Chapter 3 - The Viral Reckoning
Actions have consequences, but Bradley never believed those consequences would apply to him. After spending three humiliating days in a county holding cell, his parents finally scraped together enough money to post his bail. But he did not come home to me. My lawyer had already filed an emergency protective order, preventing him from coming within five hundred feet of our condo or my office.
Bradley was forced to move into his parents cramped basement, but the legal nightmare was just the beginning.
Tyler, in his infinite stupidity, had forwarded the video of my assault to a massive group chat of their extended family and friends right before the police confiscated his phone. He wanted to show off the "epic prank." Instead, someone in that group chat, someone who possessed a shred of human decency, leaked the video to a local community forum.
The internet is a ruthless judge. Within forty eight hours, the video exploded across social media. The sight of three grown men violently grabbing a terrified woman and throwing her into a freezing pool while a crowd of relatives laughed maliciously sparked absolute outrage. Millions of people watched my husband shove me. Millions of people heard my desperate pleas. And millions of people decided to ruin him.
Internet sleuths quickly identified Bradley and his cousins. The fallout was apocalyptic.
Bradley worked as a senior manager at a prestigious logistics firm, a company that relied heavily on public image and government contracts. By Wednesday afternoon, his employer's social media pages were flooded with thousands of furious comments demanding his termination. On Thursday morning, Bradley received a courier delivered letter notifying him that he was fired, effective immediately, for violating the corporate morality clause.
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Caleb and Derek faced the exact same fate. Their employers wanted absolutely nothing to do with a viral video of violence against women. The cousins turned on each other instantly, fighting publicly in the comment sections, blaming Bradley for the entire incident.
Barbara, who prided herself on her standing in her local garden club and church community, became an instant pariah. Women she had gossiped with for decades suddenly crossed the street when they saw her coming. Her friends refused her phone calls. The family that had mocked my success and treated me with such bitter disdain was now completely broken, isolated, and publicly shamed on a national level.
