Chapter 14

Elise kept her head down. She didn’t want Julian to see that her eyes were red.

He watched her expression change, then looked at the phone in her hands. The X page on the screen made him frown.

He took out his own phone and placed a call. After a few brief words, he fell silent, listening to the report on the other end.

Work had always kept him busy, and he never used social media. Until now, he had heard none of it. All this time, ever since Elise had been brought back to the Whitmores, people had been saying these things about her?

Guilt overwhelmed him. He had failed her as a brother.

A thought struck Elise. She hurriedly called Mom, but the line was busy. She tried twice more. The same response each time.

Something was wrong.

She called Dad instead. It rang for a long time before he answered.

“Ellie?” His voice was anxious, though he was trying to steady it.

“I know what’s happening online. Why can’t I get through to Mom? Is she there with you?”

Mr. Bennett glanced helplessly at his wife. She held her phone as though she hardly dared touch it. The screen lit up again with another unfamiliar number. She rejected the call and switched the phone off. Only when the ringing finally stopped did she release a full breath.

Then she sat there, dazed.

Hundreds of calls and texts from unknown numbers had come in that morning alone. She hadn’t dared open the messages, much less answer the calls.

Mr. Bennett could only tell his daughter the truth. “Her phone’s been ringing nonstop for a while now. It’s stopped, though. She’s turned it off.”

He hesitated, then went on. “Someone came knocking a little while ago, too. We looked through the peephole and didn’t recognize them. They asked if we were Elise Whitmore. We didn’t dare open the door. But don’t worry, a neighbor chased them off. We’re staying inside now. We’re afraid to go out.”

He had checked X that morning and discovered that their phone numbers and home address had been exposed. That explained the strangers calling, even coming to the door.

He fought down his fear. “Don’t worry about us. We’re all right.”

Elise drew a deep breath. Her eyes stung again. How could this possibly be all right?

Her parents were getting older. They had never faced anything like this. Hundreds of calls and messages arriving without pause would leave anyone frightened and anxious, even before the vicious posts and private messages. Now strangers knew where they lived. Someone had already come to harass them at home.

She made herself breathe evenly before she spoke.

“Tell Mom to leave her phone off. She needs a new SIM and a new number. Don’t use that one again. Dad, go and stay with the neighbors for now, both of you. Please don’t go back home. I’ll handle this.”

“All right.” His sigh made him sound much older.

Elise ended the call.

Mom had used that number for more than ten years. She had done nothing to deserve losing it, or any of this. And now someone had actually gone to their door, just to make trouble.

Elise’s gaze grew still. Without realizing it, she clenched her hand into a fist. Her anger burned so fiercely that she could hardly bear it.

Beside her, Julian typed a short message, instructing his secretary to investigate how the whole thing had started.

He turned toward Elise, worried. But she looked as though nothing had happened. She clearly had no intention of pouring out her troubles to her brother.

After Julian got out of the car, her expression turned cold.

“Ethan, we’re not going to the library. I need to go somewhere else.”

Half an hour later, the car stopped outside a law firm.

What had begun as an online uproar had reached her parents’ home. The people who had led the effort to expose their private information were especially despicable. A clarification alone would do very little. She wanted to hold them legally accountable.

This was the largest law firm in the city. Elise took a bank card from her bag. It held all her savings, the monthly allowance she had put aside since returning to the Whitmores.

She didn’t know whether it would be enough.

By the time the consultation and other expenses were paid, nearly all her savings were gone. She didn’t regret a cent. If it meant standing up for her adoptive parents, she would consider any amount well spent.

The lawyer helped her sort out exactly what she wanted to pursue. Over the course of the afternoon, they traced the original disclosure to an account called OnlyRegret.

Once she was home, Elise got her emotions under control and began tapping at her phone. Her fingers moved with a determination that left no room for hesitation. She signed up for an X account.

Her name was already taken. She had to add her birthday to a shortened version before she could register as @EliseW927.

She didn’t even stop to choose a profile picture. She wrote her first post and hit send.

“@EliseW927: That account isn’t mine. This one is. Leave people who have nothing to do with this out of it. Doxxing people is illegal. Keep that in mind.”

Attached was a formal demand letter from the lawyer. It stated her intention to take legal action against OnlyRegret and demanded that the account delete the post exposing the private information and apologize to the people affected.

But the account was brand-new. No followers, no profile picture, no earlier posts to draw anyone’s attention. Almost as soon as her message appeared, it sank out of sight.

Several minutes passed before someone finally reposted it.

“Is this Elise Whitmore? Is it really her?”

After that, replies began arriving, a few at a time.

“So she’s shown up in person, and she’s going after the doxxer? Oh my God, this is getting good.”

“Panicking because they proved the alt was hers?”