If I didn’t know that I got the idea from watching a British drama and stayed up countless nights writing that script, I might have thought I copied her.

But the truth was clear. Somehow, she posted it first.

And just like that, she went viral overnight.

In my past life, that exact video destroyed me.

I remembered feeling excited, thinking the internet would finally recognize my work when I posted it.

But when I checked the comments, the joy quickly turned to dread. Everyone said I was a copycat. They even linked the original, which was Lesley’s video.

When I clicked it, I found the same concept, same angles, and same style. A 99.9% match.

But I swear. I never copied a single thing.

I was instantly furious then. Desperate to prove I was the true creator, I posted all my drafts and BTS footage.

But it didn’t help.

Because Lesley also posted her process, and somehow, her timestamps were earlier than mine.

Then came the backlash.

[She planned this ‘evidence’ in advance just to drag Lesley down!]

[Support originality! Say no to plagiarists!]

[Zephanie, get out of the beauty community! You don’t belong here!]

[LMAO. You came looking for proof and got slammed by it.]

Even Lesley’s team and management released official statements saying they didn’t copy anything, that everything was planned in-house.

I, on the other hand, was just an independent creator. No team, no manager. Just me, working on every piece from start to finish. So, no one stood up for me. Not even my boyfriend.

In fact, he posted a video too, announcing publicly that he was breaking up with me. Said all my content was stitched together from other creators, and that I was a serial plagiarist.

And that was the final blow.

The internet dragged me harder than ever. My comment sections were flooded with hate. My DMs were bombarded with unreadable and disgusting content.

The pressure crushed my creativity, and brands pulled away. As such, I hardly got by.

Eventually, I started hurting myself and soon visited a psychiatric clinic, where I was diagnosed with severe depression.

And one sunny afternoon, in a cramped little rental apartment, I decided to end it all.

But then, I opened my eyes, only to find myself back at the beginning, where none of that had happened yet.

But this time, I was going to find out the truth behind all of it.

Zephanie's POV