Chloe found Marcus in his small office, staring at the article on his screen, his face ashen. The old helplessness was threatening to resurface.
"He's going to destroy it all," Marcus whispered. "Everything I've tried to build here."
Chloe didn't offer sympathy. She sparked with fury. "No, he's not." She slammed her hand on his desk. "He's attacking my business partner. He's slandering my judgment. He thinks he can use me as a weapon against you. That's my fight now, too."
She drafted a response not as a victim, but as a CEO. She published it on the Daily Grind's popular social media, stating facts: the timeline of their professional relationship, the transparent terms of their partnership, her own journey and accolades. She ended with: "My judgment, my business, and my choices are my own. I have been lied to in the past, and I have zero tolerance for it now, from anyone. The man I work with today has earned his place through honest work and respect. That is the only story here."
Her defense was powerful because it was independent, smart, and fierce. It reframed the entire narrative. The neighborhood, who had seen Marcus's genuine efforts, rallied around them both. The local paper ran a piece titled "Community Defends Its Own," highlighting Marcus's work with the bookstore and the community garden.
Facing a united front, Derek's narrative crumbled into the bitter ramblings of a disgraced man. But the attack had done one unintended thing: it forged Marcus and Chloe into allies in a public, undeniable way.