"Hathaway is a private aristocratic academy. There are countless luxury cars, so every girl who steps out of one must automatically be someone being kept?" I lowered my voice and questioned her back.
Liona's face twisted with vicious hostility. "Rosy! You're just trying to argue your way out of this!"
I stared directly at her. My dark eyes narrowed, sharp with scrutiny. "Classmate Liona, why are you so absolutely certain I'm being kept? Is it because you know something?"
Hezze stepped forward to back me up. "Liona! Do you know the person who posted the thread, or are you the poster?"
Liona's expression shifted; her eyes flickered with uncertainty. But she still swore up and down, "Stop struggling. The entire school already knows you're being kept. Just wait until you get expelled!"
"Ha." I let out a cold laugh, didn't bother to look at her again, and dragged Hezze back to our seats.
Hezze frowned, fuming. "This Liona is obviously suspicious! Don't tell me she was the one who took those pictures?"
I didn't respond aloud, but my mind had already begun calculating.
Meanwhile, the school forum only grew more chaotic, the insults growing harsher.
Unable to stand it, Hezze immediately wrote a defense comment under the post:
[I'm Rosy's best friend. Rosy is extremely kind and polite. She's absolutely not the kind of person described in that post; she has never acted arrogant or rude toward anyone.]
The comment quickly shot to the top only for all kinds of keyboard warriors to rush in and attack her.
Hezze became so furious her face turned red, arguing nonstop with them.
I frowned. "Hezze, did you comment on the forum to defend me?"
Still typing furiously, she didn't even look up. "These people are insane! Every single one of them is insulting you. I can't stand it anymore!"
Her anger warmed my chest slightly. "Don't be mad. Really. They're just keyboard warriors, why bother getting angry? Just ignore them."
Hezze slammed her phone down. "But they're all insulting you!"
"Let them. It's not like I'm losing a piece of flesh." I shrugged, though deep inside I was indeed troubled.
At that moment, Hezze suddenly yelped. "Ah! Halley is defending you!"
I blinked in confusion. "What? Halley?"
She opened the defense comment and held the phone up to me.
I glanced at it, then instinctively looked toward Halley seated behind us.
He caught my eyes and smiled warmly, encouragingly.
My heart grew warm once more. I turned back to the phone and read his comment carefully:
Halley: [She's the little fairy who saved my life! She's a good person, don't smear her. If anyone keeps insulting her, I'll get angry!]
His tone wasn't aggressive, even gentle but it still carried pressure.
Especially that last line: I'll get angry.
If the second young master of the Richart family got angry, the heavens might as well fall.
The keyboard warriors wanted to continue, but they didn't dare provoke Halley.
After all, the Richart family's status was equal to the Andersons'.
If they really angered him, the consequences would be severe.
Within minutes, the entire comment section fell silent, no more insults.
Hezze stared at her screen in awe. "Wow… Halley is amazing. He shut them all up instantly."
I nodded, equally stunned.
He looked like a harmless puppy, yet his aura was terrifying when he wanted.
"If that's the case, doesn't this mean the drama is pretty much over now?" Hezze asked, a little hopeful.
I glanced at Liona. Her cheeks were twitching with frustration, eyes full of unwillingness—clearly still plotting something.
That only confirmed my suspicions.
"It won't end that easily," I murmured. "We need to find the original poster and make her publicly clarify things. Only then can this end completely."
Hezze's eyes lit up. "Should we hire a hacker to trace the IP address?"
"Ronan, come here for a moment." I stopped walking and waved Ronan over.
He hurried toward me in panic. "Sister-in-law! Weren't you supposed to be at Hezze's house? How did you get back?"
I stared at him like he was an idiot. "What kind of question is that? I took the bus."
Ronan's jaw dropped.
She, Sister-in-law, took the bus?
If something happened on that chaotic metal can full of strangers…
He didn't even dare imagine it.
"Sister-in-law, you should've called me to pick you up!" he said, nearly trembling.
I waved him off. "That's too troublesome. The bus is fast enough. Anyway, Ronan, can you trace an IP address?"
His expression turned smug. "Of course. I'm a computer expert."
My eyes brightened. The gloom on my face vanished completely.
"Great. Trace the IP of this account fast. I want the results immediately."
I handed him the clone account's info.
Ronan took one look, then grabbed his laptop and dashed off to investigate.
It didn't take long. The poster hadn't even bothered masking anything, they'd simply used another account.
To Ronan, this was an insult to his intelligence.
He returned with a stack of printed documents.
I sat on the sofa, arms crossed, expression dark.
He squinted, wondering if this IP result might upset me.
After all, I was the woman of the Anderson household, who dared bully me?
"Sister-in-law, I found something interesting. Want to see?" he asked, grinning.
My eyes lit up. "What is it?"
He spread the documents out on the table.
I scanned them but couldn't make sense of the technical details. "Can you explain?"
Ronan pointed at the sheets, patient.
"The IP traces back to the Robbery household. Funny enough, they came begging for forgiveness not long ago. And that Liona girl, ugly on the inside and still shamelessly trying to cling to the boss. Truly thick-skinned."
He was rambling, but I listened quietly.
Everything important became clear:
The poster was indeed Liona. I hadn't wronged her at all.
I hugged a pillow, my expression turning serious.
So Liona took those photos to get revenge because I didn't plead for her family last time.
But why did she expect me to speak up for them anyway?
We weren't even close.
I tapped my fingers on the coffee table, thinking how to deal with her.
Ronan looked over and saw my thoughtful expression, as if I were deciding how best to punish someone and he shivered.