The scandal exploded the next morning.
Germany's Der Spiegel dropped a brutal investigative piece first: "Hollywood's Ghost Screenings — How Warner Manufactured a Box Office Miracle with Empty Seats." The article laid out hard data from twelve German theaters, complete with parking lot surveillance screenshots and infrared heat maps. It was impossible to deny.
French and British outlets followed fast, exposing the same pattern in other countries. Warner's corporate statement suddenly looked like desperate damage control.
By 10 a.m., AMC announced they were freezing all screen adjustments for Doomsday Collapse pending an official investigation. Regal issued the same statement half an hour later. Smaller chains quickly fell in line. Doomsday Collapse's screen count dropped from thirty percent to twenty-five and kept sliding.
Audience reaction turned vicious. #BoycottFakeBoxOffice started trending. People posted receipts and called for mass refunds if anyone had already bought tickets.
Meanwhile, The Ancient One's numbers started climbing on Friday. Box Office Mojo's real-time update showed it on track for eighteen million domestically while Doomsday Collapse was projected at only seven million. The gap had doubled.
At Warner headquarters, Michael sat alone in the conference room staring at an internal audit report. Eight-point-four million dollars in marketing spend had no clear receipts. The audit lead sat across from him and said the board wanted answers within twenty-four hours. MPAA investigators were demanding full overseas sales data.
Michael knew handing that over would expose every ghost screening.
He told them he needed time. They told him the board wasn't waiting.
After the meeting, Michael smashed a coffee cup against the wall. Sarah walked in and quietly placed a tablet in front of him. Another article had dropped about mid-level executives being suspended. The comments were already calling for Michael's head.
He told her to stop the hacker payments. She said it was too late. The hackers were already threatening to release everything, including their conversations about digging up dirt on Cassius.
Michael told her to pay them anyway. Use his personal accounts. Do it clean.
She left without another word.
That same afternoon, Cassius was on a scheduled video call with Pete Frates for the ALS channel. Pete looked stronger than last time. He thanked Cassius again for the ice bucket challenge and said the donations were actually helping cover new treatments. The comments flooded with support.
After the call ended, Cassius sat in silence for a minute.
Then Kevin called.
"Michael submitted his resignation," Kevin said. "Board's in emergency session. But there's worse news circulating. Someone's sitting on serious dirt about Warner executives and they're about to drop it."
Cassius felt his stomach tighten.
That night the leak hit.
An anonymous post appeared on a dark web forum claiming to have private photos and videos of 127 female celebrities. Nine heavily redacted samples were attached. Within minutes, screenshots spread across Twitter, Reddit, and Telegram.
The first wave included recognizable faces. One of them was Jennifer Lawrence.
By 1 a.m., unredacted images started circulating in private channels. Jennifer's team was already in full crisis mode. Platforms were deleting posts as fast as they appeared, but new links kept popping up.
Cassius's phone started vibrating nonstop.
He woke up to dozens of missed calls from Kevin, his lawyer, and his PR team. Then the headlines hit his screen.
"Cassius Private Photos Leaked — Intimate Shots with Jennifer Lawrence Surface"
"Kristen Stewart Reportedly Cheated On? Cassius Linked to Multiple Hollywood Actresses"
"Hollywood Photo Scandal Expands — Star at Center of New Leak"
Cassius sat up in the dark, heart pounding as he scrolled through the notifications. His private messages were already flooded. The photos were everywhere.
He felt the ground shift under him in real time.