I woke up to the sound of my phone buzzing, it felt like an alarm in my ears. I reached for it, rubbing my eyes and looking through my curtains. My hand shook slightly as I unlocked the phone, the weight of the past few days had been pressing down on me.
But as I saw the notifications, I froze. There were dozens of them— messages, calls, and to my greatest horror, the news alerts made my stomach drop. The headline screamed at me:
"Stella Hayes: The Girl Who Tried to Use Jack Ashford to Get Rich”
My breath was trapped in my throat. The words became indistinct in front of me as I rapidly scanned the article. It was filled with venom—claims that I had merely been a gold digger, exploiting Jack's riches and position to ascend the social ladder The article depicted me as a person who had sta
