Chapter 14 - The Video
Vanessa came home furious.
“You made me look abusive.”
Amara stood in the kitchen beside Renee.
“I described what happened.”
“You weaponized the internet against me.”
“You posted first.”
“I posted something positive.”
“You made me the punchline.”
Vanessa pointed at Amara’s phone.
“Delete it.”
“No.”
“I am your mother.”
“And it is my account.”
“You are a minor.”
“I still get to say I don’t want strangers comparing my body to yours.”
Vanessa looked at Renee.
“Are you enjoying this?”
“No.”
“You always wanted people to see me fail.”
Renee’s expression changed.
“This is not about me.”
“It always is.”
Vanessa moved toward the stairs.
Then her phone began ringing.
She answered.
“Yes?”
Silence.
Her face changed.
“What do you mean?”
More silence.
“No. That isn’t accurate.”
She looked at Amara.
“Where did you get that?”
Amara frowned.
Vanessa ended the call.
“What did you send them?”
“Who?”
“The campaign.”
“I didn’t send them anything.”
Vanessa opened an email.
The beauty brand had paused negotiations.
Someone had sent them boutique surveillance footage.
Amara’s stomach dropped.
“I didn’t.”
Renee looked confused.
Vanessa held up her phone.
A silent video showed Vanessa retrieving the identical red dress.
The mirror pose.
Amara’s visible discomfort.
Vanessa speaking.
Amara’s shoulders collapsing.
Amara leaving.
It contained no audio, but the body language was devastating.
“Ms. Carter,” Amara whispered.
Vanessa called immediately.
The boutique owner answered on speaker.
“Olivia, did you send surveillance footage to a company?”
“No.”
“Then how do they have it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
“Vanessa, lower your voice.”
“You had no right to give anyone that video.”
“I did not.”
Amara stepped closer.
“Ms. Carter, did anybody else have access?”
There was a pause.
“One employee.”
Vanessa froze.
“What employee?”
“A temporary social-media assistant. She was dismissed this morning.”
Ms. Carter sounded furious.
“She apparently copied a clip after recognizing you online.”
Vanessa sat down.
For the first time, Amara felt sympathy.
What had happened was wrong.
Even if the footage proved Amara’s version.
Amara said, “Ms. Carter, can you ask people not to share it?”
Vanessa looked up, surprised.
“I already have,” Ms. Carter said. “I am also contacting the platforms.”
When the call ended, Vanessa stared at Amara.
“You’re not happy?”
“Why would I be?”
“It proves you were right.”
“I didn’t want proof like this.”
Vanessa studied her.
Something shifted.
“You could use it.”
“For what?”
“To destroy me.”
Amara shook her head.
“I don’t want to destroy you.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled.
“Then what do you want?”
“The truth.”
“That’s not simple.”
“It is simpler than lying.”
Vanessa looked down.
For the first time since the boutique, she seemed tired rather than angry.
Amara almost stepped toward her.
Then Vanessa whispered, “I signed the campaign agreement already.”
Renee closed her eyes.
“What?”
“They advanced three thousand dollars.”
Amara stared.
“Including my participation?”
Vanessa said nothing.
“Mom.”
“Yes.”
“You signed for me after I said no?”
“I thought you’d calm down.”
Amara felt the last bit of sympathy disappear.
The video leak had humiliated Vanessa.
But even before it happened, she had still been willing to sell Amara’s image without her agreement.
Renee whispered, “Vanessa, what did you do with the advance?”
Vanessa looked toward the office.
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No one needed the answer spoken.
The money was already gone.
