Chapter 3 - The Gaslighting War
For the next week, the Caldwells tried to burn the world down around Harper. They went to the press. They leaked curated, doctored clips of Harper crying, claiming she was suffering from a violent, psychotic break. They painted Elias as a deranged squatter who had kidnapped her.
Harper was confined to the guest house of the estate, but she wasn't a prisoner. She was a student of war.
Elias sat with her every night, mapping out the Caldwells' empire. He wasn't just a father; he was the man who had laid the groundwork for their initial success before they had tried to murder him to take full control.
"They count on you being silent," Elias told her as they reviewed bank statements. "They count on the fact that you’re a nurse, a caretaker. They think you’ll prioritize their reputation over your own life. You have to stop being the nurse and start being the architect of their collapse."
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Harper looked at her shaved head in the mirror. She didn't cry. She took a pair of scissors and finished the job. She shaved it all off, leaving a clean, stark buzz cut. She looked fierce. She looked like a survivor.
"They want me to look like a patient?" Harper said. "Fine. But I’m the one doing the surgery."
