CHAPTER 60: CHAPTER 60: RUMORS ESCALATE

Clara looked at these posts, feeling that things weren’t that simple.

Lynch Lynch was very angry, "I don’t know who’s spreading rumors about you and manipulating public opinion to incite the alumni to cyberbully you. It’s infuriating!"

"You were always like the school belle at our university; a lot of people knew you. Especially those guys who chased after you and didn’t succeed—now seeing these posts insulting you, they don’t care if it’s true or not and just join in the defamation, and some jealous girls are exploiting the situation to hurl all sorts of insults at you. The person spreading these rumors behind your back is just vile!"

Clara looked at those filthy words, feeling so wronged that she wanted to cry.

During the day, she had just told Lisa Holloway that the innocent would remain innocent, and Lisa complimented her on her positive attitude.

But seeing these insults now, she really couldn’t completely ignore them.

The things they said were too vile.

They even dragged in that she came from a single-parent family and lacked fatherly love, so that’s why she liked associating with older men.

They even insulted her mother, saying her mother must not be a good person to raise a daughter like Clara.

Clara was almost choking up, "Recently I had a conflict with a colleague. A few days ago, he set me up and got me fired from the company. It’s very likely he’s behind this too. I thought after he left, the rumors would gradually fade. I never imagined he would go to the school forum to spread rumors..."

"Don’t cry, Clara. I’ll contact the administrator to delete the posts first." Lynch Lynch, hearing Clara’s sobbing tone, was very worried about her. "Maybe you shouldn’t go to the school reunion. I’m afraid they’ll make things difficult for you."

They all knew how scary rumors could be.

The things people said online were already so harsh; it’s hard to imagine how they might humiliate Clara in real life.

Especially the guys in their class, several of whom had pursued Clara in the past, but she turned them down.

Back then when she rejected them, some of the guys already cursed her out in anger. Now that all this has happened, who knows how badly they’ll curse her at the reunion.

"No, I have to go to the school reunion." Clara said, "If I don’t go, they’ll think I’m afraid and dare not face them. Wouldn’t that just confirm the rumors?"

"You..." Lynch Lynch said worriedly, "What are you going to do?"

"Find a lawyer to sue the person who posted and the people spreading the rumors. Slander and defamation are illegal."

"It’s true, but won’t the lawsuit take a long time until there’s a verdict? I’m worried that your mental state might be affected by the cyberbullying in the meantime."

"It’s fine." Clara clenched her fist, "I’ll quickly hire a lawyer to handle it, and I won’t go online during this period."

"Alright then, hang in there, Clara. If you feel bad, give me a call and we can chat. Your sisters will always be here."

Clara softened her tone, "Thank you, Lynch."

...

Sutton Family.

Quinn Hughes was scrolling through Crestwood U’s super topics and forums on her phone, reading post after post with a smile on her lips.

Clara Sterling, this is all your own doing.

Who told you to seduce Isaac?

Even after getting married, you’re still not behaving.

It all happened so coincidentally.

Quinn knew that Isaac Sutton was going to Clara Sterling’s class reunion, so she browsed through the super topics of their Crestwood U and unexpectedly found someone posting to slander Clara Sterling.

The post’s title was "Crestwood U is supposed to be a prestigious school, and its students end up being mistresses?"

The picture attached was of Clara Sterling getting into a Range Rover.

Quinn immediately recognized the woman in the picture as Clara Sterling. Her eyes lit up, and she quickly clicked into the post.

The poster claimed to be Clara Sterling’s colleague, both working at a branch of the Sheffield Group.

He said he had some work conflicts with Clara Sterling, and then she used her benefactor’s influence to get him fired and saddled him with a five-million lawsuit.

After reading the post, Quinn contacted the poster.

After chatting for a bit, Quinn added the person on WhatsApp and provided them with a lot of "dirt" on Clara Sterling.

For example, Clara Sterling is already married, and her husband is poor and ugly.

For example, even after getting married, Clara Sterling is still entangled with her ex-boyfriend and even seducing her fiancé.

Armed with these "scandals," the poster made several more posts releasing this dirt, causing quite a stir on the Crestwood U forum.

Clara Sterling was very popular at Crestwood U. During her freshman year military training, she became famous because of a photo, earning the title of "school belle."

There were countless boys who liked her and girls who were jealous of her at the school.

Once the dirt was released, it gained instant heat.

One guy even reposted the stories onto a short video platform.

The caption read, "My white moonlight has decayed."

When Quinn saw the video, it already had thousands of likes. She fanned the flames, investing five thousand in promoting it.

The video quickly went viral.

In just three days, likes surpassed fifty thousand, and comments exceeded ten thousand.

She spent more money hiring several marketing accounts to keep fueling the heat.

Clara Sterling saw the "dirt" video about her five days later.

She had just finished writing her thesis and sat down on the sofa to rest.

The housekeeper, Ms. Cheney, brought over a fruit platter.

Clara leaned on the sofa, eating watermelon while browsing short videos. Suddenly, she stumbled upon her own "scandal."

At first, she was very angry, but at the same time, she also felt very wronged.

The speed at which the rumors spread was too fast; now it wasn’t just Crestwood U students paying attention.

Many people outside the school were blindly following the trend and insulting her online.

Several marketing accounts were also releasing her "dirt."

Clara was so upset she couldn’t even eat her fruit.

She forced herself to calm down, downloading each video that slandered her to keep as evidence.

For those filthy and defamatory comments, she clicked open their profiles, taking screenshots as evidence.

The next day, Clara organized her evidence and prepared to commission a lawyer to press charges.

At noon, Zachary Lynch was eating in the cafeteria when he overheard a group of girls chatting at the next table.

Diana Dawson: "Have you come across the video about Clara Sterling? The one saying she’s married but looking for a sugar daddy?"

Jolyn Lowell: "I saw it last night. Clara Sterling’s dirt exploded on Crestwood U’s forum and X super topic. It seems Jonah Shaw was really wronged."

Sarah Cheney asked, "What video?"

Diana Dawson pulled out her phone, "I’ll share it with you."

Upon hearing keywords like "Clara Sterling," "Crestwood U forum," and "X super topic," Zachary Lynch discreetly took out his phone, opened X, and found the super topic of Crestwood U.

Seeing the screen full of posts cursing Clara Sterling, Zachary’s vision darkened. He quickly took screenshots to report to Silas Sheffield.