Chapter 1282

“What happened to playing fair?” mouthed Marshall.

Keegan pretended not to notice and avoided the subject, while Felicity managed to score two presents due to her brave intervention.

With the kindergarten issue grabbing headlines, Marshall was aware of the situation.

Stella was mildly concerned that he would be displeased at her for consulting another lawyer since he was the one who first helped her with the investigation. However, her worries were unfounded. This was proven when Marshall nodded affirmatively and said, “Ted is a great attorney. I’m sure he can help you deal with this matter well.”

He even offered some advice saying, “However, keep an eye on the account called @ShilohTalks. His posts might appear pro-public, but they often carry a provocative tone that fuels division among the people.”

“He’s practically a leech. Remember that viral incident about a girl wearing a Lolita costume taking her wheelchair-bound grandmother with her when she enrolled in university?” asked Vermont as he peeled an orange.

“Oh yeah, I remember that. Online trolls were having a field day, saying that no student from a respectable institution would dress like that. But then, she turned the tables by revealing an acceptance letter from a top-tier university. The trolls then shifted their focus to the fact that she brought her grandmother along, saying that she did it for sympathy. @ShilohTalks then posted an article in her defense. It was rather well-crafted,” said Felicity.

“I agree, but the incident might not have been as sensationalized as it was without his article. Once he made the post, keyboard warriors started to flood the comment section and made things worse. That poor girl was bombarded with hateful messages, driving her into severe depression and, ultimately, suicide. This outcome never made it to the trending news, but @ShilohTalks garnered quite a bit of followers from the whole thing,” Vermont sneered.

Stella frowned and said, “Now that you mention it, this tactic feels oddly familiar.”

“Sophia Jewell,” Keegan chimed in.

Felicity’s eyes widened. “No way. Do you guys actually think an airhead like Sophia could write something like that?” She asked since those articles did showcase some fantastic writing skills.

“How do you think she managed to get into Vinci Rivera in the first place?” Keegan elaborated.

Sophia’s speeches, masked with personal agendas, were often well-written, but Keegan did not appreciate her exploiting Vinci Rivera’s popularity to gain followers.

“But @ShilohTalks’s IP address shows that they’re in another country.”

Vermont fed Felicity an orange slice while saying, “IP addresses could be faked, my dear. Carter can literally set your location to anywhere in the world in just a second.”

“If it truly is Sophia behind the account,” Marshall paused and glanced at Stella before continuing, “There will be more to come.”

Later that afternoon, @ShilohTalks made a post on Facebook: [A person contacted me to delete my article. But why would you be afraid of what others are saying if you did nothing wrong? I won’t stop voicing my concerns until the Sunlight Kindergarten issue is resolved and kids can enter the school again. At the same time, her fans are already bashing me when I haven’t even revealed her identity yet. Come on, people. I’m currently coordinating with hospitals to relocate injured parents, not just sitting around and criticizing your idol. There’s no need to act all high and mighty.]

Accompanying the text were screenshots of her conversation with the person asking her to delete the post and a photo of the parent in the ICU.

The authoritative tone of the person commanding the removal of the post and the constant possibility of the injured parent’s condition worsening fueled people’s outrage. This caused netizens to speculate about who the influential figure might be.

Soon, Stella received a text from Ted, saying, [We didn’t send those screenshots. She hasn’t responded to me yet.]

[Release the land documents. I’m free to play along with her since I’m not shooting any shows right now.] Stella replied.