Chapter 355
Jarred cast a glance at Declan.
Understanding the assignment, Declan immediately stepped out to make the call.
Within half an hour, the bodyguard arrived with the device.
Jarred took the phone, reviewing its contents piece by piece alongside his lawyer.
The digital trail was flawless, corroborating every word of Celeste’s story.
The harsh edge in Jarred’s eyes softened a fraction. He snapped his laptop shut and turned to the attorney. “Compile this evidence and submit it immediately p>
The lawyer took the hard drive with a nod. “Understood p>
Jarred looked out the window. Night had fully descended.
The Capital’s sky was devoid of stars, glowing instead with sprawling grids of city lights, like a second galaxy fallen to earth.
Something felt off.
It had all gone far too smoothly.
From acquiring the evidence to prepping the submission, every single step had fallen into place effortlessly.
But knowing Sienna, she wouldn’t just sit back and let Celeste walk free.
Unless p>
The hostile aura surrounding him vanished, replaced by the eerie calm before a catastrophic storm.
He wasn’t angry or anxious, and he wasn’t in a hurry to expose the lie.
First thing the next morning, the lawyer submitted the compiled evidence to the police department.
Everything seemed to be tipping in Celeste’s favor.
Until 10:00 a.m.
Declan practically burst through the door, his face completely bloodless. He had his phone pressed to his ear, his voice trembling.
“Boss… we have a problem p>
Jarred looked up, his dark eyes locked onto Declan.
Declan handed over his phone. The screen displayed a live trending news feed.
The entire internet had erupted.
#CapitalHospitalDrCarlyleFramesOfficial#
#CelesteCarlyleAttemptedMurderFramingProof#
#CaptainSterlingAbusesPowerToBailOutSuspect#
It was an absolute media bloodbath. The entire city was in an uproar.
Jarred’s pupils constricted violently as he rapidly swiped through the screen.
The sheer volume of articles and threads was overwhelming. Every headline was explosive every paragraph meticulously crafted to invoke outrage.
The court of public opinion had firmly decided that Jarred had leveraged his elite family background to abuse his authority blatantly shielding a criminal and trampling on the justice system.
Old rumors about their past romantic entanglement were dug up and paraded around.
Under every article, comments were pouring in at a rate of thousands per minute.
[This is blatant corruption! All the evidence is right there, and she still got out on bail p>
[Just because he’s a Captain means he can do whatever he wants? Nepo babies are something else p>
[I feel awful for the victim. An honest official almost got her life destroyed by this psycho p>
[I heard Jarred Sterling is married! Oh my god, why would anyone stay with a husband like that? Divorce him immediately p>
Jarred’s knuckles turned stark white, the phone screen groaning under his crushing grip.
Since the news broke, Declan had been coordinating his PR team to scrub comments and manipulate the narrative.
But no matter how much manpower they threw at the problem, the opposing side républished the scrubbed articles even faster.
The fire was only growing hotter.
Out of his depth, Declan stood frozen, terrified to even breathe too loudly.
He knew damn well this wasn’t an organic public outrage.
Someone was pulling the strings behind the scenes, orchestrating a highly coordinated cyber campaign.
“Boss Declan started cautiously. “We traced the initial source of the leaks p>
We can’t identify the publisher. They’re using offshore servers and routing through a dozen different IP addresses p>
Jarred didn’t say a word.
Of course they couldn’t trace it. The person behind this was far too smart to leave a digital footprint.
A shrill ringtone shattered the suffocating tension in the room.
Jarred’s thumb froze on the screen.
Seeing the caller ID, his eyes instantly darkened.