Phoenix Rising: From Heartache to Heroism novel Chapter 569

No one knew how these two seemingly unrelated people had met.

With Shirley's involvement, the investigation moved along much more smoothly.

It didn't take long for the cyber police to track down the person who had deleted their account and gone into hiding.

When they found him, he was in an internet café, slurping instant noodles while browsing the web—a complete mess.

"According to the investigation, this guy named Horace Middleton is an unemployed drifter. After graduating from high school, he worked at an electronics factory for about six months, but he kept showing up late and leaving early, so they fired him. After that, he started living off his parents, doing nothing all day. His favorite thing was gaming at internet cafés. He even tried to become a gaming streamer, but when he couldn't afford the equipment, he resorted to stealing to get it. He got caught and spent a few days in jail, so now he has a criminal record."

Shirley's assistant, Alexis Swanson, read the report from the police station out loud to her.

Shirley remained calm, flipping through the documents in her hand.

Polly, sitting next to her, asked anxiously, "Did he say who paid him to smear me online?"

Shirley nodded. "Yes. He said someone contacted him online and offered him 500 bucks to post those things. So he used his Facebook account to do it. But when things blew up, he panicked and deleted his account."

Hearing this, Polly was stunned.

She was being dragged through the mud online, with everyone labeling her a "thief," and it was all for just 500 bucks?

She leaned back in her chair, feeling utterly defeated.

An employee at the law firm analyzed the situation.

"Horace just copied and pasted what the person told him to say. He doesn't even know who the other person is."

Shirley asked, "Did we track the account that made the payment?"

The employee searched through the papers on the desk. "Yes, it was a woman named Celeste Wren."

Polly's assistant, Margot, who had been sitting quietly the whole time, suddenly spoke up when she heard the name. "Celeste Wren? Isn't that Zelena's assistant?"

Shirley's eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you sure?"

Polly nodded. "I think so, too. Zelena's assistant's name is Celeste Wren, but we don't know for sure if it's the same person."

The flame of suspicion was now flickering at Zelena's doorstep.

Meanwhile, Zelena was in the middle of a magazine cover shoot.

Whether it was because of Polly's influence or not, Zelena's photoshoot wasn't going well. They shot for hours, but only a few photos were usable, with a ton of outtakes.

After hanging up, Celeste was shaking, terrified out of her mind.

"What do I do, Ms. Blake? The police have really found me!"

Zelena was caught off guard. "What?"

Just then, the makeup artist walked in. "Ms. Blake, I'm here to help you remove your makeup."

Zelena's expression shifted slightly. She stood up and pulled Celeste aside. "Don't panic. What happened?"

The makeup artist looked at them curiously.

Celeste whispered the details of the call to Zelena.

Zelena silently cursed. She hadn't expected Polly's lawyer to be this good—finding Celeste so quickly.

It seemed this lawyer really knew their stuff.

In a low voice, Zelena said, "Let me finish removing my makeup, and then I'll go back to the company with you. Don't panic. Even if it comes to the police station, just say you don't know anything. You can even claim your bank card was hacked. Don't worry, I'll get you the best lawyer to defend you."