Chapter 4 - ETHAN STRONG
Michael's channel was called Ethan Strong.
Ethan had not chosen the name.
He was nine when Michael created it.
At first, the videos were mostly ordinary.
Ethan learning to cook with his mother.
Family hikes.
A science fair.
His parents arguing jokingly over Christmas lights.
Then Ethan's mother, Rebecca Carter, was diagnosed with breast cancer.
People watched.
More people.
Then many more.
Rebecca did not hide her illness.
She filmed some chemotherapy days herself.
She talked about parenting while sick.
Michael edited.
Ethan appeared because Ethan lived there.
That was how everyone explained it.
By the time Rebecca died, Ethan Strong had 183,000 followers.
Three years later it had 612,000.
At Lauren's house, Ethan found clips he had forgotten existed.
His father falling asleep at the kitchen table while Ethan draped a blanket over him.
Seven million views.
Ethan crying after finding his mother's old recipe card.
Three million.
Ethan missing the school bus and running down the street in socks.
Nine million.
That one bothered him now.
“Lauren.”
She looked up from the kitchen.
“Did Dad film me missing the bus before helping?”
She came over.
Watched.
In the video Michael's voice could be heard laughing from inside the doorway.
Buddy, shoes!
Ethan sprinted back.
At the time it had been funny.
Maybe it still was.
But after Ryan, every clip looked different.
Lauren sat beside him.
“Don't do this alone.”
“Do what?”
“Rewatch your whole childhood trying to figure out which parts were real.”
Ethan's throat tightened.
He closed the laptop.
Too late.
He remembered the lunch incident.
Six months ago, his lunch bag split while he crossed the cafeteria.
Yogurt and fruit fell everywhere.
Somebody filmed.
Michael later used the school hallway footage and Ethan's retelling.
Video title:
MY SON GOT HUMILIATED AT SCHOOL—HIS RESPONSE MADE ME CRY
Ethan hated that title.
He had told Michael.
Michael changed it for two days.
Then changed it back after views slowed.
Another memory.
His bike tire went flat three miles from home.
Michael filmed Ethan pushing the bike uphill.
Sometimes boys need to learn they can finish hard things.
Had the tire really just gone flat?
Ethan stood.
“I want Dad's phone.”
Lauren looked at him.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because you're twelve and right now that phone is evidence in at least a school investigation.”
“Evidence of my life.”
“Yes.”
Lauren crouched slightly so they were level.
“And adults are going to preserve it without making you become the detective.”
Ethan hated that.
She was right.
That was worse.
Then her phone rang.
Ryan's mother.
Lauren put it on speaker only after asking Ethan whether he wanted to hear.
He nodded.
Ryan had given his mother the full message thread.
Not only today's arrangement.
Michael had contacted him twice before.
One month earlier:
Can you knock Ethan's tray when you pass? Nothing obvious.
Ryan refused.
He replied:
Nah. That's messed up.
Two weeks later Michael asked whether Ryan knew someone who could “start a rumor Ethan can shut down on camera.”
Ryan ignored him.
Then today Michael offered money.
Why did Ryan finally say yes?
His mother answered before anyone could invent a noble reason.
“He wanted cash.”
Ryan's new phone had cracked.
He wanted to replace it before she found out.
Seventy-five dollars felt easy.
It wasn't.
Lauren said:
“Thank you for telling us.”
Ryan's mother hesitated.
“There's more.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
Of course.
Michael sent Ryan a sample clip.
Not of Ethan.
A creator tutorial.
Some man explaining that “raw conflict” produces higher watch retention than obvious skits.
Michael wrote beneath it:
This is what I need. Real first reaction.
Ethan felt sick.
The tutorial had come from someone named Brooke Ellis.
Ryan's mother forwarded the screenshot.
Lauren stared at the name.
She knew it.
“What?”
Ethan asked.
“Brooke managed your parents' account.”
“Mom's too?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before she died.”
May you like
Ethan looked at the screenshot again.
If Brooke taught Michael to make humiliation look real, Ethan wanted to know when that lesson started.
