"Sorry doesn't make it all better," Damian said. His voice is a little stronger now. "But... telling everyone the truth and saying sorry in front of everyone... that would be a good start. I need to see what you write before you send it."
"Yes, of course!" I said. A tiny bit of hope came into my dark feelings. "Liam will send it to you as soon as it's ready. We can talk about anything you want to change."
"And the person who worked briefly?" he asked. His voice sounded even stronger now. "Who is that person? And who hired them?"
"We are finding that out right now," I told him. "Liam is already checking. We will find out who did this bad thing, and they will get what they deserve. I promise you that."
"Good," he said. I could almost hear a little bit of his happy, strong self coming back. "Because if this was a trick, and it looks like it was, I want to know everyone who helped. Not just Bianca. She had help."
"She did," I agreed. My mind was already thinking about all the bad things that could mean. "And we will find out everything about this trick. Thank you, Damian, for listening. Thank you for not hanging up on me."
"Don't thank me yet, Celeste," he said. He sounded a little like his old funny self, just a tiny bit. "Let's see if you can fix this big mess you made."
The phone call ended. I felt exhausted, but also a tiny bit happy. He didn't just tell me to go away. He was hurt, but he was ready to let me try to make things right. It was like winning a small game. After all the very bad things I had done, it felt like a tiny boat saving me from drowning in the water.
Liam worked quietly and seriously. He wasn't his usual happy self, but he was very focused. Our first and most important job was to write a message to say sorry to everyone. This message had to be made very carefully, with every word picked to be clear and true. It needed to say clearly the new facts: the video was changed, Damian was not in the computer room, and the person in the video was someone pretending to be him. The message finished with a very honest apology from my company and me. It said sorry for the big mistake and promised to be honest and fix things.
As Liam made the words just right, I walked around my office. My thoughts were going super fast like a spinning top. Bianca. She was so brave and her plan was so very clever. She didn't just want to steal my good ideas for new things; she wanted to break my good name. She wanted everyone to think bad things about me. She even used my good parts – like how I feel things deeply and trust people easily – to hurt me. Damian, in her big plan, was just like a toy piece in a game. He was perfect for her to blame and make everyone confused. This way, even if Bianca got into trouble, I would still be left with a huge, broken mess that I couldn't fix.
Liam finally finished. His fingers were ready to push the send button. "Ready to send to Damian for him to say okay, Ms. Hilly."
I nodded. I looked closely at the computer screen. "Send it."
This message to everyone was just the first step. Saying sorry in front of everyone would surely make a big fuss. There would be more news stories and lots of questions. Some people would not believe us. They would say we were just changing our story to make ourselves look good again. But I was ready for that. My main goal now was very clear: to show everyone Damian was innocent. I had to build back the trust I had broken so carelessly. And I had to show everyone how tricky and mean Bianca's game was.
The first time the false story came out, it hurt Damian the most. And because of that, it hurt me too, very much inside. But now, understanding more about what Bianca wanted and how sneaky she was, I felt a new kind of strength inside me. This was not just about fixing a problem anymore. This was about what was fair and right. And Bianca, in her big, clever plan, had made one very important mistake: she didn't know how strong someone can be when they have nothing left to lose except their honesty.