The headline makes my blood run cold.
“BREAKING: Metro Raptors Researcher Accused of Data Manipulation to Protect Star Player”
The article includes security footage. It's grainy and edited but damning. It shows Ivy at a computer in the research wing of the facility, supposedly altering assessment results. The timestamp is from a week ago.
It has to be fake, but it looks real enough that people will believe it.
My phone rings. Patricia Ammon.
"Have you seen the video?" she asks without preamble.
"I saw it just now."
"It's been leaked to every major sports outlet." Her voice is grim. "Declan, this is Gregory and he wants maximum damage. You know that, right?"
"Yeah." My voice is hollow. "I know."
"Then you need to prepare for war. Because he's destroying anyone you care about to bring you to heel. If he succeeds, who will he go after next?"
The call ends.
A minute later, my phone vibrates. It's a message from an unknown number:
Private no:
She'll lose everything because of you. Her research, her degree, her reputation. All because Declan Hawthorne wanted something he couldn't have. How does that feel?
I don't need proof to know who sent it.
Gregory wants me to be desperate enough to cave to his demands. Instead, I forward everything else Patricia might need and text my siblings:
Declan:
Emergency family meeting. My place. Now. We're taking Gregory down, and I need your help.
If he wants war, I'll give him one.
21
IVY
It’s Over
The video has been viewed over two million times.
I know because I've refreshed the page obsessively for the past six hours, watching the numbers climb while my life disintegrates. The footage is grainy but damning—me at my computer in the research lab, supposedly altering cognitive assessment results.
The timestamp says 'last Thursday at 11:46 p.m.' The caption reads:
“Metro Raptors researcher caught manipulating concussion data to protect star player boyfriend.”
It's a lie.
I wasn't even at the facility last Thursday at eleven forty-six p.m. I was at Dr. O'Connell's house helping her prepare a grant proposal over wine and takeout. I have evidence and her testimony to prove it.
But no one's asking for proof. They're too busy destroying me in the comments.
The gold digger is trying to protect her meal ticket
