Chapter 639
The phone suddenly rang, cutting off their conversation Cornelia shot a glance at Ben, signaling that he could
scram, no need to keep hovering around her desk.
Once Ben took off, Cornelia picked up her phone. The caller was Zack. He knew Comelia usually didn’t carry her
personal phone during work hours, so he dialed her office
line
As soon as Cornelia picked up, she heard Zack’s voice. “Cornelia, the cops just called. After some serious legwork,
they finally tracked down the perps who trashed our studio”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtCornelia replied, “Awesome! Was it a solo job or a gang thing? Any puppet masters pulling the strings?”
Zack responded, “There’s definitely someone behind the scenes, but the cops can’t do jack without evidence.”
Without waiting for Cornelia’s follow–up, Zack continued, “Two young punks in their twenties did us over, fresh from
a stint in the slammer for a bar fight. At first, they were playing hardball, insisting they had some shady dealings
with you. They claimed you turned them down that day, and they only went rogue after getting hammered.”
Some total stranger threw innocent Cornelia under the bus. Zack was fuming when he heard this. He didn’t want to
bring it up with Cornelia, fearing it would hit her hard. But he thought, why should Cornelia bear the brunt of
someone else’s screw–up since she didn’t do anything wrong?
Zack said. “Cornelia, I’m not keeping this from you because I trust you. I want you to know, you can’t let people
frame you for things you didn’t do.”
Cornelia chuckled, ‘Don’t sweat it. Those who smear a girl with such dirty tricks will get their comeuppance Carry
on”
Zack said, “No matter how slick those two are, they couldn’t escape the eagle eyes of the cops and the hard facts.
The cops found not just one fishy money transfer, but a whole string of their misdeeds. With the evidence stacked
against them, they spilled the beans, including that Clair was the one who orchestrated the sabotage of our studio.
However, Clair is smart. The transfer wasn’t from her account, and she never personally contacted the two punks
Cornelia got the drift, “So, even though both the police and us know that Clair’s the puppet master, no one can
touch her without evidence.”
“That’s right” Zack sighed, “Those two blew the ten grand they got on gambling. They’re broke, can’t compensate
us. Our loss of a few tens of thousands might be gone for good, and we’ll have to cough up for studio renovations
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmourselves. It’s heart–wrenching.”
They were not made of money. Though the comic studio had been doing alright recently, all the earnings went
towards buying a house and paying the mortgage. They already splurged a good chunk on renovations. The comic
copyright sale hadn’t cleared yet, monthly payroll was due soon, and their bank accounts were pretty much
drained.
For the three of them, this loss was a hefty sum.
Cornelia felt the pressure too, so she had to make the person responsible pay up. “Zack, chill. I have a way to make
Clair cough up voluntarily.”
Zack asked, “What’s your plan? Leave the risky stuff to me, don’t go off half–cocked”