*Chapter 25: The Audio*
Wednesday came in with sirens.
Not real ones.
Phone ones.
Notification after notification.
Jane was asleep on Ryan’s chest on the couch.
She woke up to his phone buzzing on the coffee table.
Nonstop.
Ryan grabbed it. Read one line.
And every muscle in his body went rigid.
“What?” Jane asked, sitting up.
Ryan didn’t answer.
He just turned the screen to her.
*BREAKING: AUDIO LEAKED - JANE MILLER: "I'LL DO ANYTHING FOR MONEY"*
Under it: a 7-second clip.
Jane’s voice. Young. Slurred. Laughing.
_“...I’ll do anything for money. Seriously. Anything.”_
Then cut.
The post had 400k views in 20 minutes.
*6:10 AM - The Kitchen*
No one was eating.
Aiden was staring at the tablet. Playing the clip on loop.
Aria was drawing, but her hand was shaking.
Jane stood at the sink. Washing a mug that was already clean.
Over and over.
“That’s not the whole thing,” she said quietly.
Ryan came up behind her. “I know.”
“They cut it,” Jane said. “Right before I said ‘...for money to pay my grandma’s hospital bills.’”
“I know,” Ryan said again. He put his hands on her shoulders. “Jane. Look at me.”
She couldn’t.
“Everyone’s going to think I was... that I agreed to it. That I wanted it.”
Ryan turned her around. “Then we show them the whole thing.”
Jane laughed, bitter. “With what? I don’t have it. Chloe has it.”
*7:00 AM - Sterling Tower*
Emergency meeting.
Mira, legal, PR, Ryan.
“It’s edited,” the lawyer said. “We can prove that. But it’ll take 48 hours for a forensic team.”
“48 hours is a lifetime on the internet,” Mira said. “By then the story is ‘Jane confesses.’”
Ryan slammed his hand on the table. “Then find the original. Now.”
Mira nodded. “Already on it. We’re subpoenaing Chloe’s cloud.”
Ryan stood up. “And Daniel Price. He’s the one who leaked it. Find him.”
*9:30 AM - The Brownstone*
Jane couldn’t go to work.
She couldn’t look at the kids.
She was in her room. Door closed.
Reading comments.
_“She admitted it.”_
_“Gold digger.”_
_“This is why men don’t trust women.”_
_“Poor Ryan. She trapped him.”_
A knock.
“Go away,” Jane said.
The door opened anyway.
Aiden.
With Aria behind him.
Aiden held out the tablet. Paused on Jane’s face from the clip.
“Is this you, Mom?”
Jane’s throat closed. “Yeah, baby. It is.”
“Were you drunk?” Aria asked.
Jane nodded. “A little. Someone... someone gave me something I shouldn’t have drank.”
Aiden frowned. “Like in your story? The bad lady?”
Jane pulled them both into a hug. Hard.
“Yes. Like that.”
“People are being mean,” Aiden whispered.
“I know,” Jane said. “But we’re okay. Because we have the truth.”
Even though she wasn’t sure anyone would believe it.
*12:00 PM - The Drop*
It hit Twitter first.
*@AnonymousLeaks*: _FULL AUDIO DROPPING IN 1 HOUR. YOU’RE NOT READY._
Ryan saw it and called Mira. “Who is AnonymousLeaks?”
“Don’t know yet,” Mira said. “But they have the full clip.”
Jane was in the bathroom when Ryan knocked.
“It’s coming out,” he said. “The full audio. In an hour.”
Jane opened the door. Eyes red. “From who?”
“I don’t know. But it’s our only shot.”
*1:00 PM - The Full Clip*
It posted everywhere at once.
7 seconds became 32.
Young Jane. At the party. Sitting on a chair.
Chloe’s voice off-camera: _“Drink up. You look tired.”_
Jane: _“I can’t. I have to work.”_
Chloe: _“Come on. One drink. For me?”_
Sound of glass.
Then Jane, 2 minutes later, slurred: _“I’ll do anything for money. Seriously. Anything. For my grandma’s hospital bills. I’m so tired.”_
Chloe, laughing: _“Good girl.”_
Then the clip cuts.
The internet exploded.
#BelieveJane hit #1 worldwide in 18 minutes.
#ArrestChloe was #2.
News channels played the full clip on loop.
Experts broke down the edit points.
Chloe’s statement at 1:15 PM: _“That audio is AI.”_
By 1:16 PM: 12 audio engineers said it wasn’t.
*3:00 PM - The Arrest*
NYPD showed up at the Carter penthouse.
With a warrant.
Chloe was arrested for:
1. Administration of a drug without consent
2. Conspiracy
3. Defamation
Victoria was screaming in the background on the livestream.
Daniel Price turned himself in an hour later.
“Victoria paid me,” he told police. “50k for the edit. 100k for the leak.”
*7:00 PM - The Brownstone*
Quiet.
For the first time in days.
The twins were asleep.
Ryan and Jane were on the back steps.
No cameras. For once.
Jane was wrapped in Ryan’s jacket.
“I thought that was it,” she said. “I thought no one would believe me.”
Ryan pulled her closer. “I believed you.”
“Before you had proof.”
“Before,” Ryan said.
Jane looked at him. “Why?”
“Because I know what Chloe is,” Ryan said. “And I know what you are.”
He brushed hair from her face.
“I’m sorry it took an audio clip for the world to see it.”
Jane shook her head. “Don’t be. It’s over.”
Ryan kissed her forehead. “It’s not over. But we’re gonna be okay.”
Jane leaned into him.
And for the first time since Monday, she slept without dreaming of running.
*11:59 PM - Prison*
Chloe sat in a cell. No makeup. No lawyer yet.
Her phone buzzed. One last text from Victoria:
_“You did this to yourself.”_
Chloe threw the phone.