He hung up.
That afternoon, Devin posted a cryptic story accusing “fake friends” of abandoning him after he made them famous. People began guessing names. Somebody found Simone’s photography page and filled it with comments. Another person posted a screenshot of the apartment complex where Bryce lived. The attention he had wanted now moved through his life without permission.
Simone told Bryce she was going home for a few days. She had been trying to protect her own peace, work, and friendships while every conversation revolved around the video.
“Are we breaking up?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I love you, Bryce. But I’m tired of having to choose between telling the truth and keeping you happy.”
He did not argue. It was the first honest response he could offer.
Devin’s next post went further. He announced a public challenge, claiming Bryce would pay twenty-five thousand dollars for a sanctioned rematch and implying Owen had already been approached. He attached a promotional image of Owen taken from a public photograph and placed the words COWARD OR LEGEND across it.
Owen saw the post because Ruth arrived at his house carrying the newspaper and looking ready to commit an offense against a computer.
“This man needs a hobby,” she said.
Owen read the post, then called Leah.
“I didn’t agree to anything.”
“I know. We’re documenting it. Don’t engage with him.”
He looked out at his quiet street. “How long can a person keep saying no before anyone listens?”
“Longer than should be necessary,” Leah said. “But each clear no is a record. The law is not a popularity contest.”
Owen hung up and walked into the garage. His good hand shook for a moment, less from fear than from the exhausting feeling of losing control of his own life to people who wanted a new fight.
He picked up a piece of wood and began measuring it for a small shelf Megan had requested. Measuring was simple. The board was twenty-four inches long regardless of what strangers said about it.
For the first time, he understood something about Bryce that he wished he had never learned: the young man had mistaken being watched for being important, and the people around him had encouraged that mistake because it was profitable.
Owen had spent his life trying not to be noticed. Bryce had spent his life trying to be seen. Both men were now trapped inside a spectacle neither could control.
Chapter 20 — The County’s Decision
The sheriff’s office completed its primary investigation a little more than a month after the incident. By then the summer heat had deepened, the fireworks stands had disappeared, and the first back-to-school advertisements had appeared in store windows. Owen had begun sleeping more consistently. Caleb had returned to arguing about the correct way to build a cardboard spacecraft.
