Chapter 8 - The Smear Campaign
Released on their own recognizance the next morning, Eleanor and Chloe were furious, humiliated, and desperate for revenge. Sitting in a local diner with their last twenty dollars in cash, Chloe pulled out her phone and logged into her heavily followed Instagram account.
She decided to play the victim.
Chloe went live, tears streaming down her perfectly contoured face. "Hey guys," she sniffled to her thousands of followers. "I’m going through a really hard time. My sister-in-law, Maya, had a total psychotic break. She and her abusive father framed my brother Julian and stole our family home. We are literally homeless because of her greed. Please, we need support."
Within an hour, the video had thousands of views. Nasty comments about Maya began pouring in. Eleanor smiled over her lukewarm coffee, thinking they had finally regained the upper hand.
They didn't know who they were playing with.
I received an alert about the video from my lawyer, Marcus. I didn't get angry. I got to work.
I logged into a dummy social media account and posted a single video in response, tagging Chloe’s account and every local news outlet in the city.
It was the raw, unedited security footage from the front porch camera on the night of the storm.
The video clearly showed Maya shivering on the ground. It clearly recorded Julian’s voice saying, "She needs to learn consequences." And it clearly captured Chloe’s cruel, mocking laughter as they watched Maya freeze.
May you like
The internet is a ruthless judge. Within minutes, the tide turned completely. Chloe’s comment section became a bloodbath of public outrage. Sponsors dropped her. Friends publicly denounced her. The local news picked up the footage, broadcasting the cruelty of the Vance family to the entire state.
Chloe hastily deleted all her social media accounts, but the damage was permanent. They had tried to start a fire, and it had burned their own house down.
