Page 196 of New Reign


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Her humming along to Christmas music

Her snow-dusted morning runs on the cliffs

Every clip is effortless.

Genuine.

Real.

America falls harder every damn day.

Even I can’t stop watching them.

I scroll through her feed at 1 a.m. like a junkie.

Replay the way her smile hits at the end of each clip.

Replay the soft lift of her voice.

Replay her laugh?—

Replay the warmth she has rediscovered without me.

Her likes climb into the hundreds of thousands.

Her comments explode with encouragement, praise, love.

America’s Sweetheart.

The Girl Who Refused To Be Broken.

The It Girl.

The New Voice of Gen Z.

The Anti-Bully Icon.

Meanwhile, I post my own love-letter series—raw, stripped-down pieces of myself I’ve never shown anyone.

“You only saw the castle. So let me show you the boy inside it.”

“People think privilege makes you happy. It doesn’t. Not when you’re lonely.”

“She taught me more about courage than money ever did.”

The PR team edits everything, adds captions, strings the story together?—

The Prince of Prep

vs

The Girl Who Walked Through Fire

and Refused To Bow.

The internet goes insane.

Fandoms form.