Chapter 3

Finn's POV

I went home. The moment I stepped inside, I could feel the tension in the living room.

My older brother, Graham Campbell, spoke up. "The people handling my background check called today. With all this bad publicity surrounding our family, they're probably going to put my security clearance on hold."

He looked up at me, his expression cold. "Happy now?"

My mother, Melinda Valor, immediately started laying into me. "Do you have any idea how hard your brother worked for this opportunity? And now, of all times, you have to go and get yourself caught up in a scandal!"

I stood in the middle of the living room, soaked to the skin, water still dripping from my clothes. "Mom, the video's fake. It was made with AI. I'm the victim here."

"Enough!" my father, Luke Campbell, snapped. "Who cares if it's real or fake? It's all over the Internet, and everyone believes it!"

He pointed to a sheet of paper on the coffee table. "Your mother and I have talked it over. There's only one way to fix this. You're going to put out a statement admitting that it's you in the video.

"Say you've been under a lot of stress lately, that you weren't in the right state of mind, and that you made a stupid mistake by posting it."

He paused, looking completely unapologetic. "If we chalk it up to mental health problems, people will move on, and your brother's background check won't be affected."

I stared at them in disbelief. "And you'll need to give us 200 thousand dollars to cover the PR costs," Graham chimed in, his tone matter-of-fact. "You're the one who caused this mess. You can't expect the rest of us to pay to clean it up."

I looked at my family. Dad was calculating, Mom had always played favorites, and Graham only cared about himself.

"I'm not signing anything." My voice was quiet but firm. "I'm not going to admit to being mentally ill, and I'm not giving you any money."

Just then, someone knocked on the front door. "Mr. and Mrs. Campbell? Is Finn home?"

Wanda walked in. Her shoulders were still damp from the rain, and she looked like she'd rushed over. When she saw me, she visibly relaxed. She hurried toward me and reached out to brush the wet hair away from my face.

"Finn, enough already. We couldn't find you after you left the restaurant. Everett and I were worried sick."

I stepped back, avoiding her hand. "So, you finally remembered me after you were done hanging out with him?"

Her hand froze in midair, and she frowned. "Finn, I heard everything from outside. Your parents are right. You need to stop being so selfish.

"You're not just hurting yourself. You're dragging your brother down with you. Just do what your dad says so we can put this whole thing to rest. I'll handle the rest."

I looked at her, then at my parents, who sat on the couch waiting for my answer without a shred of sympathy.

"Fine." I nodded, my voice barely above a whisper.

Then I turned and walked over to the drawer where I kept my personal documents and our family records. I took out my birth certificate and identification papers.

"Finn, what are you doing?" Dad stood up, looking surprised.

I held the documents in my hand and faced them. "I'm not signing anything, and I'm not giving you a cent. But I won't stick around and embarrass you either. I'm changing my registered address and cutting ties with this family. From now on, we'll go our separate ways."

Wanda called after me, sounding genuinely alarmed for the first time. "Finn! Where are you going? Changing your official address is a huge hassle! Don't do anything rash!"

I didn't look back. Clutching my documents, I rushed out the front door.

It was pouring outside. I thought of the old apartment my grandmother had left me. It was the only place I had left to go.

I called a cab and headed to the old apartment complex on the outskirts of town. But when the cab pulled up and I looked toward that familiar third-floor window, my blood ran cold.