LET'S BREAK THEM

CHAPTER 13: LIVE

Step 11: Burn it all down.

Step 12: Let the world watch.

The news van was outside my house at 6am.

Channel 4. Channel 7. Channel 9. Bloggers with cameras. Two drones in the sky.

`Is it true Mr. Carter threatened you?`

`How do you feel about the audio?`

`Are you scared of Carter Group?`

I didn’t answer. I walked straight to school.

Headphones in. Hoodie up. Eyes down. Let them talk.

Let them film. Let them waste their battery.

By 1st period, my phone had 2000 notifications.

Comments. DMs. Death threats. Love letters. Donation links. GoFundMe’s.

"You're so brave" "Go to jail" "My dad works for Carter" "Praying for you" "We stand with you"

And one from the Principal.

`Miss Kudo. My office. Now.`

Principal Ade was not happy.

Her office smelled like coffee and stress and old paper and fear.

"Carter Group is our biggest donor," she said. Fingers pinching her bridge. "You’re causing problems."

"They threatened my mom," I said. Voice steady. "They threatened to make her homeless."

"And you leaked it to the internet." She sighed. "You’re suspended until we sort this."

"Indefinitely. Legal is involved. The board is furious. They want your records."

Suspended. Perfect.

More time to fight.

Less time to hide in bathrooms between classes.

Daniel picked me up after.

"There’s a reporter who wants to interview you. Live. Tonight. 8pm."

His hands were on the wheel. Knuckles white.

"Who?"

"National News. Prime time. They saw the audio."

"Will it be safe?"

"No," he said. "But it’ll be loud. And it’ll be on record."

I should’ve been scared.

I wasn’t.

I was tired of being quiet. Tired of being the "charity case". Tired of being silent.

8pm. Studio lights. Hot. Bright. Blinding. Sweat on my neck.

Makeup girl dabbed my face. "Just be yourself," she whispered. "Tell the truth. Don’t look away."

The host smiled. Teeth too white. "Kudo, millions are watching. What do you want to say to Mr. Carter?"

I looked straight into Camera 2. Red light on. 3 million people live.

"Mr. Carter," I said. My voice didn’t shake. "You thought you could buy me.

You thought you could scare me. You thought my mom was disposable.

You thought nobody would care.

You were wrong."

I held up the folder. Copies of the threats. The photos. The bank records. Everything.

"My mom is not a problem to remove. I’m not a problem to remove.

And Carter Group will answer for this."

The host leaned in. "What do you want?"

"Justice," I said. "And for people like me to stop being stepped on."

"For every kid who was told they don’t matter because they don’t have money."

"For every parent who works two jobs and still gets called a problem."

By 8:15pm the clip had 1 million views.

By 8:30pm #JusticeForKudo was #1 trending worldwide.

By 9pm Carter Group’s stock dropped 8%. Investors were pulling out. The board called an emergency meeting.

My phone buzzed on the table. Ben.

`You’re really doing this huh`

`Meet me. Alone. Midnight. Rooftop of Carter Tower.`

I stared at the text.

This was a trap. It had to be.

Or it was the end.

Or it was him finally choosing a side.

Daniel saw it. "Don’t go."

"I have to," I said. "If he has something, I need it."

"If it’s a setup, I’m coming too. And we’re recording everything."

Step 12: Complete.

The whole world is watching now.

News vans. Lawyers. Millions of eyes. Cameras everywhere.

Time to finish this.

`Chapter 13.

They suspended me.

I went on TV.

And now Ben wants to meet.

At midnight.

Alone.

-K`