Chapter 7 - The Smear Campaign
Reid did not go quietly into the shadows.
On Tuesday morning, my phone began ringing uncontrollably. Colleagues from my engineering firm, clients from my commercial refrigeration contracts, and even neighbors from our suburban block were texting me links to a series of social media posts.
Pamela had gone on a public rampage.
She had posted photos of the spilled dining table, accompanied by a lengthy, emotionally charged narrative. In her version of events, Audrey Fenwick was an unhinged, absentee wife who had abandoned her family, returned home in an alcoholic rage, assaulted her elderly in-laws, and threw an ailing grandmother out into the cold Virginia winter.
Brooke had reshared the post to her design firm's five thousand followers, tagging local business associations and calling for a boycott of my engineering consultancy.
*“We opened our hearts to her family, and this is how she repays us,”* Pamela’s post read. *“She left her mother neglected for months while she chased money in Alaska, and now she’s blaming innocent people for her own guilt. Justice for Reid!”*
My firm’s managing partner called me within an hour. "Audrey, we have two corporate clients asking questions. They saw the tags on LinkedIn. You know how sensitive the board is about public reputation."
"Give me twenty-four hours, David," I said calmly. "I will handle this completely and decisively."
I didn't call Reid. I didn't engage with Pamela’s comments. Instead, I drove down to Marcus Vance’s office with Evelyn.
By two o'clock that afternoon, Marcus had filed an emergency motion for a cease-and-desist order alongside a multimillion-dollar defamation suit naming Pamela Calloway, Brooke Calloway, and Reid Calloway as co-defendants. Attached to the filing were three indisputable pieces of evidence:
First, the timestamped security camera footage from our foyer showing Pamela screaming at my mother while Helen sat on the floor with the spoiled lentils.
Second, the audio recording Evelyn had preserved, where Pamela explicitly discussed keeping Helen hidden so Reid could secure Audrey's project bonus.
Third, the hospital admission records detailing the severe neglect Helen had suffered under Pamela’s watch.
Marcus didn't just file it with the court. He issued a formal press release to the local Richmond business journal and tagged every organization Brooke had tried to mobilize against me.
The backlash was instantaneous and devastating.
Within three hours, Pamela’s social media account was flooded with thousands of furious comments condemning her cruelty toward an elderly woman. Brooke’s design boutique saw its ratings plummet to one star within minutes, leading several of her high-end clients to publicly announce the termination of their contracts.
By five o'clock, Brooke had deleted her profile entirely.
At six-thirty, my phone buzzed. It was a text from Reid:
*Audrey, please stop this. You're destroying Brooke's business. My mother is having chest pains. Let's settle this out of court. Please.*
May you like
I read the message, set the phone down on the table, and did not reply.
***
