And before I could even react, a sharp voice rose from behind the onlookers.
“Who the hell are you calling dead?”
Everyone turned.
My grandmother and sister stepped out from the crowd, alive, furious, their eyes burning straight through Victor.
And for the first time, I saw fear flicker in his eyes.
Everyone went silent for a second, like the whole city had paused to watch a bad movie. Then Victor looked over and saw my grandma standing there, alive and furious. His face drained white so fast I thought he might pass out.
“Grandma?” he stammered, like someone had punched the air out of him. “You… you’re here? I—I thought… I thought you were gone.”
My grandma blinked at him, confused, then shook her head. “What are you talking about, child? I’m standing right here. I’m fine. Who told you I was dead?”
For weeks she’d only known I was in court, that I’d been filing appeal after appeal, that I was exhausted from fighting. She didn’t know the rest... what Ivy had done, how bodies had gone missing, what kind of mess my husband had made of everything. All she knew was that I’d been chasing a case, and she assumed Victor had been grieving like any decent son would.
Before he could even answer, Anna, my sister pushed through the crowd. She grabbed me in a fierce hug, like she was anchoring me so I wouldn’t fall apart in public. “Marielle, what is happening? Why are they screaming at you? Why are they saying those horrible things? I came as fast as I could.”
I could feel the warmth of Anna’s arms and it kept me from collapsing. She looked at me with clear, fierce confusion. “Who would do this to you? Why are they calling you a scammer?”
“This has been rough,” Victor said thickly, then his voice snapped hard. “Marielle, are you insane? If it wasn’t your family who died, why have you been dragging this to court and harassing Ivy? You keep suing, you keep making a scene. What, are you jealous she’s prettier or younger? Is that it? Are you trying to ruin her life because you can’t stand her?”
He spit the words out like they hurt him. I watched him and felt something inside me crack into a hundred quiet pieces.
Ivy clung to him at the edge of the crowd, all trembling chin and watery eyes, playing the wounded angel she was born to be. “Marielle has always hated me,” she sniffed, voice shaking exactly where it needed to. “She’s been trying to destroy me ever since I came into Victor’s life. I can’t sleep, I’m always scared. Maybe I should just quit. I don’t want this to get worse.”
Victor looked at her and softened like putty. “You didn’t do anything wrong,” he told her, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear in front of everyone. “Why would you quit? I’ll fix it. I’ll clear your name.”
Then he turned to the cameras with that practiced courtroom cadence, watching the phones like they were jurors. He paced his words for effect.
“Look,” he said, slow and loud for the livestream, “we live in a time when people are afraid to help one another. Someone gets hurt and we look away. Someone needs a hand and we do nothing because we’re afraid of being scammed. That’s why I stand for justice, even if it means standing against family.”
He paced a little, eyes fixed on the lenses. “There are people who fake accidents to get money. They prey on kindness and ruin decent people’s lives. I will not let that happen. I, Victor Ramirez, will make sure those who trick others, those who stage accidents and then lie in court, pay for what they did. No mercy for scammers. No mercy for people who turn tragedy into profit.”
The crowd roared. Phones waved like flags. The live chat exploded into cheering and hate. He was a hero again. I felt like someone had poured salt into my mouth.
Anna squeezed me tighter, whispering fiercely, “This is wrong. They’re lying. Marielle, tell them. Tell them what really happened.”
I wanted to. I wanted to shout the truth at the top of my lungs. I wanted to tell them that the people who died in that car were his grandmother and his sister. I wanted to tell him his own blood had been taken by the woman he was protecting. But the words stuck in my throat like a stone.
Victor pointed at me, voice full of righteous heat. “She’s part of those scams. She kept filing appeals, dragging this out to extract more money, to ruin people. We won’t let con artists get away with it. Not in my town. Not on my watch.”
Ivy sniffed theatrically, then leaned forward, eyes huge. “I just want the truth to come out... I don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of lies. I’m scared. Please don’t make this worse.”
Someone in the crowd started chanting, “Scammer! Scammer!” and the noise swallowed everything. I tasted metal in my mouth. People I’d never met shouted accusations like they knew me. The live streamers stacked lies into headlines and the headlines turned into judgments.
