Chapter 639


    Chapter 639


    The phone suddenly rang, cutting off their conversation Cornelia shot a nce 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”


    Cornelia 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 mmer for a bar fight. At first, they were ying hardball, insisting they


    had some shady dealings with you. They imed 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?


    Text property ? N?vel(D)ra/ma.Org.


    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 ir was the one who


    orchestrated the sabotage of our studio. However, ir is smart. The transfer wasn’t from her ount,


    and she never personally contacted the two punks


    Cornelia got the drift, “So, even though both the police and us know that ir’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 ourselves. It’s heart–wrenching.”


    They were not made of money. Though theic 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. Theic copyright sale hadn’t cleared yet, monthly payroll was due soon, and their


    bank ounts 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 ir cough up voluntarily.”


    Zack asked, “What’s your n? Leave the risky stuff to me, don’t go off half–cocked”