(raina’s pov)

"So did you find out who is behind that channel yet?" I asked, pacing across the living room with my phone pressed hard against my ear.

"No. Not yet."

The answer made my jaw tighten instantly.

"Whoever is behind the account knows what they’re doing," the man continued nervously. "They’re routing traffic through layered VPN chains and multiple proxy nodes. Every time we trace the IP, it bounces between different countries at once. Germany. Singapore. Brazil. Sometimes even four locations simultaneously. We can’t pin down the origin."

I stopped walking.

Outside the massive windows of the penthouse, Harrington glowed beneath the evening sky. Cars moved like streaks of light below the tower, but all I could focus on was the anger boiling slowly inside my chest.

"Well I’m not paying you to give me excuses," I snapped. "I’m paying you to find answers, so find them."

I hung up before he could respond.

Silence settled around me.

X-Reveals.

That stupid bunny-headed parasite had been posting conspiracy videos about me for months now, and somehow nobody had been able to shut him down. Every time his channel got flagged, it came back stronger. Every time someone tried tracing him, he disappeared again like smoke.

And the worst part?

He knew things.

Not internet gossip. Not random rumors.

Real things.

Things he should never know.

He knew about the Soul Beauty deal before it became public. He knew details about private meetings. He knew schedules. Timelines. Personal information that existed only inside very small circles.

Which meant one thing.

Someone around me was leaking information.

My fingers curled tighter around the phone.

Could it be somebody from my team?

Management?

Staff?

Security?

I wouldn’t rule it out.

But before any of that, I needed to destroy X-Reveals first.

And unfortunately, that meant doing something I absolutely hated doing.

Talking about another V-Tuber during my own stream.

I grabbed my phone again and dialed Victor.

He picked up immediately.

"Raina? What’s up?"

"I need to do a stream tonight."

"What?" Victor sounded confused instantly. "A stream? We don’t have anything planned tonight. No schedule, no promo buildup, no planned sponsors—"

"I have something I want to say," I cut in. "Set it up."

"Raina wai—"

I hung up.

A thought suddenly hit me.

Wait a minute...

Could it be—

"Malik!" I called out loudly.

A second later he appeared near the hallway entrance.

"Yes boss?"

"We’re going out."

About an hour later, Malik pulled up outside the warehouse.

The building looked completely different from the last time I’d been there.

Before, it had looked abandoned.

Now it looked fortified.

Floodlights illuminated the entire perimeter. Security cameras covered nearly every angle of the building. Men stood guard outside smoking cigarettes with rifles hanging casually over their shoulders .

One of them opened the car door for me immediately.

"Boss."

I stepped out.

The cold evening air brushed against my skin as I adjusted my jacket and followed him inside.

The warehouse smelled faintly of metal, dust, and industrial cleaner. Heavy footsteps echoed through the open space while fluorescent lights buzzed overhead.

And there, built near the center of the warehouse, was the cage.

Not metaphorically.

An actual reinforced holding enclosure surrounded by steel bars and thick wiring.

My grandfather clearly wasn’t taking chances anymore.

Frank met me halfway.

"I was surprised when I heard you were coming, boss."

"Why?" I asked while walking beside him. "You don’t want me here?"

"No, it’s not that." He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "It’s just... your grandfather specifically said to keep you away from this place. He doesn’t want you near him."

"I can handle myself," I replied calmly. "And I won’t be long. I just need to ask him something."

Frank looked unconvinced, but eventually nodded.

"Alright. I’ll be nearby if you need anything."

As he walked away, I heard him mutter quietly to one of the guards.

"Keep an eye on her."

I ignored it.

My attention was already on Malcolm.

He sat inside the cage with one leg crossed over the other like this was some kind of casual meeting instead of imprisonment. Bruises still lingered around his face from earlier interrogations, but somehow he still managed to look amused.

"Hello Himari," he said with a grin.

I stopped in front of the cage.

"You here to gloat?" he asked lazily. "Or is this guilt?"

"I’m here to ask you a question."

"Well by all means."

He leaned back in the chair inside the enclosure.

I inhaled slowly.

"Have you heard of a channel called X-Reveals?"

He laughed immediately.

"Of course I have." His grin widened. "I make it my mission to know about anything trying to tear you down, so yeah... I know the channel. I’m even subscribed."

I stared at him.

"Top fan too, if we’re keeping score."

"Do you know who’s behind the bunny mask?" I asked.

Malcolm tilted his head.

"What if I do?" he asked playfully. "What if I don’t?"

"This isn’t funny."

"Oh I think it’s hilarious."

"You’re going to tell me everything you know about that channel or I—"

"Or you’ll do what?" he interrupted sharply. "You’ll find my girlfriend? Hurt her?" He laughed again. "You’ve used that line before. It’s getting stale real fast."

I clenched my jaw.

"Besides," he continued, "if you could actually find her... you already would have."

Damn it.

He was right.

I had nothing.

"Fine," I said coldly. "Don’t tell me."

I stepped closer to the cage.

"I’ll find him myself. And when I do, I’m going to bury him so deep beneath the earth nobody will ever find even an atom of him."

Malcolm’s smile disappeared.

"Just like you buried my brother?"

The words hit harder than I wanted them to.

I said nothing.

Instead, I turned away.

The guard Frank assigned to watch me straightened immediately.

"I’m leaving," I said.

Behind me Malcolm suddenly slammed both hands against the bars.

"You murderer!" he shouted.

I kept walking.

"You’re gonna get what’s coming to you soon! I promise you that!"

I walked out of the warehouse without looking back.

The moment I sat inside the car, silence swallowed me whole.

Malik didn’t drive yet as if he knows what I needed in that moment

I stared out the window while Malcolm’s words repeated themselves endlessly inside my head.

Murderer.

I closed my eyes.

And immediately my mind drifted somewhere I didn’t want it to go.

Back to college.

Back to the first time I met Felix.

________________________________________________________________________________________________-

"Wkjhmmwkjh..."

I pulled one side of my headphones off.

"What?"

"I said you dropped this."

A hand appeared in front of me holding my notebook.

I blinked up at him.

"Oh. Thank you." I took it quickly. "I totally forgot that."

"You’re welcome."

Then his expression shifted slightly.

"Wait a minute..." he said while studying my face. "I’ve seen you somewhere before."

I froze internally.

Oh no.

"Ah." His face brightened. "You’re Susan’s roommate, right?"

"Yeah." I adjusted the strap on my bag. "I have a name, you know."

He smiled.

"What is it?"

"Himari."

"Himari," he repeated slowly. "That’s a beautiful name."

Something about the way he said it made me look away for a second.

"I’m Felix," he said, offering his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Yeah. You too."

We started walking down the pathway between campus buildings.

"How do you know Susan?" I asked.

"Well she’s friends with my roommate," he replied. "Or maybe more than friends. Honestly the sexual tension between those two is strong enough to cut glass."

I should have laughed but I didn’t.

"Your roommate doesn’t happen to be dark-haired, hazel eyes, very clumsy, and painfully awkward sometimes, is he?"

Felix burst out laughing.

"Yep. That’s definitely Ethan."

"You nailed the description."

" I do my best" I said drly

The memory blurred slightly after that.

Because back then everything still felt normal.

Simple.

None of us knew how badly things would eventually fall apart.

A knock against the car window pulled me back to reality.

Frank stood outside.

I rolled the window down slightly.

"All good, boss?"

"Yeah."

"Did you get what you came for?"

"Not yet," I admitted quietly. "But he knows something. I can feel it."

Frank glanced back toward the warehouse.

"Want me to rough him up for you?"

"No." I shook my head. "I’ll handle this myself."

He nodded.

"Keep an eye on him," I added.

"You can count on me."

I rolled the window back up.

Malik drove off.

By the time I got home and prepared for the stream, it was already six in the evening.

Victor had somehow managed to set everything up on short notice. Sponsor banners. Stream overlays. Moderators. Even advertisements.

The man was ridiculously efficient.

I sat inside the streaming room while the countdown ticked lower on screen.

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

The stream went live.

"HEY Lumilovers!" my avatar appeared energetically on screen. "It’s your girl coming to you live from the studio!"

The chat exploded instantly.

LUMILOVE!!!

MOTHER IS HERE!!!

QUEEN!!!

"For all my old subscribers," I continued cheerfully, "this is for you~"

Kiss emojis flooded the screen immediately.

"And for all my new subscribers... this is for you~"

Flower emojis followed right after.

I smiled slightly behind the monitor.

"First things first, huge shoutout to today’s sponsors, Arabian UPS and Inkstone Café for supporting tonight’s stream!"

My avatar blew into a party horn dramatically.

The chat moved so fast it became unreadable.

Then I leaned slightly closer toward the mic.

"Now... let’s talk about today’s topic."

The atmosphere shifted instantly.

"Let’s talk about a certain channel that has been spreading lies about me for God knows how long."

The screen behind my avatar suddenly displayed massive blood-red text.

X-REVEALS.

The chat exploded.

FUCK X-REVEALS!!!

BUNNY DEVIL!!!

WE HATE HIM!!!

"This mysterious masked V-Tuber," I continued calmly, "recently accused me of being a murderer."

My avatar tilted its head innocently.

"Now come on, Mr Bunny Man... we both know you can’t accuse somebody of something that serious without evidence."

More comments flooded the stream.

SUE HIM!!!

REPORT HIS CHANNEL!!!

LOCK HIM UP!!!

"Making false accusations in Harrington is a serious offense," I continued softly.

Then I deliberately let my voice weaken slightly.

Not enough to sound fake.

Just enough to sound hurt.

"Honestly..." I said quietly, "it’s scary. Having somebody spread dangerous lies about you online like this."

The chat instantly turned protective.

WE GOT YOU LUMI!!!

DON’T WORRY!!!

WE’LL HANDLE HIM!!!

I lowered my eyes slightly.

"Help me bring X-Reveals to justice," I said. "Report his page. Find him. Show him that spreading hate like this isn’t okay."

I paused.

"I’m trusting you guys."

The response was immediate.

YOU CAN COUNT ON US!!!

WE LOVE YOU LUMI!!!

PROTECT LUMI!!!

I smiled sweetly.

"Now then..." my avatar clapped excitedly. "Enough depressing stuff. Let’s continue the stream!"

The chat slowly returned to normal afterward.

Games.

Music.

Reaction clips.

Donations.

But even while laughing and entertaining everyone, part of my mind remained somewhere else entirely.

Because if I couldn’t find X-Reveals myself...

Then I would let two million loyal viewers hunt him down for me instead.