She left.
Kaya’s words kept cycling through my head.They’ll not see Rose the rancher anymore.And underneath that, the suffocating knowledge of what I’d cost her. Not just privacy. Not just trust. Years of work. Years of earning something I’d never had to earn, because I’d been born with enough charm and enough luck that the world handed me things I didn’t deserve.
Rose had built her place in this old town brick by brick, and I’d helped knock it down in a single night.
I stood up. Grabbed my jacket.
Someone had uploaded that video. Someone had taken the footage and posted it on my official channel. And I had a pretty good idea who.
It had to be Jamie.
I found her in the main building dining area, sitting at one of the long tables with a plate of eggs and toast and her phone propped against a coffee mug, scrolling while she ate. The laptop was open beside her. She looked up when I walked in, and the color drained from her face.
“Graham.” She set her fork down and stood, the chair scraping against the floor. “I was going to come find you?—”
“Sit down.”
She sat. Her eggs would go cold. I didn’t care.
I stayed standing. Arms crossed. The anger I’d been sitting on all night finally finding a target.
“The video,” I said. “Your access credentials.”
“I didn’t post it.” The words came fast, her eyes wide. “I know what it looks like?—”
“It looks like you recorded a private moment in that barn, then uploaded it to my channel with a caption designed to go viral.” I kept my voice level but it cost me. “Three million views, Jamie.”
“Actually,” she said, her voice small, “we’re at five million now.”
I stared at her.
She winced. “Sorry. But Graham, Iswearto you?—”
“You’ve been on your phone nonstop since we got here. Filming everything. Pushing for content. You were told no filming of Rose, and you recorded her anyway.”
“Yes.” Jamie’s voice cracked. “I came to check on you. Saw you with Rose, tending to the spooked horse. I recorded it. Ishouldn’t have. But it was such a cool moment. I didn’t upload it, though. I didn’t even open the channel app last night.”
“Then explain to me how it got posted from your account?”
“I don’t know!” She was crying now, mascara already smudging. “I’ve been trying to figure that out.” She dragged a hand across her face. “Maybe someone hacked the account. Hacked my phone. It happens. Channels our size get targeted all the time, you know that.”
I stared at her. Part of me wanted to believe her.
“You expect me to believe someone else logged into your account, hacked into your phone?”
“I know how it sounds?—”
“It sounds like you got caught.”
Jamie flinched like I’d slapped her. She opened her mouth to respond, but another voice cut in from the doorway.
“I believe her.”
I turned. Dex was leaning against the frame, his expression the particular kind of calm he reserved for situations where someone was about to do something stupid.
“How long have you been standing there?” I asked.
“Long enough.” He pushed off the frame and walked in. Dex looked at Jamie. “Did you leave your phone unattended yesterday?”
