The ancient fear of every public figure—the private moment captured, twisted, and unleashed upon the hungry world...had not just come to pass; it had detonated with surgical precision. The fallout wouldn’t just stain Lydia’s spas; it was a toxin seeping into the foundations of Helwart Entertainment itself.

Michael stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows of his corner office, the city a glittering circuit board below. On a tablet in his hand, the viral video played on a loop. The angle ...