Chapter 11 - The Smear Campaign
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With Corey locked behind bars without bail, Lorraine launched a desperate, vicious counter-attack from the outside.
Three days after I was discharged from the hospital with baby Maya, Sarah called me in a panic.
“Hannah, have you checked Facebook or the local news pages today?” Sarah asked, her voice tight with stress.
“No, I’ve been feeding Maya,” I replied. “What happened?”
“Lorraine created a public campaign,” Sarah revealed. “She published a video online that’s currently going viral in our county.”
I opened my laptop and navigated to the local community page.
Sitting at a pristine dining table, wearing a dark blue dress, was Lorraine Whitman. She was crying softly into a silk handkerchief, holding up a framed photograph of Corey as a child.
“My name is Lorraine Whitman,” she said in the video, her voice trembling with manufactured grief. “I am speaking out today as a heartbroken mother and grandmother. My daughter-in-law, Hannah, has suffered a severe mental breakdown following her pregnancy. She attacked my son with a heavy iron pan, falsely accused our family of crimes, and is currently holding my newborn granddaughter hostage in an unknown location.”
The video already had over fifty thousand views and hundreds of angry comments calling me an 'unstable mother' and demanding child protective services intervene.
Lorraine had turned the public narrative into a weapon, attempting to pressure the court of public opinion before our trial even began.
I felt a surge of panic, but then I remembered the lesson I had learned in my kitchen.
Feared people hide. Strong people fight back.
I picked up my phone and called Mrs. Alvarez, my former neighbor.
“Mrs. Alvarez,” I said. “Do you still have the video recording from your smart doorbell camera on the night of the assault?”
May you like
“I have the entire thing, dear,” Mrs. Alvarez replied without hesitation. “Every single word.”
“It’s time to upload it,” I said.
