Chapter 3: C: Viral Disaster

👉 Previous decision: You chose to upload the raw video directly to a Broadway gossip blog.

My hands still trembled as I navigated the unfamiliar website, a popular Broadway gossip blog. It promised anonymity.

I typed out a quick, frantic summary. “Famous actor Julian Hensley caught in fraud. Evidence attached.”

I uploaded the raw, unedited video. It showed Julian and Phelan, grainy but clear, stamping papers and discussing my “mental decline.”

The post went live. Within hours, the comments section exploded. Some were horrified. Many were skeptical.

“This looks fake,” one commenter wrote. “Probably a disgruntled relative.”

“Deepfake for sure,” another chimed in. “He’s too good.”

The next morning, Julian’s high-powered crisis PR firm released a statement. It was everywhere.

“This is a baseless and deeply disturbing attack,” the statement read. “A clear deepfake, generated by an unstable family member with a history of delusions.”

They attached a fabricated psychological report, citing a “hereditary disposition to paranoia.” It listed me by name.

My phone rang off the hook. Not from supporters, but from reporters, asking about my “mental health.”

My public credibility was in tatters. Julian’s image remained untouched, even gaining sympathy from a narrative of “dealing with a sick mother.”

I watched the video again, my own voice a desperate whisper. It was real. But the world believed it was a lie.