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The Poor Student Framed My Daughter, So I Showed the Whole School the Tapes
NovelShort
Hoàn thành
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 da...
Chương (6)
第1章
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."
第2章
“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?”
第3章
“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?”
第4章
"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!"
第5章
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..."
第6章
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."