Chapter 17 - THE LEAK
The video was online for nine minutes before our lawyers forced it down.
Nine minutes was enough.
Millions watched Genevieve strike Maya.
Comments exploded.
News vans returned.
Maya's face was blurred by some outlets.
Not all.
I was furious.
I had refused to turn my child's pain into spectacle.
Someone in my own family office had done it anyway.
Harrison traced the access log.
The leak came from Gideon's communications director, Paul Sutter.
Paul admitted it.
He thought public outrage would strengthen our legal position and improve Blackwood's reputation.
He actually used the phrase "narrative advantage."
I fired him before my father could speak.
Gideon said, "He's worked for me fifteen years."
"Then he had fifteen years to learn children aren't press strategy."
My father nodded.
Paul was gone within the hour.
That moment mattered more than I expected.
Six years earlier, I would have waited for Gideon to decide.
Now I didn't.
The Blackwood name was mine too, but not as permission.
As responsibility.
Maya started therapy with a child specialist who had no connection to either family.
She asked if she had done something wrong by telling Grandpa.
The therapist said, "Telling the truth about being hurt is never wrong."
I wrote that sentence down.
Then Genevieve's criminal hearing began.
Her lawyer argued the foyer incident was isolated and accidental.
Claire Benson testified.
So did the pediatrician.
Then the prosecutor played the earlier videos.
Genevieve stopped looking at the judge.
Julian was called next.
He could lie and protect himself.
Or tell the truth and admit he had watched.
He looked at me once.
Then at Maya's empty seat.
She was not in court.
He swore the oath.
And said, "I saw her hit my daughter before."
May you like
The courtroom went silent.
Then he added, "And I did nothing."
