Chapter 206
Octavia didn’t waste a second before asking, “Was it Molly who spread those rumors online p>
“Could this all be a misunderstanding? Molly’s Cindy’s deskmate, and honestly, she seems like a good kid.” Octavia looked at the officers, her voice softer now, almost pleading. “She’s just really worried about Cindy. If she did mess up, Officer, maybe… could you just talk to her? She’s still young after all p>
The officer eyed her, not buying it. “Octavia, your adopted daughter Claire already filed a report. That means she wants to see this through. It’s not just a matter of giving Molly a slap on the wrist and letting her go. And we can’t just take your side because you say so. After all, Molly pointed the finger at you p>
Octavia’s brows knitted together. “Maybe it’s a misunderstanding, or maybe the girls just don’t get along. Officer, you can’t just take my word for it, but you shouldn’t automatically trust Molly either, right p>
She was sure as long as the police didn’t have real evidence, there was no way Molly could pin this on her. What Octavia never expected was that someone even more clueless than Molly would show up.
That person was her own daughter, Cindy.
When Cindy saw the rumors online about Claire cheating, she actually jumped in and posted one nasty comment after another, bashing Claire in public. Claire found every single one of them. She couldn’t believe Cindy was dumb enough to use her real account, leaving a trail that was impossible to miss.
Stuff like, “I knew Claire couldn’t have gotten into that winter camp on her own. She must have cheated,” and, “She’s nothing but a thief. First she stole someone’s identity, now she’s stealing their life,” and, “I hope the Math Competition Committee disqualifies Claire. She doesn’t deserve to represent us p>
It turned out Cindy was the one who started calling Claire a thief in the first place.
Claire had just wanted to see if she could catch Octavia leaving any digital evidence behind. She never thought she’d dig up Cindy, the little internet troll hiding behind her keyboard, before even getting to Octavia.
Fletcher had gone with Claire to the police station, and he was just as surprised. Following the clues online had led them straight to the so called real daughter, the one Claire had been switched with at birth. The more they read, the more obvious it was-Cindy really hated Claire. It was hard to believe the James family had nothing to do with all this mess online.
So what was Octavia’s role? Was she a loving mother, or just a cold, spiteful adoptive parent?
The Apex police told Claire that Octavia denied everything, claimed she never used Molly to stir things up online. Claire just blinked and said, “Oget it. My adoptive monis only trying to protect her daughter How about showing her all those posts from her home’s IPaddress p>
The police passed her words along. Octavia’s face turned pale, and she wobbled as
if she was about to pass out. An officer jumped up to steady her.
“Octavia? Are you okay p>
Octavia pressed her fingers to her temple. “I… I’m not feeling well. Can someone take me to the hospital p>
And with that, her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed. Whether she really fainted or just pretended, nobody could tell.
Either way, the case wasn’t over. Octavia wasn’t being arrested for now, but the police warned her not to leave Apex. One of the female officers told her all this after Octavia finally came to.
Since Octavia fainted, the police had to call her family. Latham was too busy to show up, and Lance was nowhere to be found. When Octavia finally woke up, the only one at her bedside was Cindy.