I Moved 1,500 Miles Away, Now You Can Favor Her Openly Chapter 07

Mason’s hand shook violently around his phone, and cold sweat soaked through the back of his shirt.

Diane leaned over to look. “What is this?” Her legs gave out, and she sank down onto the steps by the campus gate.

Chloe’s smile froze on her face as countless DMs poured in like a blizzard, every one of them full of vicious abuse.

The storm had finally come down on their heads in the most brutal way possible.

Chloe screamed, covered her face, and crouched on the ground, sobbing hysterically. “That’s all fake! Hannah set me up.”

But nobody believed her.

The hotel security footage was crystal clear. Her cruel “deaf freak,” along with the exaggerated shape of her lips, had already been turned into a GIF and spread across every social platform.

Gregory was the first to react, his face burning with a humiliation he had never felt before. “Let’s go.”

He yanked Chloe up off the ground and shoved her roughly into the car.

Mason and Diane scrambled back into the car too, as if everyone on the street were out for their blood.

Ethan stood where he was, staring at the surgery refund slip on his phone, his face drained of all color.

He clenched his jaw, remembering how calmly Hannah had held out her hand the day before and asked them for that five thousand.

By then, there had been no light left in her eyes, only a dead, hollow stillness.

Mason shouted from inside the car. “Ethan, come on, get in.”

Ethan finally snapped out of it and climbed into the passenger seat in a daze.

The air in the car was so heavy it was suffocating.

Chloe sobbed in the back seat, clutching Diane’s hand. “Mom, what do I do? Everyone in the freshman group chat is trashing me, and Student Affairs emailed me about the story. How am I supposed to face anyone at school?”

Diane’s mind was a mess, and her fingers shook as she dialed my number. “Don’t cry, sweetie. Mom will figure something out.”

“The number you have dialed is no longer in service.”

The cold automated voice echoed through the car like a slap in the face.

Mason grabbed the phone in disbelief. “Her number’s disconnected?” He dialed again and got the same message.

He gritted his teeth, panic in his eyes. “She canceled her number. What is she trying to do? Is she not happy until she’s destroyed this whole family?”

In less than half a day, the story had spread faster than anyone could have imagined.

The Reeds’ hypocrisy had struck the public’s rawest nerve.

Several major clients who had already agreed to work with Gregory’s company called one after another to back out, saying the company’s leadership showed a serious lack of integrity and responsibility.

At Diane’s workplace, coworkers she was usually close to posted dozens of links in the group chat. They pretended to be concerned, but every line dripped with mockery and contempt.

But Chloe got the worst of it.

Furious strangers flooded the Ashford University student forum.

ThrowawayTiger: [The school needs to investigate Chloe. How does someone like that deserve a college education?]

KatRivera22: [The school should double-check her application and her scholarship.]

Reading those comments, Chloe snapped.

She snatched Mason’s phone and shrieked. “Mason, you said you’d fix this. That apology you posted is their best evidence now. Everyone’s calling you a thug. Go clear it up. Tell them it was all your idea. This has nothing to do with me.”

Mason froze.

He looked at his sister, usually so sweet and soft-spoken, as she pinned all the blame on him with her face twisted, and a chill ran through him.

Mason was shaking. “Chloe, what’s that supposed to mean? You’re the one who put me up to it. Didn’t you hint that if we didn’t pin this on Hannah, the family would look down on you?”

Chloe’s eyes were bloodshot, and she dropped the act completely. “I did not. You went nuts and grabbed her phone yourself. This is all your fault! You all did this to me.”

A sharp slap rang through the car.