Chapter 4 - The Smear Campaign
Jason filed for divorce first.
It was a masterclass in manipulation.
He filed on the grounds of "irreconcilable differences due to severe mental illness."
The next day, it was in the local business papers.
He temporarily stepped in as acting CEO, citing my "need for rest and rehabilitation."
My phone blew up with messages from friends and family.
Some were concerned, but most were poisoned by Jason's lies.
He had spent months planting seeds, telling my parents I was paranoid, telling my friends I was drinking too much.
When I moved out of our mansion and into a small apartment, the narrative was set.
"Poor Jason," society whispered. "He tried so hard to save her."
He started bringing Madison everywhere.
Not as his girlfriend yet, but as his "rock" during this difficult time.
They looked like the perfect corporate power couple.
I sat in my apartment, watching them on social media, drinking black coffee.
I didn't release a statement.
I didn't defend myself to my family.
I didn't cry.
I let them think they had won.
Because Daniel and I were busy hunting ghosts.
We tracked down Officer Davis. He had transferred to a different precinct, but his body camera footage from that night had been archived, not deleted.
Then came the hard part.
Thomas, the paramedic, had retired and moved out of state.
It took a private investigator three weeks to find him in a quiet fishing town in Florida.
Daniel flew down to meet him.
When Daniel called me, I could hear the relief in his voice.
"He kept it, Sarah."
"Kept what?"
May you like
"Thomas knew Jason forced you to retract. He kept a carbon copy of his original, unedited medical report in his personal files before his supervisor shredded the official one."
The trap was finally set.
