Rising From Betrayal Reborn As The Family Outcast novel Chapter 4

Chapter 3 I’m Easy To Mess With?

After moving into her new home, Alicia tidied up.

Then she sat down, deep in thought, trying to remember what had happened at this exact moment in her past life.

Right now, she was getting roasted all over the internet, and she was still a member of the girl group LUMIA.

Her relationship with the other members was pretty bad. It wasn’t like she’d done anything to them. The other girls always ganged up on her for no reason.

After those four got a taste of success from dragging Alicia down twice, they just got even worse.

Of course, Alicia’s company and her agent had a hand in all of this too.

Back in her previous life, Alicia brought up quitting LUMIA, but they shot her down.

It dragged on until the next year, when a massive scandal exploded. Only then did she finally manage to break free.

But this time, Alicia wasn’t about to let those bloodsuckers keep draining her. First thing on her list was to quit the group and terminate the contract with her company for good.

Thinking of that, Alicia called up her mom’s lawyer friend and set up a meeting.

*****

That evening, Alicia slipped into a restaurant, wearing a baseball cap and a mask.

Even though she was getting dragged all over the internet, she was still pretty famous. She was pulling in a ton of traffic online.

After all, being infamous still made many people know her name.

After a few minutes, a distinguished and elegant middle-aged man stepped into the private room.

Alicia stood up with a smile and greeted that man. “Mr. Wise, it’s been so long.”

The man named Thomas Wise gave her a warm look. “Yeah, it has.”

He didn’t ask how she’d been. He didn’t really keep up with the entertainment scene, but after Alicia called to set up this meeting, he figured she probably needed his help, so he did a little digging.

After checking things out, he was totally thrown off guard. He never expected Alicia’s online reputation to be so trashed.

When he saw the reasons people roasted her for, he was just speechless.

But from all this, it was clear that Alicia’s entertainment company was super unprofessional, and the Hammonds were irresponsible too.

After they sat down, they chatted about some past things.

Then Alicia said, “Mr. Wise, I want your help to terminate my contract with Starlight Entertainment.”

She knew it was best to leave this kind of stuff to the professionals.

She definitely didn’t want to deal with all the drama from those people herself.

Thomas wasn’t surprised. He replied, “Did you bring your contract with your company? Or do you have an e-copy? Let me take a look.”

If Starlight Entertainment had done its job and handled her PR properly, Alicia’s reputation wouldn’t be in the gutter like this.

Thomas figured it was probably for the best to cut ties with a company like that.

Alicia pulled the contract out of her bag and handed it over. “I brought it.”

Thomas read through the contract carefully, then started discussing it with Alicia.

Alicia’s contract with Starlight Entertainment still had a year left, and if she wanted out early, she’d have to pay a 3-million-dollar penalty.

But Alicia had some proof that Starlight Entertainment hadn’t kept their promises, so Thomas said he’d use that to fight for a lower penalty.

After they finished talking about that, Alicia pulled out the equity contract.

She continued, “Mr. Wise, this is the equity my mom transferred to me before she passed away. According to the contract, I was supposed to start getting dividends from the company once I turned eighteen.

“But I haven’t gotten anything since then.

“So I want you to help me get back what’s mine from Hammond Group through legal channels.

“Even if it comes down to a lawsuit, I’m fine with that.”

Now that she’d cut ties with the Hammonds, she wouldn’t let them steal a single cent that was rightfully hers.

After her mother passed away, she never used a cent from the Hammond family.

Besides the equity, her mother had invested in several funds for her, so she got a nice chunk of cash every year.

Her three brothers had the same setup, of course.

With all that money coming in, her dad and brothers never gave her any allowance.

But when it came to Nicole, they’d give her hundreds of thousands of dollars in allowance every month, and they covered all her living expenses.

They always spoiled Nicole with the latest luxury clothes, designer bags, and jewelry.

As for Alicia, the only time she ever got a gift from them was on her birthday.

Back in her previous life, Alicia treasured those gifts, but now, she couldn’t care less. She left them all behind at the old house.

As for those funds her mother left her, once Austin started working in finance, Alicia just let him take care of them.

But now, she was ready to take them back and hand them over to a professional investment firm.

Thomas looked genuinely surprised. He asked, “Have you ever brought this up with your dad or Kevin? They really haven’t given you any dividends?”

If they had, Alicia wouldn’t even consider going the legal route to get her dividends.

Alicia gave a wry smile. “I cut ties with the entire Hammond family yesterday.

“So from now on, anything to do with them, I’m treating it like business.”

Thomas frowned, concern etched on his face. “Did they really do something to upset you?”

Otherwise, why would things get so bad that you’d have to break off all contact with them?

Alicia wasn’t about to make excuses for the Hammonds.

She let out a helpless sigh. “It’s enough for them to have a daughter and a sister. I’m just… the spare.”

Thomas was her mother’s longtime friend. Even though he was just a lawyer by profession, he was born into old money.

So aside from genuinely needing his help, Alicia also wanted to let the word get out through him that she’d severed ties with the Hammonds, making sure everyone in their elite circles heard about it.

The reason was simple. The Hammonds’ favoritism was just off the charts.

Back in her previous life, Alicia realized something. If people weren’t close to Nicole, they didn’t just automatically jump to defend her or blindly take her side.

And once Alicia put some distance between herself and Nicole, the folks around her stopped treating her like she was some kind of outcast, unlike Nicole’s crowd.

Sure enough, Thomas’s mind started to wander after hearing that.

He thought about all that drama he’d read online.

The Hammond family’s adopted daughter was called their little princess, while Alicia, the real heiress, was accused of being a fraud. It was just plain absurd.

Even if they really loved Nicole, or were just putting on a show, it was way over the top to treat her like royalty and shove Alicia to the sidelines.

That alone made Thomas think way less of the Hammonds.

He looked at Alicia with a bit of pity in his eyes. “Leave this to me as well.”

“Thanks for your help, Mr. Wise,” Alicia said.

Alicia thought for a moment before saying, “You don’t have to keep this under wraps, Mr. Wise. I actually want word to get out that I’m done with the Hammonds.”

Not only did she not want it kept quiet, but she wanted everyone in their circle to feast on the drama.

Thomas was sharp. He got it right away and nodded. “Alright, I see.”

They chatted for a bit longer before heading out.

*****

When Thomas got home, he filled his wife in on everything—Alicia asking for help and her breaking things off with the Hammonds.

His wife used to be pretty close with Alicia’s mother.

After hearing the whole story, she went online to dig up the drama herself and couldn’t help but roast the Hammonds for being totally brainless.

She could instantly tell that the new wife Leo Hammond brought in, and that adopted daughter Nicole, were both pieces of work.

After that, she vented to her family and her close circle of society ladies, and soon enough, the whole story was making the rounds.

By the time the Hammonds caught wind of it, they’d already been labeled as ridiculously biased and out of their minds.

It was way too late to try and explain themselves or do anything about it.

*****

Meanwhile, Alicia got home and opened X, only to see the top trending topic right there.

Nicole had posted a photo of herself with the Hammond brothers and the rest of the family after last night’s party. Her smile was absolutely radiant.

She captioned it: [With you guys, I feel like I have the whole world. With all your love and care, I’m honestly the luckiest, happiest girl in the world.]

The comments were all raving about how lucky Nicole was and what a picture-perfect family they had.

Mixed in were plenty of snarky remarks, throwing shade at Alicia.

One of Nicole’s actress friends even mentioned Alicia and commented: [This is what a real family looks like. Stop trying to insert yourself into their drama.]

It was not like this actress was actually trying to have Nicole’s back or anything.

She just wanted to ride Nicole’s coattails, since Nicole was tight with all those big-shot elites.

And with Alicia getting roasted online and her company and agent basically showing no sign of defending her, the actress couldn’t care less about offending Alicia.

Plus, she could score points with both Nicole’s fans and Alicia’s haters for being so real. It was a total win-win.

Alicia let out a soft laugh when she saw the post tagging her.

‘Everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon just to get some attention off me?’ she thought. ‘Do they really think I’m that easy to mess with?’

Since people were coming at her for Nicole, Alicia wasn’t going to play nice anymore.

It was perfect timing. Just when she needed a target, someone served one up.

Alicia fired off two posts on X right away, and in one of them, she responded directly by tagging that actress.

Just like she expected, her post shot straight to the top of the trending list in no time.

Chapter 4 Get The Clout For Herself

User472: [Yeah, I still don’t buy that she never said or hinted at it. And talking about a lawsuit? Anyone can say that online.]

Loggedout: [Alicia’s not the only one who’s ever posted a lawyer letter. In the end, it’s all bark and no bite.]

Still_here: [She’s just doing this to scare people and make herself look like the victim, so everyone feels sorry for her.]

Rabbitie: [Watch it, she’ll probably delete that post real soon.]

Cloud: [No way she actually called the cops, and I seriously doubt she’s taking anyone to court.]

Heyitsdan: [For real, she’s been roasted online so many times before and always just let it slide. Why is she suddenly acting tough now? Obviously just trying to play the victim and chase some attention.]

Alicia just happened to scroll past that comment.

She fired back right under it: [Back then, my agent handled my account. Now, I call the shots myself. If you don’t buy it, just wait and see if the cops come knocking on Alexandra’s door.]

Fans couldn’t believe Alicia actually replied to the comment herself.

They did find out that the way she was acting now was totally different from before.

They finally knew why her account only had generic promo posts. Turned out that her agent was running her account all this time

After Alicia clapped back, everyone was dying to see if the cops would actually come to Alexandra’s place.

Now it was all about who’d stay savage till the end.

But the haters and Nicole and Alexandra’s fans kept dragging Alicia nonstop, flooding her comments with insults.

Nicole’s fans totally lost it over Alicia calling Alexandra out as a bootlicker.

They started speculating. ‘What’s that supposed to mean? Is she throwing shade at Nicole, saying Nicole put Alexandra up to this?’

They started spamming Alicia’s comments with angry rants.

Imtom: [Alexandra is just sticking up for Nicole. What’s wrong with that?]

LoveNicole: [You’ve been leeching off Nicole’s name, and she’s been chill about it. Instead of saying thanks, you go and throw shade? You really think Nicole’s just too nice and easy to push around?]

NNNICOLE: [Keep messing with her and see what happens. She’ll make sure you get iced out of the whole industry.]

BabyNicole: [That’s right. Nicole is the Hammond family’s princess. She’s got serious backup. If you piss her off, don’t be surprised if you get shut out.]

Alicia saw those comments and clapped back without hesitation.

Alicia: [Come on, I surely don’t dare to push Bitchy Nicole around. She’s so scheming.]

Alicia: [Sure, go ahead! Tell Nicole to get her powerful family to shut me down. Let’s see if they can really kick me out of the industry.]

Alicia: [If she doesn’t blacklist me like you want, honestly, I’ll laugh at her.]

Anyway, Alicia was already public enemy number one online, getting roasted from all sides. She wasn’t afraid of more hate at this point.

Now that she’d been given a second shot at life, anyone who pissed her off was gonna get it right back.

Honestly, everyone enjoyed the drama online.

The fake peace and phony friendship act couldn’t get people’s interest.

Nothing could grab attention like a straight-up online fight.

Back then, they rode Alicia for clout and attention. Now, Alicia could play the same game right back.

Besides, would Nicole really dare to flex her status and try to freeze Alicia out of the industry? No way. She didn’t have the nerve, and she sure didn’t have the pull.

If she did, Alicia wouldn’t have been able to stage a comeback and rise up again in her last life.

And if Nicole actually ran to the Hammonds and tried to get them to blacklist Alicia, that would just wreck the whole perfect good-girl act she puts on for them.

Nicole wouldn’t have the nerve to pull something like that.

And seriously, who was the real Hammond heiress? The fans might not have a clue, but Nicole definitely knew the truth.

After clapping back in the comments, Alicia pulled another ballsy move.

She tagged Nicole in a new post: [Bitchy Nicole, why don’t you flaunt your Hammond princess status and get your big-shot backers to blacklist me? Come on, wipe out the villain in your story once and for all.]

From now on, Alicia would be the loose cannon of the entertainment world, ready to tear into anyone whenever she felt like it.

If anyone came for her, she’d come for them even harder.

If she was gonna get roasted anyway, she might as well roast them right back and enjoy every second of it.

Besides, a lot of people were really into her bold, straight-shooter attitude.

Sure, Nicole had her fans, but she wasn’t the kind of star everyone loved like cash.

Alicia wasn’t the only one who didn’t vibe with Nicole. There were plenty of folks, both online and offline, who couldn’t stand Nicole.

Plus, with Starlight Entertainment and the Hammond family supporting Nicole into the spotlight, she’d ruffled a ton of feathers in the industry, stepping on the toes of other rising and established actresses, and messing with the profits of the companies backing them.

If Alicia and Nicole started going at it, tons of people would be glued to their screens, eating up every second of the drama.

And nothing could go viral like a feud between two celebrities. This time, Alicia was ready to get all that clout for herself.