The Kiss that Sparked it All (Ellinor and Theo) novel Chapter 2812

"Look, I didn't even take this photo, you've got the wrong idea about me," he tried to explain, his voice tinged with frustration.

"It was just some passerby who snapped it and then sent it my way. That doesn't mean I'm infringing Mr. Harris's right to privacy, does it?

And come on, Mr. Harris is a looker – why keep that under wraps? The whole online world is shouting for more snaps of the guy.

After raking in the big bucks here in the States, surely Mr. Harris can throw a bone to us regular Joes, right?"

If Emrys wasn't smack in the middle of a serious case, he'd have scoffed at the audacity. The guy across from him was stubborn as a mule, even with his back against the wall.

"So, what you're saying is you refuse to take down the photo?" he pressed, barely containing his irritation.

Waller was dancing around the issue. "It's not that I won't take it down, it's just that, right now, I can't. Making a living isn't a cakewalk, you know? If I take down that photo, it's like I worked for nothing. You get me?

You're one of Nolan’s hotshot lawyers, aren't you? You get paid the big bucks, and hey, I'm just trying to do my job here."

Emrys was not moved by Waller's sob story. If the guy wouldn't play ball, they'd have to settle it in court.

Besides, they had given Waller fair warning – a courtesy before they'd play hardball. They had more than enough tricks up their sleeves to scrub that photo from the internet for good.

Waller hung up with a smug grin, still basking in the glow of his 'masterpiece.' But the next second, his whole world went dark – his homepage, his posts, all of it, gone without a trace.

"What the heck – did my internet crash? What's going on? How could this happen?"

Mark my words, anyone who tries posting his pic is gonna get the blackout treatment. If you want to keep your account intact, best not to poke the bear.]

Some didn't buy into the warnings, with a few trying their luck by posting Nolan and Dahlia's photos they had saved.

But it didn't matter who it was – as soon as they uploaded those images, their pages were flagged and wiped clean as if they'd never existed.

[Didn't I tell you not to mess around? You're seriously underestimating Mr. Harris's patience. You're infringing on the guy's privacy and rights. Be thankful if all you get is a wiped account – this kind of thing can bring a lawsuit down on you so fast, and trust me, Mr. Harris isn’t one of you penny-pinchers. He's got the time and resources to drag you to court.]

Now it wasn't just the anonymous internet users who were scared – even Waller was shaking in his boots, fumbling to redial Emrys' number.