The news of Diya Ramesh’s first ever political donation spread quickly around the country and the world. Breaking her vow of apolitical spending was a global trending topic. It immediately placed attention on the mayoral race in her hometown, to the horror of the town’s political establishment. The press was quick to try to control the narrative, hoping to blunt Diya’s public statement on the reasons behind the donation with smears, lies and false information. Leading the charge on these efforts was the mayor himself.
Inside the mayor’s office the next day after news of the donation hit worldwide, the mayor seethed in his office, angrily glaring at the advisors assembled around his desk.
“How the fuck did this happen?!” the mayor yelled at the top of his lungs. “How the fuck did Diya Ramesh, the head of iThink, get convinced to put almost $3 million into a small town race like mine?!?!?!?!”
“Sir” one his advisors replied, trying to call him down “we’ve been looking into this all morning long. We’re going to get an answer as soon as we can.”
“Unreal!!!! Un-fucking-real!!!! This is a total game changer now! The whole press is watching me like a hawk! Every spending, political and policy decision I’ve ever made is being carefully scrutinized by the international press! Even if I somehow manage to hang on to my seat after the shit that’s about to come out, my political career is effectively over!”
“Sir” another advisor replied “that’s not true. This publicity storm will all blow over shortly. Diya Ramesh gave the maximum donation to the main campaign and the corresponding super pac, so there’s no more money coming from her after this. So far, at least, not too many other people have taken her lead. His fundraising total today is only about $1 million.”
“Only $1 million?!?! Are you fucking kidding me?!?!?! How the fuck are we going to be able go up against that communist now when he has that kind of money at his disposal.”
“Sir!” Marley, one of his advisors exclaimed, as he stormed into the room. “I figured out how Freddy Benson got Diya Ramesh to give him that huge donation yesterday.”
“Well don’t just stand there! Sit down and tell me!!!!”
Marley sat down and pulled up some information on his communication device.
“A mole inside of iThink gave me the low down. Apparently, the reason Diya even knows Freddy is because she was best friends with his husband, Michael, in high school.”
“I knew that man would be trouble for me and I was proven right! He probably went to Harvard with her too!”
“Yes sir, but you’re not going to believe what I managed to find out about their relationship. It turns out that the reason we don’t know much about Michael’s employment history is because he was the co-founder of iThink.”
The room of advisors gasped upon hearing the news.
“Get out of here” one advisor said incredulously.
“No way” another advisor chimed in.
“Are you serious?” a third advisor asked.
“100% serious” Marley insisted, with a dead serious look on his face. “This source is about as close to Diya as you’re going to get. He said that the reason the two of them haven’t spoken in so long is because, before iThink had their big unveiling and the website skyrocketed, she and the board members threw him out of the company.”
“Why would they do that?” the mayor asked, not believing what he was hearing.
“Apparently he was lazy, wouldn’t show up to meetings and spent too much time with his family over performing his obligations to the company.”
“Sounds just like him” one advisor chimed in.
“So about thirteen, fourteen years ago” Marley went on “they offered him a severance package and sent him on his way. He had to sign a non disclosure agreement to get the cash, so that’s why no one knows about this. For all intents and purposes, it was as if he never worked for them at all.”
“That’s unbelievable” an advisor said, sounding amazed at the revelation.
“Are you absolutely sure about this?” the mayor asked.
“100% positive” Marley replied. “The source is as close as to her as you can get.”
"So if they went their separate ways, then why did she give him the money?"
"The source can't say for sure, but Michael paid a visit the company on Wednesday, the day that Diya made the political donation."
"Of course. That must have been when Michael asked her to donate. Well, if that’s really the case, and he signed a non disclosure agreement compelling him to keep his involvement with the company quiet, then I propose a way to muddy the waters a bit here and mitigate the damage. Somebody get Douglas Ron on the phone immediately.”
“Yes sir” an advisor replied, as they got up to head back to their desk.
“If what you’re saying is true, Marley, then it’s time for the world to find out about Michael’s previously unknown contributions to iThink.”
“How does that help you, sir?” an advisor asked.
“Yeah” another advisor chimed in. “Wouldn’t that help Freddy’s campaign? Wouldn’t people knowing that his husband is smart and competent enough to develop a big platform like iThink be a good thing for his chances?”
“It would be” the mayor replied “if Michael weren't sworn to secrecy. By having the world know about what really happened, it’ll damage Diya’s image and cause a public war at the company. We’ll have Doug publish this information written from a ‘source’ and make it sound like Michael leaked it out. That way, it looks like he broke his non disclosure agreement and then iThink will sue him for millions of dollars. That will create more scandal around Freddy’s campaign and bog him down with an insurmountable burden that he cannot possibly handle.”
The advisors gasped in amazement, impressed with their boss’ plan of action.
“Sir, good news” an advisor at the the door said, holding his communication device in his hand. “Douglas Ron has access to a reporter who is going to be interviewing Diya today for the One Hour news cast that will air this Sunday night. He knows her professionally and is going to have her slip in the question and include it in the broadcast.”
“Excellent” the mayor replied, as he clasped his hands together and grinned widely. “This will teach her not to step out of line. Even though she’s a rich billionaire with a lot of power, it’s about time someone taught her to know her place.”
That Sunday night's episode of One Hour, a weekly news program, was an explosion of fireworks. It began as it always did, with a digital alarm clock counting down from 10 to 1. When the clock hit 0, it beeped loudly.
“One Hour” the narrator could be hearing saying. “And now, for tonight’s featured headline story. An exclusive interview with iThink founder and CEO Diya Ramesh.”
Appearing on screen was Wentworth Astor, a trust fund baby and wannabe news anchor. His prominence in society came from two areas; his good looks and his privileged background. He had steely blue eyes, dyed blonde hair and a chiseled jaw; one that drove women wild. He came from a billionaire family and spent his formative years drinking, partying and chasing women.
When it came time to settle down, lest he continue to mar the family name, he settled into broadcasting. He had a habit of failing upwards, having been fired from several other previous programs. His background got him in the door and his background kept him working, even after the many scandals he faced that would have ruined just about anyone else in his position.
Staring into the camera, Wentworth read from a teleprompter.
“Diya Ramesh is the founder and CEO of iThink. It’s a website and social media platform which needs no introduction. But instead of being in the news for her business acumen or her ingenious new platform ideas, she’s getting attention for something she’s never done before; getting involved in politics. Here’s Maria Sanchez with this week’s exclusive interview.”
Maria Sanchez was an accomplished journalist. Being just under 50 years old, she won the Pulitzer prize for exposing a high profile pedophile in Hollywood. She was the recipient of fifteen Emmy awards and countless other accolades. Her work was impressive, all the more so considering her background.
Unlike the lead anchor of One Hour, Maria came from humble beginnings. As the child of undocumented parents, she worked hard to make her way into the world of news reporting. She struggled behind the scenes as a production assistant and a segment producer for years, before she made it in front of the camera. After going rogue and reporting on a money laundering scheme that landed the perpetrators in prison for 25 years, her career took off overnight. That story started her years in broadcasting and made her admired and envied by just about everyone in her profession. However, as revered she was, she also had a dark side.
Maria’s success saw her lose a sense of self along the way. Instead of being a champion for other women, she had a notorious reputation for taking them down. Making up rumors about other rivals she considered a threat. Refusing to hire other women to work for her. Making derogatory comments about members of her own community when she thought no one was looking. She was as cruel as you could imagine behind the scenes. That’s what motivated her aggressive attack on Diya during her televised interview on that Sunday’s episode of One Hour.
Over a montage of clips of Diya Ramesh, Maria's voice could be heard.
“If you aren’t using iThink, the platform that 37 year old Diya Ramesh created out of her Harvard dorm room, then you’ve certainly heard of it, lest you’ve been living under a rock for the last ten years. Out of the Earth’s population of just over 9 billion people, 7/8th of the planet is a registered user of iThink, making it the most popular social media website of all time.
“It redefined the ‘networking’ in social networking, allowing users from all of the world to build connections and share their life stories with one another. It also made staying in touch with friends, family and colleagues even easier than ever. It’s an impressive achievement for someone who came from relatively humble beginnings.
“Born Diya Ninjani Ramesh, she is the daughter of Indian immigrants, who became citizens just after she was born. She was raised in Northern California, one of just a handful of students of color in her small hometown.”
Diya could be seen on camera, talking about her childhood.
“I remember growing up in this small town and being one of the only kids of color in my school. It was a difficult time for me, because I felt so isolated and had so few friends. I really felt the urge to get out and make something bigger for myself.”
“Focusing on her schooling” Maria continued in a voiceover “Diya got straight A’s, receiving the lavishing praise of her teachers, who remember her fondly to this day.”
“Diya was one of the most gifted students I ever had the pleasure of teaching” a ninth grade teacher was interviewed saying. “She was so incredibly bright, that I knew she’d go on to bigger and better things.”
“But despite knowing she was a gifted student, they had no idea just how successful she would become later in life. Getting an early admission and full ride scholarship to Harvard university, Diya set off in pursuit of a degree in computer engineering. Despite fulfilling a dream of millions of students across America every year, Diya had other ideas on her mind for how she wanted to spend her time at Harvard.
“I was always inspired by how Mark Zuckerberg managed to develop Facebook in his Harvard dorm room” Diya said on camera “and I was determined to do the exact same thing.”
“While she excelled with her school work” Maria continued in a voice over “where many of her fellow students struggled, she became less focused on her academic studies and more focused her budding new social media platform. A platform that would later become known to the world as iThink.”
“What made you think your idea was going to stand out from what was already out there?” Maria asked Diya on camera.
“Well” Diya responded “there were a number of things that I felt other social networks were lacking. No one else had perfected the ability to mix meeting new people with keeping in touch with your friends. Some sites did the first thing well, while others did the second thing well. I wanted to make a platform that successfully did both.
“I felt that none of the other social media networks had found the delicate balance of supporting free speech, while tamping down on hate speech and bullying. I wanted to make a platform that could find a way to seamlessly manage both of these seemingly contradictory goals.
“I never saw another website give people the ability to share their ideas at whatever length and in whichever medium they felt would successfully covey their message. There were either too many time and character limits or there wasn’t an ability to help expand the audience of your message. I wanted to make a platform that would allow people to say what they wanted, how they wanted, for as long as they wanted to say it. I feel like iThink has done all these things in a way that no other website before us has done it.”
“Users generally share her sentiment” Maria continued in a voiceover. “For the last ten years, iThink has been the #1 website around the world. Not only does it boast a big user database, it also has a large activity rating. 75% of its users have logged on to the site in the last month and almost 100% of its over 8 billion users logged on to the site in the last year. To the astonishment of its competitors, the account deletion rate is less than 5% every year.”
“That’s an unbelievable number” Maria said to Diya on camera. “The fact that you not only have this large amount of people using your website every day, but that so many people stay connected and you barely lose any users. It’s a remarkable achievement.”
“Thank you” Diya responded, as she began to blush. “I owe it to our company’s ability to keep people connected and unify the world, not add to the needless divisions we have in society.”
This statement by Diya wasn’t entirely true. Part of what kept iThink as successful as it was for so long was the connections she built to lawmakers and government officials. It started in Sacramento with local elected officials and made its way all the way to the white house in a short period of time. Being willing to cooperate with government mandates, at the cost of severe privacy violations for users, ones that had yet to go public, kept her in the good graces of the powers that be.
What also helped her keep dominance online was the sure power of her monopoly. Any time another website came online and threatened to usurp it, her crack team of developers and lawyers worked to fight back. They either stole the competing platform’s unique features and incorporated it into iThink, bought the company outright or, if they couldn’t crack the code or the creator, work with their government allies to shut them down. Of course, being that the network that carried One Hour was complicit in these types of schemes themselves, this would not have come up during the interview.
“It’s why it was so shocking that Diya Ramesh made a nearly $3 million political donation this week” Maria continued with a voiceover, as the interview progressed. “For over a decade since iThink’s global launch, Diya Ramesh has taken a public vow to be apolitical in her spending. It’s a vow that has made her popular with users around the world, allowing her to reach across the aisle and talk to people of all political backgrounds. That vow was broken with her first ever political donation this week and in an unusual sort of race.”
“What prompted you to make such a large donation to this man, Freddy Benson?” Maria asked Diya on camera.
“Well, I remember him from high school” Diya replied on camera. “He was a very popular guy and someone everybody liked. He was always friendly to people and could relate to just about anyone, even me. I admired him a lot, so I was quite surprised when I found out that he was running for public office.”
“How exactly did you find out about it?”
“Well, I’m a big reader. When I’m not focusing on meetings and development discussions and strategy sessions, I like to read. I like to know what’s going on around the world, but I also have that nostalgic soft spot for my hometown. When I read about Freddy and his campaign platform, I knew I had to help.”
“Freddy Benson” Maria continued in a voiceover “a 38 year old public defender based in Sacramento, began a quixotic campaign to unseat the current mayor of the town Diya Ramesh grew up in. His campaign has gotten off to a rocky start. He was allegedly photographed nude in public, which Benson denies. He has high negative approval ratings, stemming from his campaign’s attacks on the police department and his desire to raise taxes. In the three months since he began his campaign for mayor, he’s only managed to reach a high of 12% in a polling matchup against the incumbent, falling this week to just 10%. So it was surprising that Diya decided to put her money down on a seemingly dead candidacy.”
“What prompted you to make the donation now?” Maria asked Diya on camera. “Knowing there were clouds of scandal hanging over his head. Knowing that he was photographed nude in public.”
“Allegedly” Diya corrected. “I believe Freddy Benson when he says the photographs were manipulated.”
“Knowing he has such negative approval ratings, why would you want to break your apolitical stance for this man and for this race in particular?”
“I believe in his message and I believe in what he is standing for. I remember being subjected to horrible bouts of racism growing up and I’m glad that Freddy is using his campaign to speak to those issues. The racism was so bad in the town I grew up in, that by the time I left to go to Harvard, I generally worried about the safety of my parents. Once I got my first couple of million dollars at iThink, I bought them a house in a different community and had them move out of their home immediately.”
“Do you think that maybe you’re buying into Freddy’s campaign narrative because of the feelings of your youth? A lot of people think the mayor has done a relatively good job addressing the issues of race, the police department and the government in general.”
“Those people are primarily white. If you were to ask any person of color if they agreed with the mayor’s handling on race relations in my hometown, they would not agree with you, Maria, hence why most minorities left and why there’s only one black family left in the town.”
“That black family was the primary motivating factor for Freddy Benson to run for mayor of Diya’s hometown” Maria continued in a voiceover, as a clip of Freddy’s arrest played out on screen. “After filming a particularly brutal arrest of 15 year old Devon Little, Freddy was arrested for filming the encounter. He was charged with ‘undermining the authority of the police,’ charges that were later dismissed. Benson said the brutality and his corresponding arrest compelled him to take on the mayor by running for his seat in this November's election.”
“That arrest haunted me, Maria” Diya said on camera. “It was so horrible that they treated that boy Devon in such a horrible way. That boy had been arrested 30 times over the course of three or four years and it was so obvious that he was being targeted by the police for being the only black kid left in their town.”
“Race relations have moved forward in our country” Maria said to Diya on camera. “Perhaps this is just a case of looking for a problem where it doesn’t exist.”
“It does exist, Maria, and that’s why it was so important for me to bring awareness to it. That’s part of what I was hoping to do in making the donation that I have.”
“Is that the only thing that prompted this donation?”
“Douglas Ron” Maria continued speaking in a voiceover “the billionaire media mogul and owner of the local website, The Sunny News, released a report this week that seemed to shatter the story of how iThink allegedly came into existence. In the report, an anonymous source claimed that Michael Scavolini, Freddy Benson’s husband, was the unrecognized co-founder of iThink and helped make critical alterations to the platform early on in development. Alterations, the source revealed, that later proved critical to the platform’s success.”
“Perhaps Freddy’s husband prompted this donation from you?” Maria asked Diya on camera.
“I’m not at liberty to discuss anything pertaining to those rumors” Diya replied coldly.
When the news broke that Michael’s participation in iThink’s development leaked out to the press, it caused an international uproar. It led to accusations that Diya was a fraud and that Michael was the true talent behind the company all along. It led to claims that Diya was the Walt Disney to Michael’s Ub Iwerks. It shattered the illusion that Diya had created iThink as a single force dynamo, a trailblazer for women and minorities in a white, male dominated field. It was a sore subject for Diya, causing her much anxiety during this interview.
News got to the company before Diya recorded the interview. The board had learned that Douglas Ron had found out about Michael’s involvement in iThink and was about to post an explosive expose' about it on his national news website. The news quickly caused chaos and anarchy in the upper ranks, with all the fingers being planted in one direction.
“Michael Scavolini leaked this to the press” a board member claimed.
“That makes absolutely no sense” Diya replied dismissively.
Although the board had voted unanimously to take legal action against Michael, Diya used only the third veto vote in her entire time as chairman of the board. In spite of many people demanding that she take legal action, Diya did not believe that Michael had leaked the story to the press. It would make no logical sense, seeing as she had just done him a huge favor in helping Freddy out when his campaign urgently needed it. The meeting had gone well, in her estimation, even if they still hadn’t set aside their differences on how they split apart. To ruin that moment of good will by breaking their non disclosure agreement so publicly would be sure stupidity, something she knew Michael was not capable of.
Instead, Diya suspected that there was a mole on her board who had leaked the information to Douglas Ron. Out of all of the people in the company who would know about Michael’s early involvement, only members of the board would be privy to that information. She was determined to find out who had spilled the beans, undermining her authority and creating real damage to the company’s overall sustainability.
At the time of the interview, though, Diya did her best to ignore these salty feelings; as she adamantly refused to comment on Maria’s attempts to bring up Michael’s involvement in iThink.
“Wouldn’t it make much more sense, though?” Maria asked Diya on camera “That an old friend compelled you to donate to his husband’s campaign, rather than the claim that you stumbled upon Freddy’s campaign and it prompted you to make such a large donation like this?”
“Again” Diya persisted, with an annoyed look on her face “I am not at liberty to discuss rumors like this with you. There are lot of other important areas to discuss and—“
“But you have to admit that this is a pretty big news story, Diya. If what has been reported is true, then it would ruin the whole entire of facade of iThink’s founding story and change how history perceives its place in the world.”
“Again, I’m not going to discuss these rumors with you. That is the end of this discussion.”
The rest of the interview continued on with talk of her future political plans (there weren’t any), what she hoped to bring attention to in world affairs (racism and corruption) and whether she had made a mistake in donating to Freddy’s campaign, knowing what the negative reaction has been since it was announced (she didn’t see it as negative and had no regrets).
When it was over, Michael ended the clip on his communication device. He had watched the clip when it originally aired at home and saw it several more times in the following day. It emotionally got him every time, knowing how much negative attention this donation was bringing Diya and iThink as a whole. The company stock had begun to tank and Diya’s reputation took a major hit over this. Although Michael still felt grateful for her helping him out, a certain sense of smug satisfaction was shamefully felt as well.
“Something else came out of this for me” Michael thought to himself. “My contributions to the company are no longer erased from history.”
Despite the fact that the world now of knew at least some of his contributions to iThink, Michael was still bound to the non disclosure agreement he signed, so he couldn’t elaborate any further. The calls to his communication device were once again non stop; ones he couldn’t answer, even if he wanted to. He had to shut the blinds to his home, to block out the sight of hungry reporters and photographers camped outside his house. They were looking to barrage them with questions. He was not looking to answer any of them.
On the more positive side of things, it was a whirlwind day of donations and support from all over the country for Freddy’s campaign. The news saw an outpouring of support from like minded people, leading to $1 million in donations in a single day, a record amount for a small time race. It was a big moment for his husband’s campaign, one that made Freddy happy as can be.
“This day couldn’t get any better” Freddy said, as he danced across the living room, smiling as he did so. “I can hire staffers now. I can rent an actual office space. I can see myself winning this race now. This is a total game changer for me. I can’t believe this is happening.”
Freddy kissed Michael on the lips and continued to dance around the living room.
“I can’t possibly thank you enough, Michael. I know it was hard for you to reach out to her, but man, it paid off in dividends. I can’t believe this is happening. I really have a shot to win this thing now.”
While Freddy jumped for joy, Michael had more mixed feelings on the matter. He had led Diya on into thinking they could still be friends, when they couldn’t and wouldn’t again. He was now at risk of a big financial lawsuit from iThink, accusing him of breaking the non disclosure agreement and leaking his involvement to the press. His son Evan’s anxiety shot up from the roof, knowing his father Freddy would be around even less than he was now and dealing with even more pressure at school.
There was also the unresolved issue of the Ruggeri ring. Michael hadn’t been able to get to Tom due to the restraining order placed against him by the court. As long as it was in their neighbor’s possession, Freddy could change into a dog at any time. With the world’s eyes upon him, that was an extremely risky scenario. If someone managed to find out about the ring, they might steal it, putting Freddy at risk of blackmail or worse. While Freddy was now positioned to be a formidable challenger to the incumbent mayor, the dangers to their lives jumped up seismically. These next few months, as the race continued on, would make or break them as a couple forever.
Six months later…..