Better Than Revenge
A FATAL FEUD
“Harper Moore and Nadine Heywood? It was always going to end like this: with a body buried six feet under.”
Lights flash. A hand pushes a camera away.
Couture gowns flicker and vanish. Ambulances pull up to a film festival, smearing tire tracks across the crimson carpet.
Those same sirens, police cars now, hurtle down winding country roads.
In a bar, two women blur as their bodies launch at each other, snarling and vicious and brutal.
“The only surprise is that it didn’t happen sooner.”
A woman walks the carpet of a film premiere, a suited man on her arm, but he hardly seems to notice the video cameras rolling or the microphones thrust into their faces.
It is her—Harper Moore—in a green silk dress, her hair a cascade of ebony, diamonds raining from her earlobes.
She’s the one who looks directly down the lens and offers a slow, languid smile before the footage fades to black and the title card fills the screen:
A FATAL FEUD
THE MURDER THAT DIVIDED HOLLYWOOD
Sat before softly blurred mannequins and walls lined with bolts of fabric, acclaimed designer Amos DuPont adjusts a cufflink and laughs, making clear his voice overlaid the intro.
Amos DuPont: We always knew they would do anything for a shred of fame. I just don’t think we meant it quite so literally.
In the neon-studded office of Hollywood Whisperer, senior reporter Jasmine McKenna speaks.
Jasmine McKenna: I’ve never seen a media storm like this. All anyone wants to talk about right now is Harper Moore. And all anyone wants to see is Nadine Heywood: splashed across every page, celebrating the long-awaited downfall of her nemesis.
Nadine Heywood comes into focus: blond, tan, and toned. A strap of her ruby-sequined minidress falls down one arm as the other arm raises a bottle of champagne. She struts along the countertop, utterly jubilant, pouring drinks into glasses clutched by the desperate hands below.
Jasmine McKenna: That rivalry—the mystery of it? Friends one moment, enemies the next? They’re shrouded in so much gossip and rumor … Who doesn’t want to know the real story of how the Hollywood It Girl and the Greatest Actress of the Age came to blows?
In a Beverly Hills home, acclaimed model and one-third of Harper Moore’s infamous BFF trio, Kayla Alexander, glowers into the lens.
Kayla Alexander: That was probably Nadine’s first thought when she heard about what happened—that Harper wouldn’t be able to share her side of the story anymore. If it weren’t for those of us who care about Harper, it would be only Nadine’s tale to frame however she pleases.
Amos DuPont: If you need someone to spill on Heywood, then I’ve probably known her longest. Well. Apart from Harper, of course. But that’s exactly my point: If you want to understand the woman we’re accusing of murder, you need to understand her nemesis. They can’t be untangled.
Jasmine McKenna: Nadine’s won a Tony, multiple Golden Globes, and two goddamn Oscars.
What she’s achieved is nearly impossible.
But does anyone care? All that success, and we’ve only ever wanted to know about her latest spat with Harper.
So it’s hardly a surprise, is it? That when it’s Harper’s tragedy, when it’s an international scandal—when it’s a goddamn murder—all eyes turn to Nadine.
Maybe this is how we finally get to the truth of it all.
In a luxurious London hotel, the camera rests on a damask armchair, hazy and out of focus.
A producer, off screen: Alright, so we’re going to start with Central Art and Drama School and where the rivalry began. You can talk about your time in London and—
A figure drops into the chair, an elegant heap of bronzed limbs, couture silk, and artfully teased hair. Her dress is the same cherry red as the sequined slip she’d donned in the previous clip, her lips a perfectly matching stain. She looks off, scowling.
Nadine Heywood: Drama school? No, no, darling. The rivalry began in 1996 when Harper decided to use my name as a way into this industry rather than working hard like the rest of us. When we were at CADS? I hardly remember her.
Nadine flashes the camera a smug, teasing smirk.
Nadine Heywood: Harper Moore was thoroughly unremarkable.