Heather snapped back to reality, her gaze suddenly sharp as she looked at Michelle. "When you spilled the gossip online, you made sure you covered your tracks, right?"


    Michelle shook her head, her voice steady. "Absolutely. I posted with a burner ount and bailed right after. Plus, it wasn''t even me who set it up; my assistant handled that."


    Reassured, Heather''s tense posture rxed a bit.


    "What''s up, cuz? Why the sudden third degree?" Michelle''s confidence wavered under Heather''s questioning.


    After a moment''s hesitation, Heather decided to share the unnerving news about Zach that her agent had mentioned.


    Listening, Michelle''s face drained of color. "Is thiswyer really that big of a deal?"


    "Maybe," Heather admitted, just as uncertain. Her expertise didn''t extend to legal battles, but the worry in her agent''s voice was enough to suggest this was a serious issue.


    Taking a deep breath, Heather saw the panic in Michelle''s eyes and gently patted her shoulder. "Don''t sweat it. It was just a burner ount; they shouldn''t be able to trace it back to you."


    Michelle looked at her cousin for a long moment before murmuring in a voice that tried to be reassuring.


    But then, her phone rang.


    Michelle nced at the caller ID and saw it was her assistant, L, calling. She quickly answered.


    "What? You said those burner ounts were clean, untraceable!" Michelle''s voice was sharp,ced with anxiety.


    Heather, who had been scrolling through her messages, looked up at her cousin''s words. After the call ended, she asked with furrowed brows, "They tracked the burner ount?"


    Michelle didn''t respond. Instead, her trembling hands unlocked her phone and pulled up Twitter.


    Twitter''s trending topics had shifted dramatically.


    The top story was a rification post from Johnny, in the name of Owen:


    "rifying the unsubstantiated rumors about Juztin''s sister."


    The second was "Actress Michelle and a certain news outlet called out by a prominent leader."


    The third was "Actress Michelle and a certain news outlet to face legal action from a renowned attorney."


    Michelle''s mind spun as she read the second and third tweets. She felt the world copse around her.


    One was a direct criticism from the city''s head honcho.


    The other, a razor-sharp message from a well-known attorney,plete with a preview of the legal notice, indicating that it would soon be on its way to her agency.


    In just a few minutes, her world had turned upside down.


    It was supposed to be an anonymous post, yet somehow they had tracked it back


    to her through her assistant''s IP address.


    All she had done was leak some personal info-nothing more.


    By now, Heather had skimmed over the hot topics on Twitter, feeling an unprecedented headache brewing, especially after seeing the post with the attached legal notice.


    Snapping out of it, Michelle grabbed Heather''s arm in desperation. "Cuz, what do I do now?"


    Pressing her temples, Heather exhaled sharply. "I don''t know. Don''t ask me; you''re the one who caused this mess."


    This was no longer a simple celebrity scandal. It was entangled with political figures far above their pay grade.


    Near tears, Michelle pleaded, "But you can''t just bail on me, Heather! You were all for it when I made the post..."


    Heather drew a long breath, pulling her arm away and cutting her off sharply. "That was because you swore up and down that country bumpkin had some shady business with Owen! And what was the result? They''re not even involved..."


    Shaking her head and chuckling bitterly, Heather couldn''t hide her disdain. "I can''t believe you''d buy into hearsay so easily, specting about just anybody."


    Michelle''s already pale face turned ghostly white.