The statement went live at 8 a.m. on a Thursday.
Patricia released it through a press contact — no framing, no surrounding commentary, just the four sentences on a plain white background. Clean. Unapologetic. The kind of quiet that is louder than noise.
By 9:30 it had been reposted forty-one thousand times.
Mia knew this because Sarah was refreshing the page in real time from across the kitchen table and providing a running count with the barely suppressed energy of a woman watching her team score in overtime.
"Forty-three," Sarah said.
"Sarah."
"Forty-five. Oh — forty-seven."
"Sarah." Mia poured her a second coffee. "Put the phone down."
Sarah put the phone down. She picked it back up immediately. "Fifty-one."
Mia took the phone gently from her hand and set it face-down on the ta
