Chapter 1

The gossip blog link arrived from an unknown number.

"You should see this, Ethan."

My stomach clenched.

I clicked.

It was my parents.

Dad, his arm around Mom, both smiling, but their clothes were wrong, digitally altered into something cheap, vulgar.

The headline screamed: "Small-Town Hick Parents of Game Developer Ethan Holt Living It Up on Son's Dime? Or Is It Dirty Money?"

My hands shook.

These were private photos from their anniversary last year, twisted into something ugly.

Olivia, Chloe' s sister, worked in PR. This had her fingerprints all over it.

Chloe, my wife, had been distant, cold, ever since Liam, her childhood friend, resurfaced.

She blamed me for Liam' s supposed ruin years ago.

She believed I was responsible for her parents' deaths.

A lie Liam had carefully constructed.

I called my parents. Mom was crying. Dad was trying to be strong, but his voice trembled.

"It's lies, son. All lies."

"I know, Dad. I'll fix this."

But how?

The next day, the accusations escalated.

A new headline: "Holt Family Fortune Built on Fraud? Tax Evasion Scandal Looms!"

Chloe stood beside me, feigning concern. "Ethan, this is terrible. We need to fight this."

Her eyes, though, held a glint I was starting to recognize.

My parents, bless their trusting hearts, decided they couldn't stand by.

"We're driving down, Ethan," Dad said, his voice firm. "We need to face these people, clear our names."

I begged them not to, to let me handle it.

They wouldn't listen.

Hours later, the call came.

A state trooper.

"Mr. Holt? There's been an accident involving your parents' car. It's serious."