After Divorce I Married a Tycoon-Chapter 74: The Sinclair Family Sues Claire Mercer for Slander and Libel
Roxanne Peyton and Stella Thorne finally breathed a sigh of relief when they heard what Claire said.
"You should’ve said so sooner! You had me and Stella so stressed I thought I was going to break out in hives."
"But why didn’t the Sinclair and Mercer families just get the trending topic taken down?" Stella asked.
"Right," Claire realized. "In a situation like this, wouldn’t it be easier to just remove the trending topic?"
"So why aren’t they taking it down? Why are they just letting all this negative press run wild online?"
’It’s... just so weird.’
Adrian Sutton walked in with takeout containers and saw Claire tilting her head, deep in thought.
"What are you thinking about?" 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚
He asked as he opened the containers.
Claire tilted her head and asked him, looking puzzled.
"Why do you think the Sinclair and Mercer families aren’t taking down the trending topic?"
"Instead, they went and hired online trolls to muddy the waters and make the whole thing an even bigger deal."
Adrian Sutton thought to himself.
’It’s not that they don’t want to take it down; it’s that they can’t.’
’I specifically called the platform’s founder about this.’
’Who would dare take it down before it’s been up for two or three days?’
In the end, he didn’t say any of that, only offering:
"Maybe it’s too expensive to get a trending topic removed."
"Huh..." Roxanne was a bit confused.
"The Sinclairs don’t seem like they’re short on cash for something like that, do they?"
"Maybe they’re not taking it down on purpose because they want to drag Claire down with them?"
"That’s possible, too. But it’s fine. Our Claire has evidence, so she has nothing to be afraid of."
So, for the time being, Claire Mercer held back from dropping more evidence to hammer the Sinclairs.
She let some of the negative opinions about her fester online.
Of course, some of the online onlookers were firmly on her side, speaking up for her.
But the Sinclairs’ paid trolls kept muddying the waters, misleading some of the uninformed onlookers.
Now that their hired trolls were proving so effective—nearly reversing the tide of public opinion against them—the Sinclairs finally breathed a small sigh of relief.
Although the fake marriage certificate and Gavin Sinclair’s affair had earned Claire Mercer the public’s sympathy, this left Mrs. Sinclair feeling extremely displeased.
But her bribing the driver with the intent to deliberately sully a woman’s reputation...
That was an illegal act.
Compared to being condemned for a moral failing, the Sinclair family would rather be condemned for a while than get entangled in an actual lawsuit over something illegal.
Hadn’t that Mercer couple been dragged to the police station by Claire Mercer?
The video of them being taken away by the police was still online. It was utterly humiliating.
But even though they had public opinion under control for now, Mrs. Sinclair’s heart was still pounding with anxiety.
"For that little bitch to expose all of this so brazenly... she couldn’t possibly have evidence, could she?"
Rose Gable scoffed. "If she had any evidence, she would have shown it long ago."
"Why would she let all those clueless idiots keep attacking her?"
Mrs. Sinclair thought about it and felt that Rose Gable had a point.
"That’s true. Right now, it’s all just talk. She can’t produce any real evidence."
"Since she can’t produce any evidence, can’t we sue her for slander and defamation?" Cynthia asked.
"That’s not a bad idea." Mrs. Sinclair immediately said to her son.
"Felix, have the corporate legal department sue her for defamation and slander immediately."
"As long as she can’t produce any evidence, it will be confirmed that she’s slandering and defaming us."
"That way, all these statements against our family will collapse on their own."
"And then, the Sinclair family will be the victims of her slander."
At the mere mention of suing Claire Mercer, Cynthia Sinclair became incredibly excited.
"Yes, let’s sue her! It would be best if we could send her to prison!"
Just then, Gavin Sinclair wheeled himself into the room.
He looked much more haggard, with stubble on his face and a complete lack of energy.
"Grandma, can you all just give it a rest?"
Mrs. Sinclair stared at Gavin in disbelief. "Gavin, what is the meaning of this?"
Gavin Sinclair had done a lot of thinking last night.
’Ever since he found out his mother had just used a fake marriage certificate to deceive Claire Mercer... he couldn’t find the words to describe how he felt.’
’He had seen all the genuine affection and sincerity she once had for him.’
’Every day, she’d massaged his legs without complaint and went out of her way to prepare all sorts of medicinal foods for him...’
’Every day, she would encourage him, firmly believing his legs would one day make a full recovery.’
’She would smile and tell him that he would stand again, that he would walk toward a brilliant future...’
’But what about him?’
’What had he done to her?’
’And what had his family done to her?’
’Although he also hated Claire for abandoning him so cruelly, it was their own outrageous actions that had broken her heart.’
’Her adoptive parents had already treated her poorly, only for her to come to the Sinclair family and be deceived and hurt all the same...’
’In that moment, Gavin Sinclair felt like a complete bastard.’
He sighed and said, "We were the ones who wronged her. Can’t we just let her go?"
The moment he said this, Rose Gable asked him in a shrill voice,
"We let her go? Has she let us go?"
"If we hadn’t spent a fortune hiring trolls, who knows how badly the Sinclair family would be getting dragged through the mud right now."
"Don’t you know the company’s stock has already dropped because of what happened today?"
"Don’t you know the shareholders have already started to condemn your father over this?"
"Claire Mercer caused all of this! Why should we let her go? On what grounds should we let her go?"
Gavin Sinclair yelled at her, "Mom, isn’t this all your fault?"
"Why did you have to go and deceive her with a fake marriage certificate in the first place?"
"I did it for the Sinclair family’s benefit!" Rose Gable retorted, righteously indignant.
"She’s just the adopted daughter of a bankrupt family. What gives her the right to covet our Sinclair family’s fortune?"
"Have you lost your mind? Siding with an outsider to criticize me?"
"Who do you think I did all this for?"
"If I hadn’t deceived her with a fake marriage certificate, you would have had to split your income from the past two years with her."
"No, wait—you cheated during the marriage. She could have used that to take a huge portion of your assets."
"Why should your money be given to that woman? Does she deserve it?"
Gavin Sinclair roared back. "Mom, do you have a conscience? She took care of me for two whole years..."
"You’re the one with no conscience," Rose Gable shot back, flustered and exasperated.
"You knew she took care of you for two whole years, so why did you still deceive her? Why did you still cheat on her?"
"You’re calling me heartless now, but have you taken a good look at yourself?"
"I did all of this for you, and now you have the nerve to turn around and say I’m heartless..."
At this, Rose Gable’s eyes turned red with fury.
"Gavin, you injured your legs. How did your brain get damaged too?"
"What kind of potion did that little bitch Claire Mercer give you to make you talk back to your own mother and defy me for her sake?"
