The plan with the old photos

Peter had kept his word. The next day, he sent Julia an encrypted link giving her access to a secure cloud folder. Inside were Claudia’s private files—old emails, contracts, notes, and a large collection of photos.

Julia spent several hours going through everything. She sat in her room, her laptop on her lap, scrolling through the folders. She was hoping to find something truly incriminating: affairs, hidden bank accounts, compromising messages. But she didn’t find anything truly bad. Claudia had obviously been careful. There were no nude photos, no explicit messages, and no obvious scandals.

The only thing Julia found truly interesting were older photos of Claudia with her father, Richard. In many of the pictures, Claudia was wearing a bikini or light summer clothing—by the pool, inside the house, in the bedroom. Julia looked at the pictures for a long time.

She stood up, stripped down to her panties, and stood in front of the large mirror in her room. Then she held one of the old photos up next to herself.

Claudia’s body in the photos was surprisingly similar to her own. They both had a similar figure: full, heavy breasts, a narrow waist, and round hips. Claudia’s breasts hung a bit more naturally in the older pictures, but otherwise the difference wasn’t huge. Their skin tones were also comparable, especially considering that Claudia was usually already tanned in the photos.

Julia slowly turned in front of the mirror and compared her breasts, stomach, and butt to the old photos. They really were very similar. With a little editing and the right lighting, one could easily mistake the two bodies for each other.

An idea began to take shape in her mind.

She could take the old photos of Claudia—especially the ones where her face was clearly visible—and shoot new scenes in which she (Julia) played the lead role. With Claudia’s face from the old photos and her own body, she could create something that looked as if Claudia were the one appearing in those situations.

For example, she could shoot new videos in which she posed in similar poses and outfits as in the old photos—only this time, much more explicit. With a little skillful editing and face swapping, it could look as if Claudia were the one posing, undressing, or doing something much worse.

Julia sat down in front of the laptop again and opened the old photos once more. She zoomed in on Claudia’s face in one of the bikini pictures and then on her own face in the mirror.

The idea was risky.

But it was doable.

And if she did it right, she could pin something on Claudia that she’d never be able to explain away. Something that was not just embarrassing, but truly devastating.

Julia leaned back and stared at the pictures.

She had finally found a lead on a real, solid scandal.

Now she just had to decide how far she wanted to go. Julia sat at her laptop all night. First, she tried using regular porn material from the internet. She searched for videos and pictures of women who were somewhat similar in type to Claudia—similar build, similar hair color, similar age. She downloaded several clips and tried using simple editing programs to superimpose Claudia’s face onto the old photos.

It looked terrible.

The movements didn’t match, the skin tone was wrong, and above all, it looked extremely fake as soon as the woman moved or the angle changed. Julia cursed under her breath. That would never convince anyone, let alone the board of directors or the public.

She needed something better.

The next day, she ordered a high-quality, long blonde wig online in a shade similar to Claudia’s hair. When it arrived two days later, Julia locked herself in her room, put on the wig, and stood in front of the mirror. She looked at herself for a long time. With the wig and the right lighting, the resemblance to Claudia in the older photos was actually striking.

She started over.

Instead of using ready-made porn footage, Julia now filmed and photographed everything herself. She used a good tripod, her cell phone, and a small camera. She shot various scenes—starting with more innocent poses in a bikini, then moving on to increasingly explicit shots. She lay on her parents’ bed, slowly undressed, touched herself, spread her legs, and assumed various positions. All of it was intended for use later as “Claudia.”

Afterward, she sat back down at her laptop and began combining the new footage with the old photos of Claudia. She extracted the faces from the old images and, using good facial recognition software, superimposed them onto her own footage.

And this time, it worked.

Amazingly well, in fact.

The wig, the similar body shape, and the good lighting made it possible for the overlay to look truly convincing in many pictures and short clips. Especially in photos where the face wasn’t zoomed in on too closely or in movements that weren’t too frantic. Of course, if you looked closely, you could still tell it was fake—but for the general public and, above all, for the board of directors, it would be more than enough.

Julia sat in front of the screen and examined the result.

In one of the pictures, “Claudia” (that is, herself with the superimposed face) was lying on a bed with her legs spread apart, one hand between her thighs. In another video, she leaned forward and showed her butt to the camera while looking back. The face clearly belonged to her stepmother—at least at first glance.

Julia leaned back and took a deep breath.

It worked.

She now had real material in her hands. Not just a few embarrassing shots, but something that could really ruin Claudia if it was leaked the right way. Something that looked as if Claudia herself had taken these photos and videos—or at least participated in them.

Julia opened a new folder on her laptop and simply named it:

“Claudia – Material”

She didn’t yet know exactly how or when she would use it.

But she now knew that she had something truly dangerous in her hands.