Part 2: Confrontation in the Stacks

This chapter shows how devastating social media warfare can be in a world where reputation is everything. The doctored photo is brilliant manipulation—just believable enough to be accepted as truth, but intimate enough to destroy Isabella’s carefully constructed image. Dean Whitman’s “conduct discussion” reveals how quickly academic institutions can turn on students when scandal threatens their reputation. The confrontation between Alexander and Julian in the library stacks was so much fun to write—both of them suspicious of the other, both protective of Isabella in their own ways. Alexander’s denial feels genuine, but Julian’s mysterious plan to overshadow the scandal? That’s pure chaos energy, and I can’t wait to see what he’s planning.