Chapter 66
66
After the success of the Dateline interview, I simply can’t restrain myself.
Once everyone leaves for the day, I dig my phone out from my nightstand, plug it into the charger, and power it on. As soon as my wallpaper glows to life, a burst of notifications unfurls onto the lock screen.
I check socials first.
On Instagram, Chloe’s profile has gained a staggering two million new followers. The comments are filled with snake emojis, but also a surprising outcry of support. Some of the Chloe Crew even rebranded themselves as Julie’s Jewels. A loyal member said, I only started watching after Julie took over. She’s the one that I’ve always been a fan of. If what Viktor said is true, I don’t think she did anything wrong. My YouTube views have exploded. People are replaying my content constantly, time-stamping certain parts of videos they find suspect. (Unfortunately, YouTube removed me from the partner program due to my alleged crimes, so I haven’t earned a single cent from the boost in views.) Overall, engagement has gone up over 5,000 percent on all platforms.
There are even stan-accounts of me.
And I mean me .
Accounts that support Julie Chan. Edits of me to TikTok sounds, Reddit threads that attempt to justify my actions, and thirst-traps litter Instagram. As one internet dweller said, I support women’s rights and women’s wrongs. The people love me. (I’ve also become the Second Coming of Christ to certain shadowy corners of the internet after validating their evil-cabal-of-elite conspiracies. Tinfoil hats aren’t part of my brand, but they’ve become my loudest supporters regardless.)
I’m enamored and surprised by the overwhelming support, a lot of which came before the Dateline interview even aired.
Shannon has been drip-feeding me information on what’s happening in the media. Like how some of the extended Melniburg family members are running a public smear campaign against me, spearheading the Julie-killed-Chloe conspiracy to discredit my claims. I worry the Melniburgs will have sway over public opinion, since the powerful always get to rewrite history.
But while it’s true that many major news outlets are in support of or lukewarm about the Melniburgs (likely because they operate on the Melniburg dime), nobody can control the actions of a few curious content creators.
For instance, someone made a four-part docuseries on YouTube (thirty million views and counting!) about the Belladonnas and their toxicity. The creator deep-dived into Bella Marie’s history and unveiled a world of hurt through intensive internet sleuthing. Cults were just a footnote in Melniburg history when you account for their long list of alleged offenses, including but not limited to: supporting dictators, aiding in eliminating democratically elected leaders of developing countries, contributing to several economic collapses, high-level tax fraud, suspicious deaths—political assassinations?—the list could go on. (You have a lot of time to do evil shit when you’re in power for several centuries.) This one docuseries spurred a hundred other videos digging into the Belladonnas, bringing their most infamous moments into the light. Some internet sleuths went even deeper, examining old photos of Melniburg ancestors and who they hung out with, and looking through flight records of who’s been to the island. It’s been unearthed that several politicians, celebrities, and of course Supreme Court justices have been friendly with the Melniburgs over the years.
Shannon tells me the courts are scrambling to compile a list of judges who have not been touched by the Melniburgs—which is about as difficult as compiling a list of Catholic priests who haven’t touched young boys—but I didn’t know it was all thanks to some internet truth-seekers with too much time on their hands.
Because of them, Bella Marie and the Belladonnas have become the biggest villains of the internet and I’ve somehow become the poor little victim. I just so happened to be a perfect sob story: orphan, abusive childhood, dead family.
On top of that, the Dateline episode, which aired with record-breaking views, is already helping in more ways than I imagined. Only three hours after the live broadcast, a barrage of clips have been uploaded onto every video platform, each with thousands of views and thousands more comments. With one interview, Viktor has shaped my public image from victim to liberator .
Someone even started a Change.org petition that claims I’m too pretty to go to jail. It has half a million signatures.
When I click into my email, hundreds of requests from screenwriters and production studios populate my inbox. They are hoping to buy my IP to write a movie or series based off my experience. Offers worth millions. Biographers and publishing houses are wondering if I want to pen the next bestseller. (Apparently, Iz has already signed a book deal of her own.)
I reply to each email in earnest and message Fiona to get in contact with an agent to see if we can start a bidding war on The True Story of Julie Chan.
Then it hits me.
I’ve transcended what it means to become an influencer. No longer will I have to paddle the treacherous open waters of the internet, chasing seconds of attention and kernels of power. I have become the lighthouse people swim to.
People are making video essays and podcasts of my story. Mainstream executives are wanting to produce shows in my name. But I’ve been around long enough to know: the only one you can trust is yourself.
Right now, the world wants to watch, to listen, to follow my light. This is my chance to guide them through truths that wouldn’t be illuminated otherwise, to mold their understanding of Julie Chan.
I have that power. It’s right at my fingertips.