Chapter 35: Brendon Carter's Shoes Found by the River, Has Brendon Carter Died?

At this moment, Macy also sent Queenie a message:
‘Queenie, someone has posted about what happened to you at the café this afternoon on the internet. The attitude of the internet trolls towards you seems to be changing a bit!

Queenie quickly clicked on the link Macy sent and found that the comments below were relatively fair.

‘This teacher doesn't look guilty at all. It doesn't seem like the rumors from before!’

‘Exactly! Regardless, we can't let people like this off easily! There are always cyberbullies, and it has even escalated to offline attacks! No matter how trivial the situation may be, we need to make sure these people face the consequences!’

‘Let more people see this. Adults need to take responsibility for their actions!]’
‘I think this teacher probably didn't seduce that Mr. Carter person; otherwise, why would she dare to report to the police?’

‘According to reports, she did report it and asked the police to investigate the people who defamed her online.’

‘Currently, the teacher competition committee has also stated that the incident is still under investigation and the teacher's qualification for the competition will not be canceled for now. Everyone should remain rational while watching the situation!’

‘Haha, how much did you receive from the Lin family? Coming here to whitewash her! She has driven the son of that director to run away from home and even attempt suicide!’
‘Suicide? Really? It has blown up so big!’

When Queenie saw the last two comments, her heart skipped a beat.
Has Brendon Carter attempted suicide?


The next second, Queenies received a phone call from Glory. She immediately started yelling.

"Queenie—if something happens to Brendon Carter, I won't let you off! I want you to pay with your life!"
"What happened to Brendon Carter?" Queenie's heart raced nervously as if it was about to jump out of her chest.
"He left a letter and ran away from home!" Glory was crying in distress.

Queenie hung up the phone and quickly got out of bed. "No! I have to go out and find him."

"Don't worry. I'll have Manley ask some old friends to help," Benoit comforted her in a gentle voice.
Queenie glanced at him, nodded, and quickly freshened up before leaving with her bag.

Soon, the news of Brendon Carter running away from home spread all over the internet and even became a trending topic.

The whole internet started live-streaming the search for him.

Some online influencers even found a shoe that seemed to belong to Brendon Carter by the river. The various marks at the scene indicated that Brendon Carter might have jumped into the river to commit suicide.

This sparked concerns among the public about child safety. At the same time, the attacks on Queenie on the internet had reached a new high.

’Queenie deserves to die!’
‘How can someone like her be a teacher?’
‘She is not just misleading others, she is harming them! If that student commits suicide, I suggest putting Queenie in jail!’
‘Yes! Eye for an eye!’
‘This teacher is truly wicked! I bet she wants Mr. Carter's son to die so she can inherit his property!’
‘Oh, my God! This woman is terrifying!’
‘We should all join together and report her to the education authorities so that she will never be able to work at any educational institution in Coast City again!’
‘Alright, let's do it! Count me in!’
...
The online comments became more and more intense, and some even claimed that Brendon Carter had already died. There were even random people on the internet organizing candlelight vigils online to mourn Brendon Carter.

Queenie searched for Brendon Carter while observing the online trends, hoping to find out if any media outlet had located him. As she watched the online rumors grow more mysterious, she became increasingly anxious.

However, she remembered that the style of Brendon Carter's shoes was not the same as the one reported online!

For now, Brendon Carter should be safe. But what concerned her even more was that in the meantime she had privately contacted several parents whose children were close to Brendon Carter's good friends. The parents reported that none of those children had returned home either!

Including Brendon Carter, a total of ten students were missing.

Queenie took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. She tried to think about where Brendon Carter might have gone.

Brendon Carter was an outstanding student, well-behaved, and usually not fond of places like internet cafes...

Suddenly, Queenie didn't know what happened, but an image of Brendon Carter holding an "Ancient Greek Myth" book and looking for her appeared in her mind.

Back then, Brendon Carter said that his favorite deity was "Xie Zhi", and that "Themis" was the embodiment of fairness and justice.

Brendon Carter also asked, "Teacher, do we have a sculpture of Themis in Coast City? I think it's cool, and I want to touch it and take a picture with it."

"Yes, we do. I remember going to the museum a lot when I was a child. There were many cement statues of deities on the platform on the fourth floor, including Themis. But the museum is closed and has been abandoned; I don't know if those statues are still there."
...
The memory came to a sudden halt, and Queenie's body jolted.
"Brendon Carter might have gone to the museum," Queenie said, signaling for a taxi on the side of the road.

Before she even got in the car, several media influencers spotted her.

"Look! Isn't that the famous female internet celebrity teacher?"
"Yes, it's her!"

The self-made media influencers, held their phones up for selfies, crowding around and rushing towards her as if they had just discovered a hundred thousand followers.

"Ms. Lorente, may I ask where you're going now?"
"Ms. Lorente, is it true that Brendon Carter is dead?"
"Rumors are circulating that Brendon Carter was dismembered, is that true?"
"Ms. Lorente, do you feel guilty for Brendon Carter's disappearance?"
"What does Mr. Carter think of Brendon Carter's disappearance?"

The self-made media individuals had transformed themselves into journalists, bombarding Queenie with fierce questions.
Several of the microphones they held almost hit Queenie in the face.

"Please give me some space! I have something to attend to right now." Queenie, annoyed by their disturbance, tried to get into the car, but the influencers wouldn't let her go.

In the next instant, a woman in a black sports suit, around twenty-five years old, with a cold expression on her face, rushed out from not far away.

She quickly pushed aside the wannabe journalists and signaled to Queenie, "Hurry up and get in the car."

"Thank you." Queenie nodded at the "kind person" and swiftly got into the taxi.

Some of the influencers saw her getting into the car in a hurry and quickly hailed their own taxis, following closely behind.

The "kind person" sent by Benoit to protect Queenie, also quickly drove and followed from behind.
Soon, Queenie arrived at the museum by car.

As soon as she got out of the car, she faintly heard the voices of students on the fourth-floor platform, which sounded very familiar.
They sounded like they could be her former students.

Queenie's mouth curled up in delight, and she was about to take a step towards the cultural center when she heard the sound of car doors closing behind her one after another.

Someone exclaimed, "Look! There's a student up there!"
"Hurry up, take out your equipment and film!"
"Yes, yes, let's do a live stream!"

Queenie looked up and her heart almost stopped in fear.

Ten students had climbed onto the Themis sculpture in mid-air!

On the outdoor platform of the museum's fourth floor, there were many cement-made deity statues, but only the Themis statue was designed on a small platform more than ten yards away from the main platform as if it were commanding the rest of the deities below.

The smaller platform was extremely small, with hardly any extra space after the ten students stood on it.

At this moment, a self-made journalist shouted from below, "Kids, are you trying to commit suicide? Did you all agree to commit suicide together?"
Upon hearing this, Queenie's eyes widened in shock.

"Sir, please shut up!
Are you trying to incite my students to commit suicide?
You haven't even investigated the facts, so how dare you ask such questions!
They are all excellent students, and your words are tantamount to tarnishing their reputation!
I am their teacher, and I won't allow anyone to maliciously defame my students!"

The influencer was a little embarrassed after being yelled at like that.
But that's how their profession is, they exaggerate to attract attention.