Chapter 1: Tarot, Trolls, and a Viral Curse

I livestream tarot readings. One night, as I was shuffling my rainbow deck and sipping a mug of chamomile tea, out of nowhere, a top-tier celeb jumped into my TikTok Live. The chat went wild, comments flying by so fast I could barely keep up, and then his handle flashed up—little blue checkmark and all.

"Ma'am, do you think I'll win Best Actor at the Oscars this year?" he asked. His message got pinned—thanks, algorithm—and suddenly thousands more people flooded in.

I raised an eyebrow, smirking at the camera. "Try drinking more dish soap," I shot back, only half joking. Honestly, I was kind of bored.

The star just bailed from the stream, didn’t say another word. And, here we go... in a split second, his fans swarmed my chat like a pack of angry bees.

"Ugly witch! How dare you curse our king? He’s not greasy!"

Little did they know—their king’s not just greasy. He’s got a whole lot of baggage.

Not just one.

The chat blew up.

"Damn, the streamer is for real!"

"Carter Hayes’s downfall was so sudden, haha."

"I thought the streamer was just roasting Carter Hayes, but now I see I was wrong. Ma'am, I bow to you!"

I watched the flood of comments scroll across my phone, frowning, confused. My thumb hovered over the screen as I tried to process what was happening.

"Who’s Carter Hayes?"

Immediately, the chat exploded with laughter. Rows of crying-laughing emojis and "LMAO" spammed the feed.

"Ma'am, you seriously don’t remember Carter Hayes?"

I shook my head, genuinely lost.

Some viewers tried to jog my memory.

"He’s the one you told to drink more dish soap a few days ago."

"Ma'am, check the BigEye app—you’re trending number one!"

"No, the person above is wrong! Now Ma'am is trending number one!"

Urged on by the chat, I opened the BigEye app, my heart thumping. My phone looked like it was about to explode. The interface was a mess of notifications and flashing banners.

Trending number one: “AAA Maple Heights Psychic Livestream, Unbelievable!”

There was even a fiery red “explosive” tag next to it, like the app was about to go off like the Fourth of July.

Trending number two: “Carter Hayes is greasy as hell!”

“So funny, when Ma'am said Carter Hayes was greasy that day, I didn’t believe it. But today, watching that new show—oh my god, he’s so greasy.”

“Didn’t join in with the Carter stans dragging Ma'am, feel like I dodged a bullet.”

“Someone please help, I want to check out Ma'am’s livestream too!”

I looked back at my livestream room. The viewer count was climbing nonstop, ticking up like a slot machine on a hot streak.

Rockets. Yachts. Virtual gifts everywhere. My screen was a light show. The animation effects sparkled, and for a second, I just stared, dazed.

“Ma'am, can you check my fortune?”

“Ma'am, I want to know about my love life!”

More and more people joined, the chat moving so fast it was impossible to read everything. My phone was buzzing non-stop. I was pretty sure it might catch fire.

I left a message: “Anyone who just sent gifts, DM me your birth date, time, and question backstage. There are too many people today, so I won’t be taking voice calls.”

After ending the stream, I tried calling Jamie Lin again, but still got no answer. It just kept ringing. Straight to voicemail.

Jamie Lin seemed to have vanished into thin air.

News about him online was still stuck on the promo for his new Netflix series. No updates, no interviews, just old headlines.

No replies to messages, and his phone wouldn’t connect. I tried texting him a meme, just in case, but nothing.

Didn’t he say he was already a big star?

I curled my lip, thinking, why is he still so petty? Could he still be mad because I didn’t go with him to LA before…

I opened TikTok, and the 99+ backstage DMs made my eye twitch. My notifications looked like a slot machine that wouldn't stop spinning. It was almost hypnotic. And kind of terrifying.

Questions like whether Carter Hayes would have a scandal, whether someone could get back with their ex, and even someone asking when their posts would go viral…

By the time I finished dealing with all those DMs, it was already late at night. My eyes burned, my fingers cramped, and I wondered if this was what fame felt like. Fame. Not as glamorous as it looks.

The next day, I started the stream at my usual time, mug of coffee in hand, hair still a mess.

Instantly, a huge wave of people flooded into my livestream. The chat was coming in so fast, my phone froze for a sec before it returned to normal.

“Ma'am, you’re really amazing!”

“Last night someone posted that you told them Carter Hayes would have another scandal. I didn’t believe it, but then a bunch of his dirt exploded at midnight.”

I frowned a bit, not expecting someone would screenshot our DMs and post them on Instagram. I felt a weird mix of pride and dread.

The chat kept coming.

“Exactly, as soon as that person posted, Carter’s fans started cursing you like crazy.”

“Ma'am, you didn’t get mad at those idiots, right? You have to keep streaming today.”

“Whoever curses Ma'am now, I’ll fight them!”

I browsed the trending topics, rubbing my forehead.

Trending number one: “Psychic says a certain top-tier will keep having scandals.”

The next few trending topics were:

“Carter Hayes once orchestrated school bullying!”

“Carter Hayes faked his college degree!”

“Carter Hayes is a diva!”

Yikes, what a tragic downfall. I almost felt bad for him—almost.

I looked away and turned back to the livestream, trying to focus on the next reading.

Unexpectedly, the chat was arguing. The tone was sharp, the insults creative.

Someone snarked: “Isn’t it just some ugly witch making up fake dirt to slander our king?”

People behind her snapped back.

“Are you serious? You think your king is all that? Ma'am can’t even remember your king’s generic face.”

“Heh, maybe it’s all an act, maybe this psychic was paid off by the rival PR team.”

“Top-tier? What awards has your king won?”

“The person above must be a brainless Carter Hayes stan. You and Carter, trash, should stick together forever.”

My head was pounding from all the arguing, so I just blocked the sarcastic person. Drama could wait. I had real problems to solve.

“Anyone causing trouble will be blocked. Don’t waste everyone else’s time for readings.”

As soon as I finished, people started sending rockets again, the animation effects almost blinding.