The night stretched on like it had no end, the kind that made your chest feel too small for your own breath. Ella sat at the dining table, staring at the laptop screen without blinking, her eyes stinging. The files Lucas sent her kept loading, one after another, each one showing screenshots and notes of what Rita planned to post. Every new file made Ella's stomach churn harder, like the floor kept tilting under her.
Ben moved around the kitchen, restless, opening and closing cabinets as if he was searching for something but didn't even know what it was. Every slam made Ella flinch a little, not because she was scared, but because she knew he was reaching his breaking point, too.
"Why does she have all this?" Ella muttered, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips. "Why does she go this far? Like… what does she gain from tearing everyone apart?"
Ben grunted, the sound low and tired. "Control. She's always wanted that. Over me. Over my life. Over the story people tell about me." He paused, shoulders tight. "Over us."
Ella lifted her eyes to him. He looked worn out, hair messy, shirt wrinkled, breath shaky. He wasn't the calm, precise man she first knew. This version of him was raw, scared, angry, everything all at once.
Lucas typed faster, his fingers clacking loudly. "Her timing is planned. Early morning. When she knows everyone scrolls through their phone before work. She wants attention. This is all for attention."
Reed sat on the arm of the sofa, rubbing the back of his neck like the weight of everything was sitting there. "We can still win. We got ahead of her already. We just need to put this final thing together."
Ella clicked another file open, and her chest tightened. A voice memo, edited. Rita says Ben manipulated her. Ben controls her. None of it true, but edited in a way that sounded real enough to fool anyone who didn't know them. Ella huffed, overwhelmed. "How does someone even manage to twist things like this? I can barely edit a selfie."
Ben walked over, resting a hand on Ella's shoulder. His touch was warm but shaky. "She's been building this for months. Maybe longer. Maybe since the day she realized she couldn't control me anymore."
Lucas nodded without looking up. "People like her don't stop. They just wait for the perfect moment."
Ella pushed back from the table and stood up quickly, her chair scraping across the floor. "Okay, so what's our perfect moment? What's our move? We can't just sit here and let her beat us because we're tired."
Reed laughed under his breath, tired but impressed. "That's the fire we need. Keep that."
Ben stepped closer to Ella. "We release everything before she wakes up. Before she presses upload. Lucas said if we expose the full raw files, not the edited ones, she can't spin it."
Lucas finally looked up. "Yeah. And we need the receipts. The real timestamps. The backups Reed and I found. Every unedited file. Once people see that, her fake recordings will fall apart."
Ella swallowed hard. "And what if people still believe her?"
Ben didn't answer at first. He just stared at her, blinking, jaw tight. Then he whispered, "Then we keep fighting. But I won't let her win. Not with lies. Not with you getting hurt."
Ella felt something twist inside her, sharp and soft at the same time. She reached up, touching his cheek lightly. "We're doing this together. Right?"
He nodded slowly. "Together."
The room went quiet again except for Lucas typing and the refrigerator humming. Reed stretched his arms and walked toward the table. "We should plan the exact drop time. Down to the minute."
Lucas pointed at the screen. "I'm thinking of 5:47 a.m. Not exactly on the hour, not a predictable time. People who wake up early will see it first. If it goes viral before she posts, she loses power."
Ella bit her lip. "And if she posts right after?"
"Then it'll look desperate," Reed said. "Like she's reacting, not leading."
Ben sighed, rubbing his face with both hands. "I hate that this is what our life looks like right now."
Ella snorted softly, trying to lighten the air. "It could be worse. We could be stuck in a group chat with her."
Ben actually chuckled, shoulders loosening a little. "Please don't even joke about that."
Lucas cracked a small smile. "Let's finish this. No distractions. No breaks. We need everything ready."
Ella sat back down, picking up her laptop again. Her fingers hovered over the keys as she whispered, "Okay… okay. Let's do this. Let's end this."
Hours passed. Files got checked. Notes got rewritten. Plans got adjusted three times. Reed stepped out to take calls. Lucas argued with his own computer at least twice. Ben almost threw his phone at the wall, muttering curses about slow servers. Ella yawned so loudly she made Ben jump.
At one point, Ella leaned her head on Ben's shoulder while typing. He didn't complain. He just let her stay there, their arms brushing as they worked through the night.
By 3:12 a.m., the final folder was ready.
Lucas looked exhausted but proud. "Everything's in place."
Reed returned with the last confirmation. "We're set. All that's left is the actual upload."
Ella stretched her neck, her body sore from sitting too long. "So we wait?"
Ben nodded. "Yeah. For now."
But Ella could see it in his eyes: the fear, the weight, the pressure. This wasn't just a fight. It was the final hit in a long war.
She stood, walked over to him, and took both his hands. "Hey," she whispered, pressing her forehead against his. "We're almost done. Almost through this."
Ben closed his eyes. "I don't want any of this to take you away from me."
"It won't," she breathed. "Not if we stay smart. Not if we stay together."
Lucas cleared his throat loudly. "Sorry to break the moment, but we really need to go over the last checklist."
Ben groaned. "Right. Of course."
Ella squeezed his hands once before letting go.
The storm wasn't over.
But now… they were finally ready to face it.