Chapter 7 - The PR Backfire
By 3:00 PM, we didn't just counter-punch; we dropped a legal anvil on their heads.
Instead of engaging in an emotional internet squabble, Sarah Lin filed an emergency civil injunction in the Cook County Circuit Court for cyber-defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and extortion. Attached as Public Exhibit A were the high-definition security camera logs from the dealership showing Brandon forging my initials.
Attached as Exhibit B was the full forensic banking audit proving the entire twenty-thousand-dollar down payment had been pulled illegally from my corporate credit line without a single penny originating from Brandon’s account.
Exhibit C was the screenshot of my father’s extortion email demanding thirty thousand dollars under threat of false professional reporting.
Then, we authorized Marcus Vance’s media relations contact to release the unsealed civil filings to the local press alongside a brief, devastating press release.
Within two hours, the viral tide reversed with catastrophic force.
Popular internet commentators picked up the public court filings. Brandon’s sob-story video was mercilessly dismantled live on multiple social media streams. The internet began mocking him as the "Thirty-Year-Old Toddler" who tried to steal his sister's credit to play rich boy.
By 6:00 PM, Chloe, Brandon's fiancée, posted a brutal sixty-second statement on her own Instagram page. She was standing in front of her parents' home, her engagement ring noticeably absent.
*"I am formally announcing that the wedding is off,"* Chloe stated, her voice tight and trembling with anger. *"I was told by Brandon and his mother that this car was a family gift bought with his own business profits. I just learned through the court filings that not only did he attempt to commit grand larceny against his sister Claire, but he also tried to forge my father’s name as a secondary co-signer on the remaining balance. I want nothing to do with this family ever again."*
My phone buzzed ten minutes later. It was a text from Brandon.
*Claire, pick up! Chloe blocked me! Her dad threatened to shoot me if I come to their house! Mom collapsed on the kitchen floor! Please, you have to tell the internet you made a mistake! They’re ruining me!*
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I stared at the glowing screen for three seconds, blocked his number permanently, and closed my laptop.
***