Chapter 138 The Article
JASON'S POV
Two days after Walsh released the rebuttal statement another article came out. This time it was worse. The tabloid had doubled down on Vanessa's story. Added more details. More accusations. More lies.
They claimed Caitlyn had been arrested before but the charges were dropped. That she had a history of lying to authorities. That she had changed her story multiple times during the investigation. None of it was true but the damage was done.
I was at work when I saw it. My phone started blowing up again. Customers were texting me. Asking if it was true. Asking if my wife was really a criminal. I closed the shop and drove home.
Caitlyn was on the couch crying. Emma was in her bassinet crying too. The apartment was a mess. Caitlyn had not been sleeping. Had not been eating. This was destroying her.
"Did you see it?" she asked when I walked in.
"I saw it," I said. I picked up Emma and tried to calm her down. "It is all lies Caitlyn. You know that."
"But people believe it," Caitlyn said. "Look."
She showed me her phone. Social media was exploding. Hashtags calling for her arrest. People are saying she should be prosecuted. That she was worse than Collin. That she deserved to rot in prison.
"These people are idiots," I said. "They do not know you. They do not know the truth."
"It does not matter," Caitlyn said. "What matters is public opinion. And public opinion has turned against me."
"We need to call Walsh," I said. "Tell her about this new article. Get her to respond."
"What is she going to say?" Caitlyn asked. "The same things she said before? No one listened the first time. Why would they listen now?"
"Because we have proof," I said. "Proof that Vanessa is lying. Proof that she was paid. Proof that her story does not hold up."
"Proof does not matter anymore," Caitlyn said. "People believe what they want to believe. And they want to believe I am guilty."
Emma finally calmed down and fell asleep. I put her in the bassinet and sat next to Caitlyn.
"We are going to get through this," I said. "I promise."
"How?" Caitlyn asked. "How do we get through this when everyone hates me? When does everyone think I am a criminal?"
"We ignore them," I said. "We focus on what matters. The trials. Getting justice. Protecting our family."
"I cannot ignore them," Caitlyn said. "They are everywhere. Every news site. Every social media platform. Everyone is talking about me. Saying horrible things."
"Then we get off social media," I said. "We stop reading the news. We create a bubble where none of that noise can reach us."
"That is not realistic," Caitlyn said. "We cannot just ignore the world."
"We can for now," I said. "Until this blows over. Until something else becomes the big story."
My phone rang. It was Tommy.
"Hey man," he said when I answered. "I saw the article. How is Caitlyn?"
"Not good," I said. "This is really getting to her."
"I figured," Tommy said. "Listen I talked to the crew. We want to help. We are going to put out a statement supporting Caitlyn. Saying we know her. Know she is innocent. Vouching for her character."
"You would do that?" I asked.
"Of course," Tommy said. "She is family. And family protects each other. We are not going to sit by and let this woman destroy her."
"Thank you," I said. "That means a lot."
"Also Sarah wants to organize a rally," Tommy said. "A show of support. Get people to come out and stand with Caitlyn. Show that not everyone believes the lies."
"A rally?" I said. "I do not know if Caitlyn is ready for that."
"Talk to her," Tommy said. "See what she thinks. But we are ready to do it if she wants."
After I hung up I told Caitlyn what Tommy said. She looked surprised.
"They would do that for me?" she asked. "Put their reputations on the line to defend me?"
"They would," I said. "Because they know you. They know the truth."
"I do not deserve them," Caitlyn said. "I do not deserve any of this support."
"Yes you do," I said. "You deserve all the support in the world."
Detective Rourke called an hour later. He had more bad news.
"The second trial has been postponed," he said. "The defense attorney filed a motion. Said that Caitlyn's credibility is now in question because of the articles. The judge agreed to delay while we sort this out."
"How long?" I asked.
"At least a month," Rourke said. "Maybe longer. Depends on how long this media circus lasts."
"So Vanessa is winning," I said. "She is successfully delaying justice."
"For now," Rourke said. "But we are not giving up. We are gathering more evidence. Building a stronger case against her claims. When we are done no one will believe her."
"I hope you are right," I said.
After Rourke hung up I had to tell Caitlyn. She took it better than I expected.
"Good," she said. "I do not want to testify right now anyway. Not with everyone thinking I am a liar. Let them postpone it. Let them take all the time they need."
"You sure?" I asked. "I thought you wanted to get the trials over with."
"I did," Caitlyn said. "But now I just want to disappear. I want to take Emma and go somewhere no one knows us. Somewhere we can start over."
"We are not running," I said. "We are going to stay and fight. We are going to clear your name."
"What if we cannot clear it?" Caitlyn asked. "What if no matter what we do people still believe I am guilty?"
"Then we live with it," I said. "We know the truth. That is what matters."
"Is it?" Caitlyn asked. "Because right now the truth feels pretty useless."
I did not know what to say to that. She was right. The truth did feel useless. Vanessa was lying and people believed her. We had evidence and people ignored it. Nothing we did seemed to matter.
But we could not give up. We had to keep fighting. For Emma. For justice. For ourselves.
"I love you," I said to Caitlyn. "No matter what happens. No matter what people say. I love you and I believe in you."
"I love you too," Caitlyn said. "I just wish love was enough to fix this."
"It will be," I said. "Eventually. It has to be."
But deep down I was not sure. Not sure if love was enough. Not sure if the truth was enough. Not sure if we could survive this storm.
All I knew was that we had to try. Had to keep fighting. Had to keep believing that eventually things would get better.
Because the alternative was giving up. And we could not do that. Not with so much at stake.