If you plagiarize, I will refund the
network.
I deactivated my million–follower Instagram
account.
Everyone went nuts. Theories flew around,
mostly about my account being hacked. But
Olivia, my biggest rival in the beauty influencer
space, actually DMed me: “Are you insane?
Why would you throw this away?”
I ignored the drama and booked a one–way
ticket to Yosemite. I needed to breathe.
See, in my past life, Olivia and I were putting
out identical content. People called me a
copycat, a parasite, worse. They sent hate mail,
even showed up at my apartment. I posted
proof of my creative process, my timelines,
everything. They called it fake. The constant
online harassment spiraled into deep
depression. I ended up… well, let’s just say I
く
didn’t survive.
Then, I woke up. It was the morning I was
supposed to post the video that started it all.
My finger hovered over the “Share” button. This
was the exact moment my life went sideways. A
jolt went through me. I yanked my hand back
like I’d touched a hot stove.
My chest heaved. The room spun. It was real. I
was back.
After a few deep breaths, I saved the video to
drafts and immediately looked up Olivia’s Insta.
There it was. Her latest post. It was unlike
anything she’d done before. Olivia’s usual
content was…meh. Low–budget, poorly edited,
a couple hundred likes, tops. This new video,
though? Posted half an hour ago, already tens
of thousands of likes. The comments were
exploding.
<
“This look is killer! Straight out of a fantasy
movie.”
“How is she so gorgeous?!”
“Olivia, marry me!”
The dark, dramatic lighting, the intricate
makeup, the camera angles, the music, even the
captions… it was all identical to the video
sitting in my drafts folder. If I hadn’t gotten the inspiration from a British period drama, hadn’t spent weeks crafting the script and perfecting the look myself, I’d have questioned my own.
sanity.
But there it was. Olivia’s video. Posted first.
Viral.
In my past life, this video had ruined me. I’d
been so excited to share it, expecting praise
and recognition. Instead, I was accused of
plagiarism. Everyone was tagging Olivia,
claiming she was the original.
<
I’d tried to fight back, showing my scripts, my
behind–the–scenes footage. No one believed
- me. Olivia, of course, produced her “evidence,”
conveniently dated even earlier than mine.
“She totally planned this. Trying to sabotage Olivia.”
“Support the original creator! Boycott the thief!”
“Jenna, get off the internet!”
