Chapter 3

3

I kept a private backup of those messages, of course.

Silas was swamped at work lately. He hadn't even noticed I was messing with his accounts.

I also managed to track down the buzz-cut guy from the photo.

His name was Shane Maddox. He was currently a rising influencer with over a million followers.

Seeing how well the three of them were doing made me feel a strange sense of satisfaction.

Because the higher they climb, the harder they fall.

A few days later, I contacted an old classmate of mine. She ran a massive media account with five million followers. Her content focused on exposing scandals and weird stories sent in by fans.

I sent her a tip: "Million-follower influencer involved in high school bullying that led to a death."

The story was too juicy to pass up. She asked for names, but I told her to keep it anonymous for now. I promised to provide the evidence once the post gained enough traction.

She posted the teaser at a peak traffic time and boosted it with some ads. It exploded. Thousands of people were in the comments, guessing who the influencer was.

I hired a small group of internet trolls to flood the comments with Shane Maddox's name.

The suspicion shifted toward him instantly. Shane's fans were loyal, though. They demanded proof and accused everyone of defamation.

Soon, a former student from Northcrest High stepped forward with evidence. They confirmed that a girl in Shane's class had indeed jumped to her death.

More alumni started coming out of the woodwork. The incident had been a huge scandal back then, and people in the neighborhood remembered it well.

One former classmate was particularly brave. He posted a public comment: "It was Shane. He and two others―a guy and a girl―bullied that girl relentlessly. We all saw it. But the principal threatened us. He said we wouldn't graduate if we talked. I've already got my degree now, so screw him! I can't believe a piece of trash like Shane became famous. I block him every time he pops up on my feed!"

That comment was upvoted to the very top.

Shane was trapped in a whirlwind of public outrage. People who had always found him annoying but were afraid to speak up now attacked him in droves.

Shane immediately posted a legal notice. He claimed it was all lies and threatened to sue my friend's account.

I told my mother to call the police. I wanted to use these new witnesses to reopen the case from three years ago.

The police showed up at Shane's door shortly after.

At first, Shane was arrogant. He thought too much time had passed for anyone to care.

He didn't realize that Clara's family had never forgotten.

Shane's social media went silent. He didn't follow through with his lawsuits. To the public, his silence was a confession.

His follower count began to plummet. Thousands of people unfollowed him every hour.

My friend posted an update: "Sources say Shane Maddox is currently under police investigation."

Of course, I was that source.

During all this, the news naturally reached Silas's ears.

I could tell he was distracted. When we ate together, he would just stare at his plate in a daze.

I brought up the news casually. He jumped as if I'd shocked him, then muttered some vague nonsense to brush it off.

Quinn was also panicking. She kept messaging Silas, but she didn't realize I was the one holding the phone.

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