Escape from Mr. Whitman (Emma and Theodore) novel Chapter 549

What kind of twisted logic was this? The audacity of the claim was staggering.

Suddenly, a torrent of rumors flooded the internet. The most prevalent one painted a damning picture: *Forest Lullaby* had been a joint project between Sebastian and Isla. Emma, a manipulative backstabber, had used her leg injury as a pretext to get close to Sebastian. He, taking pity on a former classmate, had helped her find a doctor and even accompanied her to rehab. But Emma’s true intention was to seduce him. When he rebuffed her advances, she stole their unfinished ballet, *Forest Lullaby*, and passed it off as her own.

To add fuel to the fire, several people who claimed to be former classmates from their university in the UK began posting old photos of Sebastian rehearsing *Forest Lullaby*. This was presented as irrefutable proof that the dance belonged to him.

The fact that Sebastian hadn't starred in any of the official performances only seemed to corroborate the story, convincing even casual observers.

Overnight, Emma was branded a homewrecker who had tried to steal another woman’s boyfriend and a thief who had stolen her work. The online abuse was relentless and vile. A significant portion of it was driven by an army of trolls funded by Isla's wealth, and as the campaign intensified, the lie began to feel like the truth, with uninformed people blindly joining the mob.

First, Emma’s personal social media accounts were swarmed. Then came the dance troupe’s official pages, followed by the individual accounts of her dancers. It was like a plague of locusts, burying everything in a tide of filth.

Several of the dancers called Emma, crying, unable to handle the vitriol. Cindra tried to fight back, arguing with the trolls, but one person was no match for thousands. Overwhelmed, she finally gave up and disabled her comments.

In their group chat, everyone was asking Emma what to do. The male dancers were furious, with some of the more hot-headed ones threatening to go crash Isla’s show.

Emma calmed everyone down. She urged them to ignore the comments, to log off, and to focus on enjoying the holiday with their friends and family in the real world.

The news inevitably reached her brother. Larson immediately called, demanding to know who this Isla person was and when she had appeared. Emma, knowing how worried he was, briefly explained their history but insisted, “Larson, I’m going to handle this myself. It’s not as big a deal as it looks.”

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