Chapter 231 Selling Misery Online

Chapter 231 Selling Misery Online

"We'll pay! We'll pay for everything!" the woman said quickly. "Whatever it costs, we'll pay!"

The police took statements and had both parties sign them, then gave the woman a stern talking-to.

The woman wrote a written pledge promising never to do it again, and transferred 3,000 US dollars on the spot as an initial payment.

The ambulance arrived, and Susan and Sean carried Liam onto it.

At the hospital.

The doctor cleaned Liam's wound. He had a gash on the back of his head that needed stitches.

Liam lay face down on the hospital bed while Susan held his little hand.

Sean stood beside them. The whole family looked shaken.

"Little guy, I'm going to give you some numbing medicine," the doctor said gently. "It'll sting a little. Can you be brave for me?"

Liam nodded. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he bit down and didn't let them fall.

Susan watched the needle go into her son's scalp and her own tears fell first.

Four stitches in total. Liam didn't make a single sound through the whole thing. He just gripped Susan's fingers tight, his little face flushed red from holding it all in.

When the doctor finished bandaging the wound and put on the gauze, Liam finally let go and asked quietly, "Mom, am I ugly now?"

Susan laughed through her tears and touched his little face. "Not at all. Liam is the most handsome. Once your hair grows back, you won't even see it."

Sean crouched down and touched Liam's face, his voice rough. "I'm sorry. Dad didn't protect you."

Liam shook his head. "It's not your fault, Dad. That person was just really mean."

Just then, Susan's phone buzzed a few times.

She took it out and saw a message from a coworker at her studio, with a link attached.

[Ms. Johnson! Look at this! Someone's live streaming and saying you're an evil woman who beats children! So many people are going after you!]

Susan tapped the link. It was a live streaming platform.

On screen.

The woman was live streaming.

Her son sat beside her, his face covered in bruises, looking like he'd taken a serious beating.

"Everyone, look at my son's face. Someone did this to him!" The woman sobbed into the camera, tears and snot streaming down her face. "Today we went to the amusement park, and just because my son accidentally bumped into her son, she beat him like this! Then she called the police, and the police made us pay her money! Where's the justice in that?"

The comments flew by in a blur.

[This woman picks on a child. She's disgusting! Is she even human?]

[Doxx her! Expose her!]

[Protect the children! Punish this evil woman!]

[Streamer, expose who she is!]

Susan's expression hardened. She immediately contacted the amusement park, got the security footage, and saved it to her phone.

She decided to wait. Let the outrage build to a fever pitch, then strike once and finish it.

The woman had over a hundred thousand followers, and her live stream had a big audience. The story spread fast.

Within an hour, Susan's phone was blowing up.

Unknown numbers kept calling one after another. Every call she picked up was someone screaming at her.

"Are you the woman who hit that kid? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"You piece of trash! Don't let me find you!"

"You dare mess with a child, I'll make sure you regret it!"

Susan hung up one call after another until she finally just turned her phone off.

She opened her social media. The comments section was a complete disaster.

Under her most recent post, it was nothing but insults. Every horrible thing you could think of. Someone had even posted her studio's address and phone number.

She wasn't ready to let the woman off the hook yet, but she wasn't going to let it slide either. She called the police again.

The police arrived at the hospital quickly.

It was the same two officers from before. After watching a recording of the live stream and the abusive comments flooding Susan's social media, both of them looked grim.

"Ms. Johnson, we'll contact the platform to have the false content removed and issue a warning to that woman," the older officer said. "But right now, she's just playing the victim online and steering public opinion. She hasn't caused you any direct, concrete harm, so it's hard for us to take stronger action against her."

"So that's it?" Sean's voice was ice cold.

"Legally, it's hard to make a case," the officer said with a sigh. "Unless you can show that her statements directly caused you real, tangible harm, all we can do is warn her and try to mediate."

Susan clenched her fist, her nails digging into her palm.

Meanwhile.

The woman was at home, sobbing her heart out in front of her phone camera.

"Everyone, the police came to see me today," Karen said, wiping her tears, her voice breaking. "That woman has connections. The police didn't do anything to her. Instead they warned me and told me to delete my videos. They said if I don't, they'll detain me."

As she spoke, she pulled her son closer.

The boy's face still had makeup on it. His eyes were red and he looked pitiful.

The comments exploded.

[What? The one who did the hitting walks free, and the victim gets a warning?]

[Cole's mom, don't be scared! We've got your back!]

[Who is this woman? How does she have that kind of pull?]

Karen watched the comments roll in, feeling smug inside, but she pushed out an even more wounded expression. "I don't know who she is. All I know is the police took her side and came after me."

"I'm a single mom raising my kid on my own. It's not easy. I get hurt and then I get warned by the police on top of it. I just feel so wronged..."

She broke down crying again, her whole body trembling.

"Everyone, please help me," Karen said, pressing her hands together toward the camera. "I'm just a regular mom. I have no connections, no one to back me up. I can't fight someone like her. Can you help me get justice?"

The comments went into a frenzy.

[Cole's mom, just wait! I'll get back at her for you!]

[I know where her studio is. I'm nearby. I'll go find her!]

[Count me in! You don't let someone like that get away with bullying kids!]

[Let's all show up at her studio and block her in! See how tough she acts then!]

Karen watched the outrage pour in, and the corner of her mouth twitched up for just a second before she pulled her wounded look back on. "Thank you, everyone. I really mean it. You're all I have right now..."

She created a fan group and pulled in the most fired-up followers, then sent a voice message to the group.

"Everyone, I'm so scared. If she could get the police to warn me today, who knows what she might do to me tomorrow. I don't know what to do. I feel so helpless..."

The group lit up immediately.

[Cole's mom, don't worry! I'm going to her studio tomorrow. She needs to learn what happens when you mess with people!]

[I'm coming too! Bringing some friends!]

[There's so many of us. What's she going to do?]

Karen sent a crying emoji, then a voice message: "Thank you all so much. But please be careful. She has people behind her. I don't want you getting into trouble because of me."

[Don't worry! We've got nothing to lose! What's she going to do, arrest all of us?]

[Exactly! No matter how connected she is, she can't take us all on!]

Karen put down her phone and leaned back on the couch, a satisfied smile spreading across her face.