"No... nobody uses that stairwell, and the camera's broken..."

The words were barely out before he seemed to realize what he'd let slip. He clapped a hand over his mouth and burst into tears again.

"Sir, please, stop pushing me... I'm so scared..."

Caroline shot to her feet.

"Owen! That's enough! You're victimizing him all over again!"

She jabbed a finger at the office door.

"Here's my decision. Jeanette makes a public apology, forfeits every honor and her scholarship, and takes a formal disciplinary mark on her record. If you won't accept that, I'll report this to the university right now and have her expelled outright!"

Davina was hopping with panic. She lunged over and grabbed my arm.

"Owen, shut up already! Advisor Lambert's being lenient here—what more do you want!"

I looked at that righteous mask on Caroline's face.

"Advisor Lambert, if the camera's broken, how exactly are you convicting my daughter on his word alone?"

"You think anyone would gamble with their own good name over this!"

Caroline drew herself up, all indignation.

"Those fingernail scratches on him don't lie! Why would he make it up?"

I nodded and pulled out my phone.

"Fine. If the school can't get to the truth, then we'll bring in someone who can."

I pressed three numbers.

The line connected.

"Hello, is this 911? I want to report a crime."

The instant the call went through, the office fell dead silent.

Hilary's head snapped up, his eyes locked on my phone.

Caroline's face changed in a flash. She reached out to snatch the phone from me.

"What are you doing! Who told you to call the police!"

I dodged her hand.

Into the phone, calm as anything, I said, "Yes, the student affairs office at Kingsport University. Someone is accusing my daughter of harassment, of forcing herself on a young man, but I believe the other party is extorting money through a false accusation. Please send officers immediately."

I hung up and looked at Caroline.

"Advisor Lambert, why the panic? If it's a crime, then naturally it belongs to the police. Since when does a university have the authority to enforce the law?"

Caroline was shaking with rage, her finger stabbing toward my face.

"You are completely out of your mind! You don't air dirty laundry in public. You just have to blow this up, don't you—won't rest until you've ruined the school's reputation!"

Davina charged at me like a woman possessed, both hands clutching her head, screaming herself hoarse.

"Owen! If you want to die, leave me out of it! The second the police show up, the whole school will know! Where does that leave my face? How is Jeanette ever supposed to live this down!"

She whirled on Jeanette, her eyes bloodshot.

"You ungrateful little witch! I'll beat you to death today and pretend I never had you!"

She raised her fist to bring it down on Jeanette.

I grabbed the thermos off the desk, the one full of scalding water, and slammed it down right by Davina's feet.

A dull thud.

"Davina. You lay one more hand on my daughter, I dare you."

I stared at her, my eyes ice cold.

"Smoothing things over for strangers out there, throwing your weight around at home—is that all you know how to do? Someone dumps this filth on your own daughter's head, and instead of digging for the truth, you force her to her knees and make her confess. What kind of mother are you?"

Davina pointed at me and couldn't get a word out.

Right then, the office door was shoved open.

A crowd of students poured in, phones raised.

Flashes went off like crazy.

"She's in there! That creepy girl is right in there!"

"Trash! Get out of Kingsport University!"

"Protect Hilary! Come down hard on scum like her!"

Leading the pack was the girl in designer clothes from outside the dorm.

She pointed at Jeanette.

"Everyone get a good look. This is the state's top liberal arts scorer of our year! A sanctimonious hypocrite through and through!"

Students had packed the hallway three deep, then three deeper still.

Seeing it, Hilary shrank back into the corner of the couch, trembling all over.

"Stop filming me... please, I'm begging you, stop..."

He wept like a broken flower in the rain, and the crowd of girls only ached for him more.

"Don't be scared! We've got your back!"

"The school has to expel her!"

The scene had spun completely out of control.

Caroline wiped the sweat off her forehead and put on a show of anguished concern.

"Everyone, please, calm down! The school will handle this seriously. There will be no leniency!"

She turned to me and dropped her voice.

"See that? This is what your 911 call got you. The whole campus knows now. There's no holding back the backlash. Your daughter is finished."

Davina leaned against the wall, ashen.

Then she suddenly screamed out toward the crowd.

"This has nothing to do with me! I gave up on that daughter a long time ago! Her father's the one who insisted on shielding her!"

Jeanette stood behind me, fists clenched, her body shaking faintly.

"Dad..."

I took her cold hand in mine.

"Don't lower your head."

"Let them film. The clearer, the better."

A middle-aged man in a sharp suit shoved his way through the crowd.

It was the vice president of Kingsport University, Vice President Whitney.

He took one look at the chaos in the office, and his brows knotted tight.

"What is all this shouting? This is a disgrace! Everybody out!"

Whitney stepped inside, glanced at Hilary, then at Jeanette.

"Caroline, what's going on here?"

Caroline hurried over and gave him the story, laying it on thick.

When she finished, Whitney turned to me, his face dark.

"Sir, a school is a place for teaching and raising students. It is not a marketplace for the two of you to make a scene."

His tone left no room for argument.

"The nature of this incident is extremely serious. To calm the students' anger and protect the school's reputation, Miss Dickerson will be suspended immediately for reflection and will submit to a full investigation. For the duration, all of her honors eligibility is revoked."

He looked at Jeanette.

"You. Bow and apologize to Mr. Abbott right now, then go home and think about what you've done."

Davina looked like a prisoner granted a pardon.

"Thank you, sir! Thank you for your generosity!"

She whipped around and barked at Jeanette. "Apologize! Now!"

I looked at Whitney and didn't move.

"Vice President Whitney. Suspension? An apology?"

"So this is how you run an education? No verification, no evidence, and whoever cries the loudest wins?"

Whitney's expression darkened.

"Mr. Fox, the cameras on the third floor of the science building have been broken for a month. That's a lapse by facilities. But the injuries on Mr. Abbott are real! Are we supposed to protect an attacker and break the heart of the victim?"

"The cameras are broken, is that it?"

I nodded.

"Fine."

At that exact moment, a piercing siren rose up from the street below.

Red and blue lights flashed alternately outside the window.

The officers were here.

Two uniformed officers strode into the office.

The one in front swept his eyes around the room.

"Who made the call?"

I raised my hand.

"I did."

The officer took in the standoff filling the room.

"What's the situation? The call reported harassment, molestation, and extortion?"

Hilary stumbled off the couch, half falling, and dropped to his knees in front of the officer.

"Officer, please, save me... she's been harassing me..."

He pointed at Jeanette, showing off the scratches on his skin and his rumpled clothes.

"I'm just a poor kid from the country. I've got no money, no connections... their family's rich, and they want to drive me to my death..."

Those few hot-blooded girls jumped right in behind him.

"Officer, we can all testify! Jeanette is scum!"

"That's right! You have to arrest her!"

The lead officer frowned and turned to Jeanette.

"Was it you?"

Jeanette stood ramrod straight, her gaze open and unflinching.

"It wasn't me. I never even went near the science building today."

A girl suddenly shoved her way in from outside.

"You're lying!"

"I saw it! I saw it with my own eyes!"

She pointed at Jeanette and said loudly,

"At one thirty this afternoon, I happened to be passing the third-floor stairwell of the science building. I heard a guy screaming inside, and the second I ran over, I saw Jeanette come bolting out in a total panic!"

Hilary looked at the girl and cried even harder.

"Melissa Finch, thank you for being willing to stand up and speak for me…"

Melissa threw her shoulders back, playing the hero rescuing the damsel.

Caroline whipped her head toward me, sneering again and again.

"Mr. Fox, we've got both witnesses and evidence now. What else do you have to say?"

Davina rushed at me and clamped down on my arm, her face streaked with tears and snot.

"Owen, I'm begging you! Just make your daughter confess! Try for a lighter sentence."

She turned to the officer.

"Officer, we admit it! We'll pay! We'll pay whatever it costs!"

Hilary let Melissa help him to his feet.

He looked at me, his voice soft, yet every word aimed to cut.

"Sir, I know you want to protect your daughter, but facts are facts."

"As long as Jeanette is willing to kneel in front of the whole school and confess, and give up all her scholarships and her guaranteed grad-school spot…"

He paused and let out a sigh.

"I can go to the police station and drop the case, sign a letter of forgiveness, keep her out of prison."

The students around us broke into thunderous applause.

"Hilary is too kind!"

"Scum like that deserves to die, and he's still willing to give her a chance!"

"Jeanette, get down on your knees and thank him already!"

Every ounce of malice, every bit of the pressure, peaked in that single moment.

I smoothed my jacket, my tone calm.

"Hilary."

"You said a moment ago that the cameras on the third floor of the science building had been broken for a month. Correct?"

Hilary froze for a beat and instinctively shot a glance at Vice President Whitney.

Whitney let out a cold snort.

"Mr. Fox, what else is there to argue? The maintenance department's repair records say it plainly. The cameras there really were broken."

I smiled.

"Vice President Whitney, you must have a short memory for a busy man."

I pulled a document stamped with a red seal out of my bag and slapped it straight down on Caroline's desk.

"Yesterday afternoon, in my capacity as Jeanette's parent, I donated a three-million-dollar 4K panoramic surveillance system to Kingsport University, with no blind spots."

The expression on Hilary's face went rigid.

I fixed my eyes on his, spacing out each word.

"As luck would have it, the third-floor stairwell of the science building was exactly one of the core zones in the first batch of camera installations."

"At twelve noon sharp today, the installation team just finished calibration. It went fully online across the network."