Chapter 6 - The Smear Campaign
By the time we returned home the next day, my phone was exploding with notifications. Eleanor hadn't just gone home quietly; she had launched a full-scale digital assault.
She had taken to Facebook, posting a lengthy, tear-jerking status about how her "abusive, ungrateful daughter-in-law" had brainwashed her son into kicking her out onto the streets.
Cousins, aunts, and family friends were flooding my inbox with vitriol.
How could you do this to your mother?
She was only trying to help!
Clara is manipulating you, Michael!
May you like
Eleanor was playing the victim flawlessly, relying on the fact that I had always been a private person who kept family matters offline. She assumed I would stay silent and take the abuse to protect our reputation.
She severely underestimated a risk assessor's willingness to deploy a nuclear option. I didn't reply to a single text. Instead, I sat down at my computer and prepared a devastating counter-strike.
