Here we go.
Wait, how does he even know I knew?
“Are you monitoring my phone?” I ask.
“No,” he replies. “But my team monitorssocial media. We saw the post. Elena called her contact at Meta, who said she already received a takedown notice from one Sabrina Taylor-Maxwell. Your friend. So of course you knew.”
“I was going to tell you,” I say quickly. Meeting his eyes even though my face is burning. “But I was handling the situation.”
“It’s a video of my daughter having a panic attack.” His voice stays level but I can hear the rage underneath. “Posted by someone who has no right to film her. And you didn’t think I needed to know?”
“I knew what you’d do.” The words come out sharper than I intend. “You’d want to go nuclear. Lawyer up. Destroy this person. And yes, maybe they deserve it. But escalation makes it worse.”
His jaw tightens. “So you decided tomanageme instead oftrustingme?”
“You’re over-reacting,” I counter. “I just learned about it myself. I only finished talking to Sabrina like five minutes ago, and I was on my way to tell you everything. Look, I decided to protect Ben first. Get the video taken down. And I did that.”
He’s quiet for a long moment.
“Only five minutes ago?” he says finally. “Maybe I’m being too hard on you. Still, you should have told me right away, before calling Sabrina. Ben’s my kid.Mykid.”
“You’re right.” I nod. “I should have. I’m sorry.”
Another silence. This one heavier.
Then his phone buzzes. He reads the screen and his expression shifts. “Elena received written confirmation from Meta on the takedown request. She’salso contacted school admin, who will issue a warning to the parent.” He pockets his phone. Looks at me. “And for the record? I wouldn’t have gone ‘nuclear.’”
Liar.
But I don’t say it. Just nod.
He turns to leave, then pauses in the doorway. “Jess?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. For putting her first.”
My throat goes tight. “Always.”
He leaves. I sink back onto the bed and stare at the ceiling.
My hands are properly shaking now.
When you stay calm during the crisis and fall apart after.
I pull out my phone. Check the video one more time.
Still up. Six thousand likes now.
I do a refresh.
And there it is.
404 Not Found Error.
Gone.
I exhale in relief.
