Phoenix Rising: From Heartache to Heroism

Chapter 240 None of Them Are Simple

Not mentioning this matter was fine, but once it was brought up, Hattie was furious beyond measure.

Violeta was the biggest beneficiary of the college competition. If it wasn't her doing, Hattie couldn't imagine who else it could be.

"D*mmit! This despicable woman! She's infuriating me."

Hattie had hoped to make a name for herself through the college competition, but now everything was ruined.

She angrily said to Liang Shibo, "It's not that I want to cause trouble for Violeta, it's just that she doesn't want me to have an easy life. I must make her drop out of school!"

Benson frowned, just about to speak up.

Hattie kept going, "Remember how we got bullied in Harbor City? Being too nice doesn't cut it with these folks-they only mess with the weak and back down from the tough ones. Anyway, Violeta and I have issues now, she's my enemy. If she tries to get into showbiz later, she's gonna be my competitor for sure.

"Instead of letting her compete with me in the entertainment industry later on, it's better to deal with her now and eliminate any future troubles!" Zelena lowered her eyelashes, hiding the hint of malice and calculation in her eyes.

Perfect, let the rivalry brew.

The bigger the beef between Hattie and Violeta, the better.

Violeta went with Kaylee to investigate the surveillance footage outside the changing room corridor.

After watching it once, everything seemed totally normal.

It was just a bunch of guys walking down the hallway together.

Kaylee said, "Looks pretty normal, huh, Vio? Do you spot anything weird? Could it really be that Zelena's just incredibly lucky, with even the universe on her side?"

Violeta stared at the screen showing several guys walking past, and she zoomed in on one of the guys' faces with the mouse.

She spotted Benson among them.

The more she looked, the more something felt off.

She replayed the surveillance footage and finally spotted something off.

"Where did Benson's cigarette disappear to?"

"Huh?"

Violeta pointed to where Benson first showed up on the footage with a cigarette in his mouth. "He was smoking in the smoking area at first, and hadn't even finished it, but when he turned around, the cigarette was gone. Where did it go?"

Kaylee stared at the monitor, eyes wide as she had a sudden realization.

"Oh, where did his cigarette go?"

Violeta and Kaylee hurried down the hallway to search for the cigarette.

Finally, Violeta found a cigarette butt in the second-floor emergency exit.

Everything clicked into place right then.

The surveillance footage kept playing over and over in Violeta's mind.

"Benson walked out of the guys' changing room, lit a cigarette facing away from the camera. Then, while he turned to the side, he flicked the cigarette butt up onto the ceiling sprinkler trigger. The smoke set off the sprinkler, and then he dropped the butt on the floor, and kicked it into the secure passage. Everything looked normal, like nothing happened."

"Oh my!"

Kaylee exclaimed. "D*mn! So, does that mean Benson is helping Zelena?"Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

Violeta replied, "He's not helping Zelena, he's helping Hattie."

Hattie definitely had a hand in this!

That's right.

Hattie had to be in on it.

How did Zelena get the keys to the locker room cabs?

If no one helped her, there was no way Zelena could've pulled off so much in such a short time by herself.

The only thing Violeta didn't anticipate was that she hadn't considered Benson in her calculations.

For Benson to come up with using a cigarette butt to trigger the sprinkler in such a short time meant he wasn't dumb.

Kaylee crouched down and picked up the cigarette butt, puzzled. "But can such a small cigarette butt really set off the sprinkler?"

Violeta explained calmly, "Usually,

smoking wouldn't trigger the

sprinkler, but the cigarette was

close it touched the sensor, setting off the automatic water release."

The school's sprinklers were super sensitive, which was important in case of a fire.

Besides, it wasn't a smoking area. Who would have thought that there would be other smoke here besides fire?

"Anyway, let's go."

Violeta turned to leave.

Kaylee picked up the cigarette butt, stood up, and caught up with Violeta, asking, "Shouldn't we go talk to the counselor?"

Even though the Whites were also the chancellor at Toland University, was it really worth causing such a big rift between two chancellors over just 900 dollars?

Besides, the Whites and the Ridges have a good relationship.

Overall, making a big deal out of this small amount of money wasn't worth it.

Plus, Benson had stayed neutral for a long time, almost making Violeta forget that Hattie had someone like him as a helper.

He was someone you shouldn't underestimate.

It's because Benson's aim was to come back and challenge Liam for the family fortune.

Illegitimate kids... None of them are simple.

...

The following day.

Once at school, everyone hopped on a big bus together and headed off to Heritage Old Town.