Texting your sister the morning of the Fourth of July aft...

Conversation

1. Dad's chat is blowing up with an audio confessing theft.
2. I just got it, it sounds exactly like you.
3. It's viral—TikTok has a stitched version already.
4. I didn't—it's an AI deepfake, I swear.
5. It says amounts and dates only you knew.
6. Someone tagged Mason and Mom in the first share.
7. Wait—Mason was with Dad last night, right?
8. Yes, he left after the books, why?
9. Because the audio mentions 'ledger on the top shelf'.
10. I never said 'ledger' to anyone, that's private.
11. Then why does the audio say you confessed?
12. Also a DM from a private account claims receipt images.
13. Stop—who forwarded that DM into Dad's group?
14. I didn't forward; I just hit play and cried.
15. Someone added a caption: 'Mason stole from Dad.'
16. I was at Mark's last night, half my friends know.
17. You told Mark about the money?
18. No, I barely talked about work, we left early.
19. Someone posted a screenshot of your last bank transfer.
20. That's fake too, my account shows nothing like that.
21. Have you called Dad yet?
22. No—don't make it worse, he'll panic on July Fourth.
23. Too late; Mom already called the whole family.
24. Who sent the original audio file to Dad's group?
25. A number saved as 'Unknown' forwarded it this morning.
26. Wait—the audio has a background noise, fireworks at the end.
27. I was at home with you last night, remember fireworks?
28. You weren't here; I texted you at midnight.
29. You texted me at midnight? I have no message.
30. Your phone shows a deleted thread with a blue check.
31. Who deleted it? Did you delete my texts?
32. I didn't delete anything, my phone shows no outgoing.
33. Someone is cleaning traces; the audio's metadata is stripped.