Chapter 14 - DIANE'S LAST LIE
Mark turned toward me before Diane even walked away.
"What is she talking about?"
I knew exactly what Diane was trying to do.
Divide us.
Still, there was one thing I had never told Mark.
Not because I had betrayed him.
Because I had been trying to protect him.
Three years earlier, Diane came to me asking for twenty thousand dollars. She claimed Mark was overwhelmed and too proud to admit he had made a bad investment.
I refused to hand her cash and asked Mark directly.
He knew nothing about it.
I confronted Diane privately.
I gave her nothing.
But I kept the incident to myself because Mark's relationship with his mother was already fragile.
"That was my mistake," I told him. "I should have told you."
Mark was angry.
Not at the money.
At the silence.
"How many times did she come to you?"
"Twice."
"And you never told me?"
"No."
He looked away.
Diane's poison worked because it contained one drop of truth.
On the drive home, we barely spoke.
Then Rachel called.
"Claire, check your email. Now."
An anonymous account had sent hundreds of wedding guests a video clip.
It showed only twelve seconds.
Me slapping Diane.
No footage of Lily being pushed.
No Diane grabbing her wrist.
Just me striking an older woman at a wedding.
The subject line read:
THIS IS WHO CLAIRE REALLY IS.
Social media moved fast.
By midnight, strangers were calling me abusive.
One post had fifty thousand views.
Diane had edited herself into a victim.
Mark looked at the comments and swore.
"She's trying to destroy your reputation."
My employer emailed asking for a meeting Monday morning.
The same morning as the fraudulent property closing.
That was not a coincidence.
Then Rachel called again.
Her voice shook.
"There is another video."
"Of what?"
"Lily."
My blood went cold.
May you like
"What did she post?"
Rachel whispered, "Nothing public. She sent it directly to me. And Claire... you need to see what your daughter says in it."
