Benne sighed as he watched her, “You should know that I won’t be able to concentrate on the meeting or anything else until this is sorted out. Okay, tell me how you intend to take care of things,” he added when she opened her mouth to argue.
“I’m going to find whoever started this and sue the person for libel. And whoever dares to call me a murderer to my hearing will be sued for slander. They would have to prove why they think that I’m guilty after I was declared not guilty by the court of law,” Celsie said with a shrug.
“If it makes you feel better, I will take care of work after we are done talking. Push the meeting backward and let’s talk about this now,” Benne said and walked into his office without waiting for her to argue.
He needed to give Harry a call and find out why the news was yet to be taken off the internet as he instructed, and he also needed to hear Jade’s legal advice on the issue before taking any step.
He dialed Harry’s line first and paced around his office until the call connected.
“I was just about to call you,” Harry said immediately after he received the call.
“Why haven’t you done what I asked you to do?” Benne asked Harry calmly since he knew that Harry probably had a good reason.
“Your sister…”
“I asked him not to,” Jade said from the background, and then reached out a hand for Harry to hand her the phone.
After making the appropriate calls to the offices of those who were supposed to meet with Benne that morning, to inform them that the meeting had been pushed backward, Celsie decided to return both her parents’ and Lucas’ call first before joining Benne. She needed to assure them that she was alright.
She dialed his line, and almost immediately the call connected as if he had been waiting beside his phone for her call, “I suppose you’ve seen the news circulating on the internet?” He asked in a worried tone, and then glanced at his phone when it beeped to inform him of another call. It was Rachel. He knew that she was very upset seeing how he had run off, leaving her behind at the shop where they had gone to pick out their wedding ring after seeing the news of his sister online.
“No, I haven’t seen it yet. But I’ve heard people talking,” Celsie informed him calmly.
Hearing how calm she sounded, his brows pulled together, “Are you okay?” He asked since even though he wanted her to be okay, he wasn’t expecting her to be okay. No one would be okay about having stuff like that about them circulating the internet.
“Sure. I’m okay,” Celsie assured him.
“Okay? How can you say you are okay when we are not okay? You don’t have to pretend to be fine, Celsie!” Lucas said in frustration, making Celsie’s eyes sting with tears, “You can cry if you want to. Just don’t pretend to be okay,” Lucas pleaded.
“Really, I’m okay. Don’t let it bother you…”
“For godsake, Celsie! I’m your twin brother and not a stranger! You can’t ask me not to be bothered by this,” Lucas snapped at her as he tried to focus on the road ahead of him, and then as if remembering that she was probably also feeling very terrible about it and there was no need to get angry with her, he took in a deep breath.
“I’m coming down to see you,” Lucas said in a tone that brooked no argument.
“Please don’t!” Celsie pleaded. The last thing she wanted was for her family to come over. She loved them, but she needed space to figure this out and deal with it herself.
“If I was the one in your situation would you let me handle this alone? It’s bad enough that I’ve had to leave with the guilt of not noticing what you were passing through eight years ago until that bastard abducted you, and now you say I should stand by and watch you go through this alone too? Not a chance in hell,” Lucas said as he stepped on the pedal.
Celsie took in a deep breath, “You’re getting married. Rachel isn’t going to want you to…”
“Screw whatever it is you think she doesn’t want! We are one, Celsie. I need to be there for you. Just so you know, I’m on my way home. Mom and dad are coming over to stay with you, and I’m coming with them. We will all figure out what is going on and deal with it together as a family.”
“No! Don’t let them do that. And you shouldn’t either, you have your job to…”
“I already asked for some time off,” Lucas cut in dismissively.
“There is no need for all of this…”
“No need for what? Maybe you need to go on Twitter and see how people who know nothing about us are bashing our family! Dad was accused of using his influence to make the case go in your favor! Not just you, but our family was accused of murdering Jamie and his parents! Do you think this is just about you? You have no right to ask us not to get involved!” Lucas yelled at her, and then hung up so that he wouldn’t say something he was going to regret.
Celsie dropped her hands to her side once he hung up the call, and she took in a deep breath as she turned on her phone’s data connection. She logged into her Twitter account, and she noticed that her name was on the list of trending hashtags.
Her breath hitched when she clicked on the first post and saw the words in a bold caption, ‘HOW CELESTIA MILLER, PERSONAL ASSISTANT TO THE CEO OF OMNIGLOBAL, MURDERED AN ENTIRE FAMILY IN COLD BLOOD!’
**************
“I’m handing her the phone. She will explain to you, and then when you’re both done we need to talk,” Harry said as he gave the phone to Jade.
“If the post is taken off the internet now after so many people have seen it, things would become even more complicated for Celsie and her family. Netizens would accuse them of trying to cover their atrocity,” Jade pointed out.
“So what are you suggesting? We have to leave it and let more people see it?” Benne asked in frustration.
“Unfortunately, yes. Taking it down doesn’t mean it will stay down. You have no idea how many people must have seen the news and even copied and shared it with others. Taking down the major source doesn’t mean it will curb the spread of the news,” Jade explained.
“So what do you suggest we do?” Benne asked impatiently.
“Before I say anything, I just have to know, are you sure she is innocent of this? Have you asked her about it?” Jade asked cautiously.
“Do you think I would try to do this if I didn’t know most of the details before now?” Benne asked impatiently.
“I guess not,” Jade murmured.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.