Reed is all adoration now, his arm around my shoulders like we’re best friends. “Let’s give Ash another huge round of applause! Come on, show him some love!”
The clapping intensifies, and Reed hands me the microphone, his smile wide and encouraging.
I clear my throat, my heart pounding so hard I’m sure everyone can hear it through the speakers.
“Getting stage fright?” Reed whispers near my ear, just loud enough for maybe the first few rows to hear. “You got this. You can do it. Remember what we talked about.”
He seems so supportive. So kind and encouraging.
Every single word is fake.
I raise the microphone to my lips. “I have so much to share with all of you. But I really can’t do it justice just standing here talking, which is why I put together a video for us to watch together. I think it will make everything so much clearer.”
Reed’s smile falters. He leans in, whispering harshly, “What are you doing? We didn’t discuss a video.”
I ignore him and tap the screen on my phone. I’d already connected it to the system backstage, already changed all their passwords—the idiots had them written on a sticky note right there on the desk.
The huge screen behind us flickers to life. I adjust the stage lights with the app I installed, dimming them slightly so the video is more visible.
“Enjoy,” I say into the microphone.
Then I hit Play and immediately start recording with my phone, capturing everything—the stage, Reed’s face, the screen, the audience’s reaction.
At first, the video shows Reed’s dressing room through the ajar door. Reed sitting in his chair. Rex pacing the room.
Everyone freezes, including Reed, as if trying to process what they’re seeing.
Then the audio kicks in at full volume, and Reed’s voice fills the auditorium.
“Those losers out there in the auditorium will never get an Omega or any woman anyway. They’re pathetic. Drop-dead idiots who’ll believe anything we tell them.”
The audience gasps.
On-screen, Reed continues: “My advice doesn’t even work for the two of us. But get your head straight and remember why we’re doing this. To become fucking rich. That’s why. So fuck everyone else and what they say.”
The auditorium erupts in shocked murmurs.
“CUT IT!” Reed suddenly screams, his face going purple with rage. “TURN THIS OFF RIGHT FUCKING NOW!”
But no one on the team can until they grab someone from the convention center. I have the only control through my phone, and I’m not stopping it for anything.
The video continues, and now comes the best part.
“Even with us being Betas in disguise, we can keep getting paid for telling them what they want to hear.”
The audience explodes.
“What!”
“He’s not even an Alpha!”
“You lying piece of shit!”
People are standing now, shouting, pointing at the stage.
Reed is marching across the stage toward me, his face twisted in absolute fury. “You fucking asshole! What have you done?!”
The audience is calling out, their voices overlapping in rage and betrayal.
