Chapter 25 - |
The progress on the housing initiative was moving beautifully, until the ghost of our past decided to resurface. It started on a Thursday morning with a frantic phone call from Martin Hale, our general counsel.
"Eleanor, have you seen the morning blogs?" Martin asked, his voice tight with urgency.
"I don't read gossip columns, Martin. You know that," I replied, signing a stack of grant approvals at my desk. "What has happened?"
"Someone is launching a highly coordinated smear campaign online," Martin explained. "A series of anonymous articles just dropped. They are completely twisting the events of Daniel’s cancelled wedding. They are framing Vanessa as an innocent, working-class victim who was framed and bullied by a tyrannical, elitist family."
I dropped my pen, a cold chill running down my spine. "Vanessa is in federal prison, Martin. She doesn't have access to the internet, let alone the resources to coordinate a media attack."
"It’s not Vanessa," Martin said. "It’s her brother, Marcus. He was released on parole two weeks ago. He is obviously using proxies to wage a proxy war. He’s trying to destroy Daniel’s public credibility just as the new housing initiative is gaining traction."
I pulled up the news aggregator on my computer. The headlines were vile. They accused Daniel of forging the financial documents to ruin a woman who had simply 'loved him too much'. They claimed the foundation was a corrupt boys' club.
"This could severely damage the urban outreach partnerships," I said, my heart hammering. "If the city council believes this garbage, they might pull the permits for Clara's project."
"I am drafting a cease and desist order right now," Martin assured me. "We will sue the publishers for defamation."
"No," Daniel’s voice rang out from the doorway of my office. He walked in, holding his tablet, his face pale but his jaw set in a hard, determined line. "If we sue them immediately, it looks like we are trying to silence the truth with expensive lawyers. It plays exactly into their narrative of the 'tyrannical elite'."
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"Daniel, we cannot let them destroy your reputation," I argued, standing up. "I will handle this."
"Mom, stop," Daniel said firmly, raising a hand. "You protected me last time. I have to protect the foundation this time. I am going to handle Marcus."
