Chapter 4 - The VideoBy morning, Nathan’s phone had forty-three missed calls.
Most were from Rachel.
Six were from numbers he did not recognize.
One was from his older sister, Grace.
He called Grace first.
She answered on the first ring.
“Tell me you’re not online,” she said.
Nathan stood in the kitchen, still wearing yesterday’s shirt. “What happened?”
Grace sighed. “Patricia posted a video.”
Nathan’s body went cold.
“What video?”
“The party. Edited. It starts right when you’re walking out with Emma. Caption says you ruined her birthday and dragged her away from her mother.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Of course.
He opened the social media app with one hand while pouring cereal for Emma with the other.
The video had already been shared hundreds of times.
The caption read:
Some fathers care more about control than their child’s happiness. Tonight my granddaughter’s birthday was destroyed because one man couldn’t handle not being the center of attention.
In the clip, Nathan looked cold. Silent. Emma’s face was hidden. Rachel stood in the doorway looking devastated. Patricia’s voice was soft and wounded.
“Nathan, please don’t do this.”
The clip ended before Patricia’s earlier shouting. Before Emma shaking. Before the finger in Nathan’s face. Before the envelope.
Below the video, strangers had already judged him.
Poor child.
He looks dangerous.
That mother needs full custody.
Nathan set the phone down before Emma could see.
“Daddy?” she asked from the table.
He turned quickly. “Yeah?”
“Are we still having pancakes?”
His throat burned.
“Of course.”
He made pancakes shaped like uneven stars because Emma loved them, and he smiled every time she looked at him.
But when she went to color in the living room, Nathan called his attorney.
Lena Brooks had handled the divorce.
She answered with the calm voice of someone who had seen too many families turn cruel.
“Nathan,” she said. “I was waiting for your call.”
“You saw the video?”
“Yes.”
“There’s more,” he said. “They tried to get me to sign a custody reduction at the party.”
The line went quiet.
“Do you still have the document?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Photograph every page. Save every message. Do not respond online.”
Nathan looked toward Emma, who was coloring a purple house with three windows.
Lena continued, “And Nathan?”
“Yeah?”
“If they posted that publicly, assume it’s not about embarrassment.”
“What is it about?”
“A setup.”
He looked back at the phone.
“Then I need to know what they’re setting up.”
May you like
Lena’s answer was immediate.
“They’re preparing a story before court.”
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