Page 109 of Stream Heat
“Seven o’clock tonight. We have a few hours to brace ourselves.” I hoped the fallout from the article wasn’t too bad, but mostly all I could think about was that I hoped the rest of the pack could accept what had happened between me and Reid.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Kara
The article dropped at exactly 7 PM. To the minute. Within sixty seconds, my phone was so overloaded with notifications that the touchscreen practically lagged out of existence. I couldn't even close the popups.
"Holy shit," Theo exhaled, his eyes flicking wildly over his laptop. "It's everywhere. Major gaming sites, pop culture mags. Even mainstream news is picking it up."
I watched the scrolling feed. The headline was a hammer blow:
SYSTEMATIC SUPPRESSANT ABUSE: How Talent Agencies Endangered Omega Creators for Profit.
Sarah Kiminski had delivered everything she promised and more. It was a surgical, devastating exposé, with my story front and center and then peeling back the curtain to show the rot that lay underneath.
"Listen," Malik said, voice tense as he read off his tablet. "'Sources confirm that Nexus Management provided illegalsuppressants to at least sixteen Omega clients over a five-year period, with dosages reaching dangerous levels that medical experts say could have caused permanent organ damage or death.'"
"It gets worse," Ash said, voice low and brittle. "Kiminski included screenshots. Internal emails from Victoria, talking about 'biology management' for specific clients. Financial statements, payments to sketchy pharmaceutical suppliers."
My skin crawled. It was one thing to know I'd been Victoria's victim, but seeing it laid out in clinical, undeniable language, that I'd just been a cog in a bigger, predatory operation designed to break down vulnerable kids for cash, I felt hollow. Used.
"What about the other victims?" I asked finally, jaw clenching. "Did Sarah protect them?"
"Looks like it," Reid replied, eyes glued to the article. "A few went on the record with their names. The rest got anonymity, but you can see their stories woven in. She kept the focus on Nexus and the perpetrators, not the victims."
"And the response?"
Jace didn't look up from his phone. "Mixed. Like you predicted. But... trending heavy toward support."
He was right. Scrolling through, it was obvious how much the article hit a nerve. Omega creators sharing their own horror stories. Medical doctors explaining how dangerous illegal suppressants could be. Industry heavyweights shocked, demanding reform and accountability.
But backlash. Of course there was backlash, and it was ugly.
@NexusLegal: Ms. Quinn's allegations are currently under legal review. We stand behind our former employee Victoria Smith and question the timing of these unsubstantiated claims.
@AlphaGamingElite: Convenient how Quinn becomes a victim the moment her career tanks. Some people will say anything for attention.
@TradStreaming: This is what happens when you give Omegas platforms they can't handle. Biology always wins in the end.
That last one made my hands curl into fists. It's always the same. Even with evidence, even with receipts, there are people who will read my story and see it as proof Omegas can't hack it. Like I'm the problem, not the system.
"Don't read the negative stuff," Reid said gently, because he noticed things like that.
"I have to," I said. "I need to know exactly what we're up against." I kept scrolling, mapping the patterns in real time. "They're not even arguing the facts. They're just aiming straight at me. Shoot the messenger, ignore the message."
"Classic," Malik muttered. "If you can't fight the evidence, fight the person."
"But is it working?" I asked. "Are people actually buying this smear campaign?"
Theo flashed his screen. "Look at the ratio. Every hostile tweet is getting absolutely buried under people calling them out, linking the article, demanding change."
He was right again. For every toxic comment, there were dozens of people pushing back. The story wasn't just on my feed, it had caught fire way beyond the streaming world, sparkingthreads about workplace dynamics, medical autonomy, consent, and corporate ethics across entertainment, sports, even regular tech.
"This is bigger than just streaming," I said, watching as athletes and actors echoed my experience, talking about the same pressure to chemically rewrite their bodies for a brand.
Ash nodded. "That's probably why the response is so heavy. You didn't just blow up one person. You exposed a system with a lot of powerful people invested in it."
My phone rang. "It's Jennifer," I said before answering. "My lawyer."
