposedly receiving intensive treatment for severe depression? Yet the registration date on the ‘Thrice’ account went back five years.

Frowning slightly, Hester scrolled through the viral clips. It only took a few minutes to connect the dots.

She pressed her lips into a thin line and redialed Gael’s number.

Gael picked up on the first ring. “Did you see it?”

“If he’s going to white-knight for her that hard, he should just step up and play replacement daddy for his dead brother!”

“Don’t worry about it, Gael. Public opinion is a double-edged sword.”

Hearing the quiet steel in Hester’s voice, Gael finally calmed down.

“You already have a plan, don’t you?”

Gael knew Hester better than anyone. She might disdain petty drama, but she would never let someone drag her name through the mud without consequences.

“Do me a favor,” Hester said softly. “Look into the corporate entity managing the ‘Thrice’ account. Get the names of her PR team. And most importantly... track down every medical record from her supposed ‘depression treatments’ abroad.”

Understanding dawned instantly on Gael’s end.

“Consider it done!”

Hester slipped the phone back into her pocket, adjusted her posture, and walked back into the bead shop.