Chapter 4 - The Viral Inferno
At dawn the next day, Colonel Cole executed Phase Two of the strategy. Rather than allowing the local courts to bury the case under seal, the federal prosecutor assigned to the investigation authorized the release of the evidence to national media outlets following the unsealing of federal arrest warrants.
By noon, the video of Luke and Reid Higgins, accompanied by the audio recording of Cheyenne Higgins and the clear image of Dahlia closing the curtain, was broadcast across every major television network and trending at the top of every social media platform. The headline read: "BEHIND THE CURTAIN: THE UNTOUCHABLE DYNASTY OF BLACKWOOD RIDGE."
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The public reaction was swift and overwhelming. Millions of people watched the horrifying betrayal of a nine-year-old girl by her own family. Protesters began assembling outside the Higgins lumber mill and the Blackwood Ridge police station, holding signs demanding immediate justice.
Ellis Higgins attempted to use his financial leverage, calling network executives and threatening lawsuits, but the sheer volume of public outrage burned through his corporate influence like a wildfire through dry timber. The town he had controlled for forty years was suddenly under the spotlight of the entire nation.
