Chapter 5

At the ceremony, I wrote SOS on my seat. In oil paint.

I slipped a scrap of fabric with a plea for help scrawled on it to every reporter who shoved a mic in my face.

Before they dragged me onto the helicopter, the venue was already in chaos.

I grabbed a phone that was streaming live and shoved it under my tattered dress.

So everything Mia just whispered to me? Already broadcast to millions.

The comments pour in:

[Oh my God, at the ceremony I thought the wounds on Claire's body were special effects makeup! She's coughing up blood now, were those injuries REAL?!]

[What did Mia just say to her?? She turned Claire's baby into a mummified decoration?!]

[Boosting this. I already called the police. Claire's mental state is clearly not okay!]

[Signal boost, my phone's at 79%, staying on this stream.]

Drone after drone closes in on me.

I scream for help despite the raw pain in my throat.

Mia stares at her phone, frozen.

Tears spill instantly. "Babe, Nathan, she did this on purpose! She's still trying to destroy me."

I wrench myself free of the ropes.

Hanging by nothing but my own hands, swinging in midair.

Ethan's face drains of all color. His voice cracks into a scream.

"Claire! Are you insane?! You're hundreds of feet in the air!"

Nathan's eyes widen, and he shouts in panic.

"Pull her back! GET HER BACK IN THE HELICOPTER!"

I let myself smile. Just barely. I watch them scrambling to reel in the rope.

Then I turn to face the wall of drone cameras.

My voice comes out calm. Clear. Steady.

"The scars on my shoulders came from bear claws. The cuts on my hands came from three years of branches and rocks in the wild. The bite marks covering my body came from piranhas. The wound on the back of my skull came from falling off a cliff."

"I was stranded on an island. My brother dressed as a bear and destroyed my shelter twenty-six times. My husband pretended to be my hallucination and tortured me when I was too exhausted to think straight."

They haul the rope up fast.

Nathan's hand is inches from mine.

I slap it away.

I know the bigger the scene, the better my chances.

Ethan screams: "Land this thing! NOW! On the roof of Weston Tower!"

Nathan's voice is hoarse. "Claire! This is NOT the time to throw a tantrum!"

The second the helicopter touches down on the rooftop, I sprint to the edge of the building.

No hesitation. I pull out the livestreaming phone and aim it at them.

"Don't come any closer. This phone is broadcasting live. Right now. To everyone."

They freeze.

A beat of silence. Then they rush toward me, faces turned to the camera, scrambling to explain.

"Everyone watching, what you're seeing is the filming of Modern Castaway 2."

"This is all scripted. Please don't be alarmed."

The comments on screen shift instantly:

[No wonder that movie won awards, her acting is INSANE!]

[Okay I was genuinely terrified for a second… but if it's a shoot, that explains why she was hanging from a helicopter. Makes sense now.]

[Mia, when does the sequel drop?? I'm watching it three times opening weekend!]

I don't dare flip the camera. I just keep talking, picking up where I left off.

"The hallucination I thought was my split personality… told me that if I knelt and bowed ten thousand times, I could leave the island."

"The first year, I prayed for my husband to come save me."

"The second year, I prayed for my brother and parents to forgive me."

"The third year, I prayed for them to forget I existed."

"I bowed over a million times. And then they told me it was all just my punishment."

Maybe it's how matter-of-fact my voice sounds, but the flood of comments stops for a moment.

Even Ethan and Nathan stop mid-step.

Mia lets out a choked sob. "Claire… you've lost yourself in the role."

"You're sick… please come back inside. Let me take you to get help!"

"We'll stop filming! No award, no glory, nothing matters more than your health!"