On check-in day, a fresh-faced, clean-cut male freshman came up to my daughter and asked for directions, saying he couldn't find the College of Liberal Arts building.

In my last life, I'd taught my daughter to be kind and helpful, so I told her to walk him over since it was on her way.

She'd barely dropped him off before he ran straight to the student affairs office and accused her of putting her hands on him, of grabbing and groping him against his will.

The day the disciplinary notice came down, my daughter's title as the state's top liberal arts scorer became a laughingstock for the entire internet.

She couldn't survive the tidal wave of slut-shaming and abuse. She threw herself off the roof of the classroom building.

My wife's hair went white overnight, and on her way to demand answers from the school, she died in a car accident.

He, on the other hand, walked away with a four-year full scholarship as the poster boy for "boys deserve to bravely say no too," and got fast-tracked into grad school.

When he spoke as the representative at the alumni association, he looked straight at me down in the audience, my face streaked with tears, and gave a faint smile.

"Sir, some pain is just a stepping stone on the road to growth, isn't it?"

Reborn into this life, the underclassman pointed at the map on his phone, eyes reddening.

"Sir, I really can't find my way. Please, could Jeanie help me out..."

I held my daughter's hand, my expression flat.

"Oh, directions? You can spend ten bucks and buy yourself a campus map."

……

Hilary Abbott froze.

He clearly hadn't expected me to shut him down so bluntly.

"Sir..."

"My family's poor. After tuition, I can't even bring myself to buy basic necessities. Ten dollars is a whole day of meals for me."

He lifted a hand and wiped at tears that weren't there, his voice trembling.

"I didn't mean to be a burden. But I came to check in all alone, and I really can't tell which way is which..."

The crowd around us closed in at once.

A girl in a designer dress stepped forward, frowning at me.

"Sir, isn't that a little cold-blooded? You're all classmates here. What's the harm in a girl pointing a guy in the right direction?"

An older man beside her chimed in too.

"Exactly. Look how upset you've made this poor kid. You people, all dressed up nice, and you don't have an ounce of sympathy?"

"Rich folks these days. Just selfish."

The accusations flew from every side.

Hilary kept his head down, his shoulders shaking harder now.

Jeanette Dickerson took a step forward, about to speak.

I raised a hand to stop her and looked at the girl in the designer dress.

"You think he's pitiful?"

The girl squared her shoulders. "Of course! Helping people who are worse off is basic decency."

I nodded.

"Fine. Then you take him to the College of Liberal Arts."

The girl blinked, glanced at Hilary, and her face turned a little awkward.

"I just finished my own check-in. My feet still hurt. Besides, he asked your daughter, not me."

I smiled and turned to the older man.

"Sir, your heart's just overflowing with sympathy. Why don't you cover the ten bucks for his map? Ten dollars to buy yourself a saint's reputation. Quite the bargain."

The man's face stiffened, and he took a step back.

"Are you out of your mind? He's nothing to me. Why should I pay for him?"

The crowd went quiet. I turned back to Hilary.

"Hear that? Everyone feels so sorry for you. But nobody wants to lift a finger, and nobody wants to spend a dime."

Hilary's face cycled from pale to flushed and back.

"Sir, why are you humiliating me like this? So what if I'm poor?"

I stared into his eyes, spacing out each word.

"You're poor, so you're in the right?"

"You're poor, so the whole world should step aside for you? You're poor, so other people's time and goodwill are yours to mooch off for free?"

"My daughter is the top liberal arts scorer in the state. She's not a human GPS."

“Jeanette, we're leaving.”

I took Jeanette by the hand and turned to go without a backward glance.

When we'd walked a good distance, Jeanette asked in a low voice, “Dad, wasn't that a little harsh? He's a fellow student, after all.”

I stopped and looked at this foolish daughter of mine, the one who in her last life had been driven to leap from a rooftop.

“Remember this. Never hand out your sympathy carelessly.”

She nodded, half understanding.

“I'll do as you say.”

Three in the afternoon.

Jeanette and I had just gotten settled at the hotel off campus.

Jeanette's phone rang. It was her advisor, Caroline Lambert.

On the other end, Caroline's voice carried an authority that brooked no refusal.

“Jeanette, come to the student affairs office right now.”

“And bring your parent.”

Jeanette had it on speaker.

I sat on the couch and lifted my teacup, taking a sip.

So it had come, just as I'd expected.

Jeanette spoke up, her face all confusion.

“Advisor Lambert, has something happened?”

“Has something happened? You've got the nerve to ask?”

Caroline let out a cold laugh.

“Hilary Abbott is sitting in my office right now! He says that at noon, in the stairwell on the third floor of the science building, you put your hands on him and forced yourself on him!”

Jeanette shot to her feet, the color draining from her face.

“I was with my dad at the hotel all through noon. I don't even know where the science building is!”

“Yelling at me won't help you! That boy's clothes were left all rumpled, and his neck is covered in fingernail scratches from a girl!”

Caroline's tone turned severe.

“The damage to his reputation is severe! The two of you get over here now! If this isn't handled right, you can forget about attending this school at all!”

The line went dead.

Jeanette held the phone, her hands trembling.

“Dad, has she lost her mind? We didn't even give him directions!”

I set down the teacup, my eyes going cold.

In her last life, he'd used the pretext of asking for directions to frame Jeanette.

This time, I'd cut off that pretext.

And yet he'd still managed to conjure up a stairwell out of thin air.

It seemed he was dead set on destroying Jeanette.

“Don't be afraid.”

I stood and picked up my bag.

“Come on. Dad will go take a look with you.”

When I pushed open the door to the student affairs office, the only sound inside was sobbing.

Hilary Abbott sat on the couch, his shirt collar yanked halfway open to reveal the scratches on his shoulder.

Advisor Caroline Lambert sat behind the desk, her face like iron.

The moment she saw us come in, Hilary glared at us all the more.

“Stay back…… stay away from me……”

He pointed at Jeanette, his whole body shaking.

Jeanette's eyes went red with fury.

“Hilary, what are you talking about! I never went anywhere near the science building today!”

Caroline slammed her palm down on the desk.

“Jeanette, you dare to threaten the victim now?”

I stepped forward and put Jeanette behind me.

“It's Advisor Lambert, correct? Nothing has been investigated yet. Isn't it a little early to be pinning the label of victim on anyone?”

Caroline knit her brows at me.

“You're Jeanette's father?”

“I am.”

“And how do you usually raise your child? The state's top liberal arts scorer. What good are the grades? Morally bankrupt!”

Caroline pointed at Hilary.

“This young man just came here from the countryside, clean and decent. Now your daughter's scared him half to death. How is he supposed to hold his head up at this school from here on?”

I pulled over a chair and sat straight down.

“Advisor Lambert, since you've already decided my daughter did it, where's your proof?”

Caroline gave a cold laugh.

“Proof? The scratches on that boy's body are the proof! His clothes are torn to shreds. Don't tell me he did that to himself?”

“Why can't she?” I shot back.

Caroline choked for a second, then her temper flared.

“What kind of attitude is that? Is this how a parent behaves? Covering up, enabling her. No wonder she raised a daughter like this!”

Just then, the office door was shoved open.

My wife, Davina Dickerson, came rushing in, out of breath.

The moment she was through the door, before she'd asked a single question, she marched straight up to Jeanette.

“Crack!”

A sharp, ringing slap.

Jeanette's head snapped to the side, half her face flushing red in an instant.

“Mom?”

Jeanette cupped her cheek, staring at her in disbelief.

“Don't call me that! I don't have an embarrassing disgrace of a daughter like you!”

Davina jabbed a finger at Jeanette's nose and let loose.

“I sent you to college for this? To pull this kind of filthy, low-class stunt? You've humiliated me completely!”

Done cursing, she turned to Caroline, her back bending in an instant, her face piling on a fawning smile.

“Advisor Lambert, I'm so sorry, truly sorry. I failed to raise her right.”

Caroline's expression eased a little.

“Ms. Dickerson, at least you understand how things work. This is a very serious matter. If it blows up and the police get involved, Jeanette's whole future is ruined.”

At the word "police," Davina's legs nearly gave out.

She waved her hands frantically.

“No, no, no, please don't call the police! Advisor Lambert, we have money. Can't we handle this ourselves?”

Caroline let out a sigh.

“For the sake of Jeanette being the state's top liberal arts scorer, the school doesn't want to ruin her either. Here's what we'll do.”

She looked over at Hilary.

“Hilary, you've been wronged. But if the police really get involved, it won't do your reputation any good either. Why don't we have Jeanette apologize to you and give you some financial compensation?”

Hilary lifted his head, his eyes rimmed red.

“Advisor Lambert, I don't want money…… this isn't about money……”

“I'm a guy. Don't I have any dignity to protect……”

He bit his lip, the picture of someone humiliated beyond words.

“I just think it's unfair. Why should someone with morals as rotten as hers get to represent the freshmen and give the speech, and take the full top-tier scholarship on top of it?”

So that was what he'd been angling for all along.

The moment Davina heard it could be settled with money and a spot, she spun around and glared at Jeanette.

“What are you standing there for? Get over there and kneel and apologize to him! We don't want that scholarship or whatever, and you can hand over the speaker spot too!”

She came over, reaching out to force Jeanette's neck down.

“Move it! Smooth this over and don't wreck my company's business!”

I stood up, seized Davina's wrist, and wrenched it away.

Davina glared at me. “What do you think you're doing!”

I looked coldly at this cowardly, selfish woman.

“What am I doing?”

“My daughter didn't do anything. Why should she apologize? Why should she give up her scholarship?”

“Owen, have you lost your mind!”

Davina lowered her voice into a snarl.

“Do you want your daughter to go to prison? Do you want me to be a laughingstock to my business partners!”

I ignored her.

I walked over to Hilary and looked at him.

“Hilary, are you certain it was my daughter, Jeanette, who tried to harass you in the third-floor stairwell of the science building?”

Hilary shrank back, his eyes darting away.

“Yes……”

“What exact time?” I pressed, step by step.

“Around…… around one thirty in the afternoon……”

“What was she wearing?”

“A whi…… a white dress, white canvas sneakers.”

His description was strikingly accurate.

“Was there anyone else in the stairwell at the time?”