Chapter 5

“Stop the video.”

The screen froze on my pale face. Whispers were already spreading through the audience. Phones remained raised, carrying that severed sentence far beyond the room.

Julian held the microphone with the calm of a man correcting the record.

“You said it yourself, Mara. Denying it now changes nothing.”

I walked to the center of the stage and looked toward the control booth.

“Play the original footage.”

Julian’s jaw tightened. “That was the full clip.”

“If you believe that was a complete sentence, release the original.”

The host pressed a hand to his earpiece and made no move…