Anthony stayed at the hospital with Sienna for three days and nights. A few days later, I received a tearful call from Jenny's son, Ben Wright.

"Ms. York, you're the only one I can turn to. Please, you have to save my mom!"

Through his broken sobs, I pieced together what had happened. With Anthony pulling strings, Sienna had filed a police report, and the injury assessment came back as second-degree minor assault. That was enough to get Jenny detained and fined.

Jenny had been taken away that morning, and before Anthony's people left, they'd said that if Jenny named her accomplice, she might avoid consequences.

Ben cried as he spoke. "Ms. York, my mom told me to tell you she won't say anything."

I reassured him and promised his mother would be fine. Anthony was just making an example of Jenny. His real target was me.

Sure enough, his call came through shortly after.

"I've already discussed it with the university. This afternoon, you'll attend a press conference and clear everything up. If you need a psychiatric evaluation, I can arrange that too."

It seemed the university had decided to protect Anthony. I laughed softly. "And if I don't cooperate?"

Anger simmered in his voice. "Brielle, don't push me. I don't want things between us to get uglier than they already are."

Was this still considered peaceful? I laughed until tears came. But in the end, I agreed to attend the press conference.

On my way there, I scrolled through news alerts about today's event.

"Hidden Truth Behind Clearview Professor's Affair: Jealous Wife Fabricating Stories?"

"Professor's Wife to Publicly Apologize and Beg Female Student for Forgiveness?"

"Adoptive Daughter or Punching Bag? Allegations Surface of Professor's Wife Abusing Foster Child."

When I arrived at the press conference venue, it was packed with reporters. The moment they saw me, they swarmed.

The flash of cameras made it nearly impossible to keep my eyes open.

"Mrs. Rivera, did you really abuse your sponsored student?"

"Mrs. Rivera, sources say you have severe mental health issues. Is that why you're hostile toward any woman near Dr. Rivera?"

"Mrs. Rivera, aside from issuing a clarification, Dr. Rivera says you'll also be kneeling to apologize to the student. Is that true?"

I smiled. "Kneeling to apologize? Then you'd better get your cameras ready. I might move too fast for you to catch it."

I pushed through the crowd toward the backstage lounge, where Anthony was feeding Sienna water. Sienna's face was pale, and when she saw me, she instinctively shrank into Anthony's arms.

"Mrs. Rivera."

Her voice was timid. "Dr. Rivera was just giving me water because I was thirsty. Please don't read into it. There's nothing between us."

She added a few weak coughs for effect.

I raised an eyebrow. "Don't mind me. Keep going. Since you're already in his arms, why not go mouth-to-mouth? It's more hygienic that way!"

Sienna's eyes reddened. "Mrs. Rivera, I'm grateful you sponsored me, but I won't let you slander me. Dr. Rivera and I have always maintained proper boundaries. We're not what you think."

"Brielle, don't forget why you're here today." Anthony set down the water glass.

The three of us took our seats at the press conference. Sienna was the first to take the microphone. She played the role of an innocent student wrongly victimized to perfection.

"Mrs. Rivera, I remember everything you've done for me over the years. But you've slandered both Dr. Rivera and me. If you don't publicly apologize and beg for my forgiveness today, I'll pursue legal action."

I grabbed the glass from the table and threw the contents into Sienna's face, following it with a hard slap. She screamed and clutched her face. Her carefully crafted innocent persona crumbled in an instant.