The silver and gold envelopes were handed to Ethan and Andrea.
He gave her that charming smile again, the one that always made her blush. "Ready?" he whispered, kissing her forehead lightly before they both turned to the host.
They walked to the small glass box at the centre of the stage and dropped their envelopes inside. The crowd clapped and cheered. Everyone believed they were the couple that couldn't be broken.
The host smiled widely, holding the box dramatically. "Alright, everyone. This is it…the final reveal!"
The Lights dimmed and the screen behind them flashed Love or Money.
You could feel the tension on everyone's faces , and even the air had seemed to pause. The host reached in for the box, pulling out the first envelope.
"Andrea's choice…" she said, opening it slowly.
She smiled. "Love."
There was applause as people clapped… Andrea smiled shyly, tears already in her eyes.
Then the host reached for the second envelope. "And Ethan's choice…"
She hesitated, the smile on her face was showily fading which was followed by a quiet pause. "…Money."
For a second there was silence. Then a wave of shock rippled through the hall.
People gasped, murmured. A few shouted. Andrea turned to him, her face starting to turn pale. "Ethan?" she whispered with her lips trembling as she tried to form a smile.
"You're joking, right?"
Ethan didn't answer right away. He just looked at her then he gave a small laugh.
"I came here to win," he said with a voice steady. "And I did."
He reached for the briefcase sitting on the stage table, snapped it open just enough to see the stacks of cash, then shut it again.
Andrea just stood there like a fool with her tears caught in her lashes but refusing to fall.
Ethan gave a mock salute to the audience and stepped back.
"Nothing personal," he said lightly, turning toward the exit. "It's just part of the game."
Andrea stood there, her arms limp at her sides, watching him walk away under the bright stage lights, her world crashing in slow motion.
After everything had ended and the show lights went off the place was quiet again and no cheers and no noise and just empty seats and leftover confetti on the floor.
Andrea sat backstage and her makeup was smudged and her hair was messed up….She didn't care and her hands shook as she packed her few things into a small bag and she couldn't breathe properly and all she wanted was answers.
She got up fast and rushed toward the boys' section and called out, "Ethan!" as she pushed through the corridor.
Her voice cracked and broke and she shouted again, "Ethaaaann!" but he wasn't there when she rushed in.
She turned to one of the workers standing by the side and asked, "Where's Ethan?"
The worker blinked and looked nervous and said, "Oh uh, he already left and the first helicopter picked him up about five minutes ago."
Andrea stared at him and her lips parted but no word came out and she turned around and ran again heading for the field and hoping she could still catch up with him.
When she reached the open space, there were already a few show executives waiting.
One of them called her over. "Andrea, come here. You need to see this." They led her into a small room where a screen played back security footage and message logs.
The video showed Ethan laughing and talking to another contestant behind her back while he plotted and set her up and used her popularity to climb higher.
Andrea stood there staring at the screen as her stomach twisted and her heart sank.
He played her and stole her star. Every smile and every word he told her was all fake.
She walked out quietly after that without a word and not a single tear fell.
Days passed and then weeks and the show was aired and then it spread online.
The internet is flooded with hashtags: #EthanTheSnake #JusticeForAndrea …
Andrea stayed hidden with no interviews and no posts for people to follow her story after the show and the embarrassment was too much to bear because for her it wasn't just a show and it was her heart that had been played with.
Ethan, on the other hand, was loud about it and took interviews and smiled on camera because he knew the only way to survive the hate was to twist the story first.
He appeared on a morning show looking tired and broken and his eyes were red and his voice was soft. "I know everyone hates me right now," he said, "and I get it. But people don't understand how much pressure there was on that island.
The producers made it all a game. I panicked. I made a mistake." He paused, perfectly timed, then added, "But my feelings for Andrea were real and I just thought maybe she'd also pick money. I wanted to test if what we had was real even off-camera."
His words spread everywhere and people started saying maybe he wasn't that bad. Influencers defended him and said, "Reality TV messes with your head."
Brands started reaching out again and within a month Ethan had a podcast and modeling deals and millions of followers….the redeemed villain.
Behind it all was his PR manager, feeding him every line and leaking fake messages
to make it look like Andrea was the one who cut him off. In the public's eyes, Ethan became the guy who tried and Andrea was just the girl who couldn't handle fame.
Andrea watched everything from her small apartment, scrolling through posts and clips, and her name had become a joke. She couldn't go outside without hearing whispers.
One night she looked in the mirror and didn't recognize herself.
She touched her face and whispered, "This isn't me." And just like that Andrea decided to bury the old her.
No more interviews and no more Andrea the sweetheart from the show.
She put on her mask and walked away from it all. The world stopped talking about her and that was exactly how she wanted it, gone and forgotten.
The pain in her hand almost snapped as the memory dragged her right back into the office and she blinked hard and took a deep breath before closing the laptop in front of her with a sharp thud. Before she could even get herself angrier, loud voices erupted from outside. Curious and uneasy, she rushed out and followed the noise. The hallway was chaotic with people shouting and holding their phones high, trying to capture someone's arrival. Andrea stood on her toes, trying to see through the crowd.
And then she froze mid-stride and her heart stumbled. Even after all these years, she'd recognize that face anywhere.
"Ethan Darksire…" she whispered, the name barely leaving her lips