Hanging the Sterling Family on X formerly Twitter
The hallway lights cast a warm, yellow glow. Avery walked at a steady pace, her eyes fixed on a private room door that was slightly ajar. She didn't stop, but as she passed, she lifted her phone and aimed the camera through the crack.
Light from the party inside spilled into the hall. She tapped the screen, and with a soft, almost inaudible click, captured the room number and the people inside, their glasses raised in a toast.
She slipped the phone back into her pocket, her expression turning cold and sharp. *Trying to influence a judge?* she thought. *You brought this on yourselves.*
Without a second glance, Avery continued down the hall and stepped into an elevator, her face a mask of calm. The doors slid shut, reflecting her tall, composed figure and the cool resolve in her eyes.
Outside The Pinnacle Club, Leo and the others had been waiting for a while. Just as Maya pulled out her phone to call, Avery emerged from the revolving doors.
"Avery, over here!" Maya called, poking her head out the car window and waving.
Avery's lips curved into a small smile. She jogged over, apologized for the wait, and hopped into the back seat. As the car pulled away from the curb, another vehicle pulled up. A man in expensive casual wear stepped out, his arm wrapped tightly around a woman.
After slamming the car door, he seemed to catch something and whipped his head around, staring in the direction their car had just gone.
"Did you just hear someone yell 'Avery'?" he asked the woman in his arms, scanning the now-empty street.
Her eyes were hazy with drink. "I didn't hear anything," she said, her voice flirtatious. "Who's this Avery you're talking about, Landon?"
His eyes darkened for a split second before a playful look replaced it. "Just a... very interesting doctor."
With that, he guided her toward The Pinnacle Club, their arms linked.
Back at the film crew's lodgings, Avery waited until Maya was in the shower before transferring the photos she'd taken to her old, private lawyer email.
They weren't useful just yet, a picture of a dinner party didn't prove anything on its own.
But if Bryce Sterling didn't get the maximum sentence, these photos would be her proof that the Sterling family was tampering with the legal process.
After saving her insurance policy, Avery grabbed a change of clothes, took a quick shower, and went to bed.
The next day, a light, misty drizzle was falling, staining the cobblestone streets a deep, dark gray.
Avery had just walked onto the set, umbrella in hand, when her phone started buzzing with notifications.
She collapsed the umbrella, stuck it in a plastic bucket by the entrance, and ducked under a waterproof awning to check her messages.
It was from the analyst she'd hired. *God, professionals are on another level,* she thought.
He'd sent a two-minute video. Every single frame of the Sterling sister's arrogant, threatening tirade was captured perfectly, right down to the moment her finger almost poked the hospital director in the eye.
The video was crystal clear, and Avery quickly figured out which security camera it came from, the one in the inpatient department, across from the administration building.
The audio had been cleaned up, and though it was still a bit noisy, you could just make out the older Sterling sister threatening both the director and Avery herself.
Avery immediately saved the file.
**Legal Person Does Not Sleep:** Thanks.
**Analysis Master:** You're welcome. Let me know if you need anything else.
Avery didn't reply. Instead, she opened X, logged into her lawyer alt account, and uploaded the video with a title designed to get clicks:
**#SterlingsThreatenDoctor**
While the whole "hospital incident" wasn't as big as the story about the lawyer killed in court, it was still a hot topic. A title like that, hitting just a few days after the event, was guaranteed to stir up online outrage. She hadn't spent the last few days studying public opinion for nothing.
To top it off, she included the Sterling family's company name, just slightly blurred. It didn't really matter. *Westlake City food company.* Between those two clues, any local would immediately connect the dots to Bryce Sterling. And if Westlake City knew, the rest of the country wasn't far behind.
The Sterlings wanted to cause her trouble? Fine. She'd beat them to the punch and give them a much bigger fire to put out. Once this post blew up, they wouldn't have time to worry about her. By the time they managed their company's PR crisis, Bryce would probably already be sentenced.
Her first goal was sending him to prison. Three years wasn't nearly enough to make up for what happened to the real Dr. Avery Hayes, but it was a start. He had to go.
Less than ten minutes after she posted the video and put her phone away, the screen lit up with a flood of likes and comments. The storm was just beginning, but she didn't have time to watch it unfold.
The filming schedule for the short drama was brutal.
With only three days left, the crew was working nonstop.
Avery's first few days had been easy with just a couple of indoor scenes, but now that they were shooting outside, she finally understood what a crunch felt like.
As the designated wheelchair-pusher, she had to be on call at all times.
And it wasn't just pushing, she had lines, too.
This was her first time acting, after all. Playing a calm, reserved doctor was basically playing herself, but the second a scene called for explosive emotion, she hit a wall.
Like right now. In the scene, the main characters' parents disapproved of their relationship.
The male lead was refusing to let go, but the female lead had already given up.
Avery's character was supposed to pick up the female lead from the male lead's mansion, only to be blocked at the door.
The confrontation was meant to be intense, the dialogue over-the-top. And Avery just couldn't get there.
Director Duke was losing his mind. She could practically feel the despair radiating off his bald head as her performance fell flat for the fifth time.
Taking a deep breath, she walked over to him. "Director Duke," she said, trying to organize her thoughts. "Why don't you film Owen's solo shots first? I need a minute to think about this part."
Continuing to mess up was just wasting everyone's time. The problem was, neither she nor the version of Dr. Avery Hayes she was channeling had ever felt that kind of hysterical, raw emotion.
"Fine," the director sighed, clearly out of options. "We'll run this scene again in an hour."
Avery nodded, grabbed her small stool, and sat down off to the side. She pulled out her phone, but instead of scrolling social media, she opened the video the analyst had sent her.
She zoomed in on the Sterling sister's face, arrogant, domineering, utterly dismissive of another person's dignity.
Avery took a slow, deep breath and tried to place herself in the scene. She imagined it wasn't the male lead standing in front of her, but this woman, the one who had threatened to destroy her career.
Instantly, a cold, sharp rage boiled up from somewhere deep inside her.
Okay, she thought. Now she had an idea of how to play this.