CHAPTER 146: CHAPTER 146: MEMORIES (46)

"Then why didn’t you consider the consequences when you posted those slanderous comments? Now that things have escalated, do you think just because time has passed, I should unjustly endure others’ strange looks and gossip?"

Thomas Tennyson didn’t expect Florence Fuller to be such a no-nonsense woman. Last semester, he thought she was a strong yet gentle girl from a possibly less well-off family. But this time, he saw another side of her.

"If I don’t see your apology post by ten o’clock tomorrow morning, then at eleven, you and your despicable roommates can wait to receive a lawyer’s letter."

"You’ve really gained confidence by staying close to the rich," Thomas said sullenly. "Look at how many people in school liked you, secretly admired you, but once they knew you were an illegitimate child being kept, they all avoided you!"

Florence’s eyes darkened as she looked at him coldly, "I’ve changed my mind. You can wait to receive a lawyer’s letter."

Thomas’ throat choked as Florence walked away without turning back.

Florence handed the matter over to Ethan Harper. She couldn’t spare any extra time as she needed to attend classes, delve into the library, and analyze the stock market.

Busy as she was, she didn’t want to worry if she didn’t have to.

So, the next afternoon, Ethan, somehow, managed to arrange for a lawyer and his assistant with pre-drafted lawyer’s letters to go directly to the school and find Thomas Tennyson’s class.

The lawyer’s assistant was a recent graduate from the school’s law department. The class was full of students when the sudden interruption occurred, and the assistant first apologized.

"Sorry, Professor, just two minutes, please. I’m a law graduate from this university."

The lawyer accurately found Thomas and took four drafted lawyer’s letters from his bag: "Thomas Tennyson, in light of the libelous and rumor-spreading posts by you and your roommates on the school’s forum against our client, Florence Fuller, which have severely impacted her reputation, my client has decided to sue you and your four roommates."

The entire class was so stunned by the scene that they didn’t dare make a sound.

The lawyer left after delivering the letters, the entire process taking less than two minutes. The students were in an uproar, and even the professor was baffled, "Who did you provoke to have the boss of Flying Light Law Firm deliver the lawyer’s letter to you?"

"That’s one of the top ten law firms in the country; so many law students would kill to get in."

Thomas’ face went pale as he looked at the densely packed words on the lawyer’s letter and his hands began to tremble. His roommate, sitting in the class with him, looked visibly changed, tightly grabbing his hand: "I worked hard to get into this school; what if I can’t graduate because of you!"

"Yeah, Thomas!" Another roommate, seeing his own name on the lawyer’s letter, was also frightened: "You should have apologized last night!"

"There are so many gossipers in school, what’s the big deal?" Thomas shouted, his face flushed. He had been so humiliated in front of so many people, all his face was gone!

As soon as the class ended, the news of Thomas receiving a lawyer’s letter for spreading rumors spread throughout the school.

Florence hadn’t been to school these past few days. The teachers couldn’t reach her and contacted Thomas to understand the full story.

Thomas’ roommates sought advice from friends in the law department. After asking around, they found out that if the issue wasn’t handled properly, they could potentially face expulsion and be held liable, even needing to pay compensation!

The group was scared and eager to apologize to Florence in person, but since she was nowhere to be found, they decided to show some good faith first. The four of them made lengthy posts of remorse and sincere apology on the school’s forum.

That week, these four posts became the most popular on campus, making the four individuals infamous, and the teachers imposed proper punishments to teach them a lesson.

After a week of torment, Thomas and the others received a call from the law firm; the lawsuit was dropped, and they decided to settle privately. They would need to compensate Florence for her losses, each person paying a thousand yuan.

Thomas and his group agreed.

On the day Thomas went to deliver the money, Florence waited for him at the café she used to work at. Considering the rough time he had been through these past two weeks, he had also experienced the taste of being pointed at and discussed, no longer looking as confident as before.

"Not nice being looked at and gossiped about, huh?" Florence said.

Thomas looked down, "Sorry."

Now he understood how it felt. His girlfriend quickly broke up with him, and many people gossiped about him and avoided him because of the rumors he spread.

He remembered the time he spread rumors online that Florence was an illegitimate child and tagged her as being kept because of luxury car pick-ups.

During that period, it was all over the school, and originally, many boys in school who liked her and wanted to pursue her stopped in their tracks because of the incident.

"Why did you do it? Just because I rejected you!"

Thomas looked at her, "Originally, no!"

He explained, "It was later when someone named Clara Fuller came along. She said you were her sister but hadn’t been raised in the same household and that you were living this way now because you fell out with your father. She said you rejected me because you looked down on me."

Florence sneered, "She said, she said, everything was just what she said, and you believed it right away."

"You both have the last name Fuller and..." Thomas was too embarrassed to continue. At that time, he was a bit dazzled by being surrounded by a rich girl like Clara. Then when the semester started and he saw Florence being dropped off in a luxury car, he believed it even more.

Seeing is believing, as they say. And he believed it.

Last semester, she was still working part-time at a café, and the next, she was riding in a luxury car.

An illegitimate child and being kept, neither label is pleasant.

"But should you spread lies about someone?" Florence sneered, "You deserve what you’re getting now."

She got up, picked up her bag, and left to find Clara Fuller.

Clara was at school watching a senior play basketball, smiling radiantly like a flower. Florence asked her class one by one all the way there and got even more upset seeing her like this.

Having successfully stirred up trouble from the shadows and now laughing so happily here, Florence unscrewed the cap of the bottle in her hand, walked up to her, and poured it over her head.

With the bottle empty, Florence threw it at her face, "Clara Fuller, if it weren’t for your expert guidance behind the scenes, those roomies of Thomas wouldn’t be in this mess. You’re truly something!"

The people around were stunned to see Florence’s cool and indifferent demeanor.

Moreover, Florence’s voice wasn’t small, and those nearby heard it clearly.

Florence didn’t give Clara a chance to speak and promptly left the basketball court.

That same evening, Thomas posted another thread after the apology post.

It was all about what he had heard and been told, allegedly by Clara Fuller, laid out plainly. From his post, more intrigue arose about whether Florence was indeed an illegitimate child and her relationship with Clara Fuller.