Chapter 5 - The Humiliation Machine
By breakfast the next morning, the cell phone video of Brooke falling on the marble floor had spread across the entire city.
Most versions made Brooke look like a completely unhinged tyrant attacking a calm hotel employee. Comments mocked her. Charity boards requested she temporarily step down from public appearances. Worst of all, Grayson had completely stopped answering her calls.
Sitting in her luxury penthouse, Brooke was furious. She didn't want to apologize; she wanted absolute destruction.
She hired Victor Kane, the city's most ruthless private investigator.
"I want her criminal history, her debt, her immigration status, her family medical records," Brooke demanded aggressively. "I want her completely destroyed."
Two days later, Victor called her back. His voice had lost its usual professional boredom.
"Ms. Hathaway, this woman’s history is restricted," Victor warned. "There are federal protection notations attached to her records. Somebody intentionally reduced her public footprint. I highly recommend stopping this investigation."
Brooke smiled wickedly. "Sealed records mean she's hiding a crime. Dig deeper."
By Friday, Victor sent Brooke a single, highly redacted document and a nine-year-old foreign newspaper clipping.
It was a blurred photograph of a blackened warehouse after a massive trafficking raid. In the background, a woman with Nova’s exact build was carrying a bloodied child.
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Brooke completely misunderstood the document. She thought Nova was a criminal who had cut a deal with the government to escape prosecution.
👉 Brooke sent out an email that would drag Nova's darkest secret into the blinding light.
