She Didn't Fix Her Reputation. She Threw It Away novel · Chapter 20 of 32
Chapter 20: Debate Night
The opponent's question came through the snack bar speakers a second late.
Toni set down her popcorn bowl.
My mother looked straight at the camera.
"My daughter didn't have a breakdown," she said. "She was photographed without consent after a man got her drunk."
The moderator tried to interrupt.
Catherine kept her hand on the podium.
"Grayson Ingersoll arranged it. His father's firm then asked Georgie to apologize for it. I accepted their account and paid them."
Toni grabbed my arm.
"She's saying it," she whispered.
"I can hear."
My mother turned toward her opponent.
"I fired Ingersoll Strategies this morning. We are returning every dollar its PAC gave this campaign."
"Ingersoll helped me prepare the first statement about my daughter," Catherine added. "That statement was false."
The opponent tried to speak, and the moderator asked both of them to wait.
My mother waited until she had the floor again.
"I approved it. No staff member made that choice for me."
The audience in the debate hall began talking over itself.
The moderator asked whether she had evidence.
"I have watched a video of my daughter on the bathroom floor," Catherine said. "The man I trusted is in it."
She looked back into the lens.
"Georgie, I told you to apologize. I am sorry I made you stand on that lawn."
The camera cut to the audience, then came back to her.
She didn't raise her chin or turn toward her campaign staff.
I had watched her practice answers at our kitchen table for years.
This was the first time I didn't know what she would say next.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–16 of She Didn't Fix Her Reputation. She Threw It Away are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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