Chapter 6 - The Smear Campaign
The peace of the new routine lasted exactly four days before Cassandra’s true counterattack began. On Friday morning, Richard woke up to his phone ringing continuously. It was Thomas Vance, his personal attorney.
"Richard, turn on the television," Thomas said, his voice urgent. "Channel 5. They’re running a live interview with Cassandra."
Richard rushed to his study and clicked on the monitor. Cassandra sat in a brightly lit studio, wearing a modest dark dress, her face a perfect picture of sorrow and concern.
“...I tried to protect the boy for years,” Cassandra was saying to the anchor, her eyes glistening with calculated tears. “But Richard’s obsession with his company has created an impossible environment. He is frequently gone for weeks at a time, leaving the child alone in that massive house with nothing but corporate credit cards. When he is home, his temper is... unpredictable. I had to leave for my own safety, but my heart breaks for Ethan. The child is exhibiting signs of severe emotional disturbance, hiding food, acting out at school. I’m calling on the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to intervene immediately.”
Richard slammed his fist onto the mahogany desk, shattering the glass screen of his desk lamp.
"She’s preempting us," Thomas said through the phone. "She knows you have evidence of her cruelty, so she’s framing Ethan’s trauma as proof that you are an unfit father. She’s using his hoarding behavior as a weapon against you. If DCFS launches an investigation based on a high-profile public report, they could temporarily remove Ethan from the home while they conduct a study."
"They will not touch my son," Richard growled, his voice vibrating with an ancient, protective rage. "Thomas, I have her logbook. I have the household schedules. I have the testimony of the school cafeteria worker."
"It’s not enough to win in the court of public opinion before they take the boy, Richard," Thomas warned. "Julian Vance is already using this interview to call an extraordinary meeting of the board for two o'clock today to strip you of your CEO title due to moral turpitude clauses in your contract. They’re going to try to lock you out of your office and your funds before the weekend."
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Richard looked out the window. Down in the courtyard, Ethan was sitting on the stone steps, eating a turkey sandwich Richard had made him before breakfast, his small legs swinging over the stone. He looked safer than he had in years, but the storm was about to tear his world apart again.
"Let them call the meeting," Richard said. "We’re going to give them a deposition they’ll never forget."
