Chapter 6 - Exposing the Fraud
At 8:00 p.m., Simon picked up his phone and called a number he had saved three days ago: Chloe, Kendra’s former assistant.
Chloe answered on the second ring.
“Hello?”
“Chloe, this is Simon, Clara’s husband.”
There was a heavy sigh on the other end of the line. “Simon... I am so, so sorry. I saw the TikTok. I tried to comment and tell people she was lying, but Kendra blocked my account instantly and deleted my comments.”
“Why did she do it, Chloe?” Simon asked, putting the call on speakerphone so I could hear. “What was the real reason she turned that nursery pink and ran that bet?”
Chloe let out a dry, bitter laugh. “It was a brand deal, Simon.”
I froze. “A brand deal?”
“A home-decor sponsor called *LuxeLittleCo*,” Chloe explained, the paper rustling in her background. “They reached out to Kendra two months ago. They offered her four thousand dollars if she could post a viral ‘extreme nursery makeover’ using their pastel pink line of wallpaper and accessories by the end of the month. But Kendra didn't have a baby. She didn't have an empty room. So she used yours.”
The audacity took the air right out of my lungs.
“She used my house to fulfill a four-thousand-dollar influencer contract?” I gasped.
“Yes!” Chloe said. “And she couldn't paint it green or woodland-themed because the sponsor only makes princess items! That’s why she threw away your woodland curtains! That’s why she threw Grandma’s quilt in the garage—she told me it looked ‘peasant-like’ and would ruin the aesthetic of the sponsor’s aesthetic! And the gender bet? She needed five hundred dollars cash that exact weekend because the rental company was going to repossess the camera gear she used to shoot the ad!”
“Chloe,” Simon said steadily. “Do you have the contracts? Do you have the emails between Kendra and the sponsor?”
“I have everything,” Chloe replied without hesitation. “I have the emails, the raw footage where she laughs about tricking your family, and the text messages where she told me to steal the gift cards off your counter to pay my overdue wages because she didn't have the cash. I quit yesterday. She owes me twelve hundred dollars, and she threatened to blacklist me in the industry if I spoke out.”
“Send it all to me,” Simon said. “Every single file.”
Ten minutes later, Simon’s inbox pinged with a massive zip file.
Inside was a treasure trove of undeniable fraud: contracts showing the $4,000 payout from *LuxeLittleCo*, raw video clips showing Kendra laughing as she threw my baby shower decorations into trash bags, and voice memos of Kendra instructing our mother to lie to Aunt Marie about the gender bet.
Simon looked at me. “Do you want to post this?”
“No,” I said, standing up from the sofa, holding August securely against my shoulder. “I don't want a circus on TikTok. I want the law.”
“And what about the mob online?” Simon asked gently.
“We don't talk to the mob,” I said. “We talk to the brand that paid her.”
I opened my laptop. Working side by side with Simon while August slept, we drafted a formal, legally grounded email to the PR department, the legal counsel, and the CEO of *LuxeLittleCo*.
We attached the police report for residential burglary. We attached the footage of Kendra admitting to trespassing. We attached Chloe’s contract disclosures, showing that Kendra had filmed their sponsored campaign inside a private residence without the homeowner's consent, breaking and entering to do so, and had destroyed personal property in the process.
We concluded the email with a simple, devastating sentence:
*“If your company continues to sponsor, promote, or allow Kendra Palmer to monetize content filmed inside our burglarized home involving our newborn son without our consent, our attorney will name LuxeLittleCo as a co-defendant in our civil action for damages, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.”*
I hit send at 10:45 p.m.
May you like
Then, we waited.
***