Livestreaming My Husband's Downfall

Chapter 2

Bianca trailed behind, her eyes puffy and red, and she clutched a screaming child in her arms as if she might collapse at any moment. Her sobs came in ragged gasps as she sniffled. "Fern, do not be mad at Mother. This is all my fault. I should not have asked Jack for help."

Then, out of nowhere, she made a dash for the second floor railing with the child still in her arms. "Since you have already ruined my reputation, I would rather die and end this misery."

But her suicide attempt was clearly a sham. Instead of jumping, she charged straight at me and then deliberately dropped the baby.

My eyes narrowed. In one fluid motion, I sidestepped her and caught the child mid fall, and I cradled the infant protectively in my arms.

Bianca conveniently collapsed at my feet, and she immediately launched into overdramatic sobs. "Fern, I know you hate me, but how could you hurt a child? He is completely innocent."

Clara came rushing over, and she fussed over Bianca as if she were made of glass before she whirled on me and shrieked like a banshee. "You vicious witch! How dare you touch my grandson."

Watching this slapdash, over-the-top performance, I could not help but laugh coldly. "Bravo. You are wasted as a professor. Hollywood is missing out on your talent."

"That is enough."

Jack, who had stormed out earlier, suddenly reappeared. He yanked Bianca to her feet and fixed me with a look so poisonous that it could have withered flowers. "Fern, you will pay for this. I will make sure you live to regret it."

The Hale family moved fast. By that afternoon, every compromising video and screenshot had vanished from the internet. Jack held an emotional press conference, and he milked the role of the wronged martyr as he accused me of jealousy-driven insanity. He claimed that I had used AI deepfakes to defame him and his "virtuous" sister-in-law.

On camera, his eyes were red-rimmed, and his performance was worthy of an Emmy. "Lucas died young. As his only sibling, it is my duty to care for his widow and child. But I never imagined that my own wife would sink so low, fabricating evidence to slander us. And in her rage, she even attacked an innocent baby."

Soon after, a carefully edited clip went viral, showing only my "heartless" stance while Bianca "heroically protected" the child. That clip poured gasoline on the public outrage.

In an instant, the court of public opinion turned against me. I went from a pitiful victim to the wicked ex-wife that everyone loved to hate.

A: [Holy crap. It was AI-generated lies all along. I almost fell for this poisonous b***h's scheme.]

B: [Picking on a defenseless widow and her baby? What kind of monster hits a child?]

C: [Jack is such a stand-up guy. How did he end up with this vicious hag?]

D: [Ms. Vale comes from a classy, educated family. She would never do something so shameless.]

With the Hale family's money and influence, Bianca got rebranded as a long-suffering saint of a single mother, while I became public enemy number one.

My phone blew up with hate calls and death threats. Then Clara called, and her voice dripped with smug victory. "See this, Fern? The Hale family holds your life in our hands. If not for those slightly valuable security patents that your father holds, you would not be fit to lick my son's shoes. Get your ass over here now, beg on your knees to Jack and Bianca, and I might let you keep your worthless figurehead position."

My family was not filthy rich, but my parents were nationally renowned research experts. A single one of their patents could send a company's stock price skyrocketing.