Chapter 4

The university's website exploded the next day.

A post by an anonymous user had rocketed to the top of the university forum's trending chart.

"Professor Matthew Lorenzo from the Department of Business Communications tried to keep a female student by his side by using the excuse that he was going to sponsor her. He raised his hand against her when she rejected his advances. The female student ended up cutting her wrist to protect herself.

"I think that the impact of this case will be extremely severe. I hope that the university will prioritize this incident and give everyone a proper explanation and also explain how they're going to handle this."

A photo was attached to the post.

I couldn't deny that the photo was taken from the perfect angle.

Although I was the one who stopped Sophie from hurting herself further, the framing of the photo made it seem like I was forcefully restraining her. On top of that, you couldn't see the knife or the cut from the angle that the photo was taken.

It would be a shame if the photographer didn't put their talents to good use in the future.

I didn't need to look at the post to know that Jamie was behind it.

I was surrounded by a swarm of students the moment I stepped out of my apartment.

"Is the post real, Professor Lorenzo? You look so prim and proper. I can't believe that you would commit such heinous acts in private."

"You're supposed to be an educator. Do you still think that you deserve to be a professor?"

A few of my students defended me.

"Professor Lorenzo isn't like that! The truth of the matter hasn't been revealed yet. Why are you already causing such a fuss?"

"He's right! How dare you question Professor Lorenzo when you don't even have the whole picture yet? You're behaving preposterously!"

Neither side was willing to give in.

Some of them even looked like they were on the verge of getting physical since they couldn't reach an agreement.

In the end, the security guards arrived to break them up.

Howard also summoned me to his office.

"Didn't I tell you to deal with this properly, Matthew?" he exclaimed. "What on earth is going on? This isn't even about the review anymore. The university's reputation is in jeopardy! Do you have any idea how much of an impact this is going to cause?"

"I understand, Mr. Walter. Please trust me. I'm being framed," I said.

"It doesn't matter even if I do trust you! What's important is that the public doesn't trust you. What you have to do now isn't to gain my trust. You need to find proof to shut everyone up."

I prepared my counterattack once I assured Howard that everything was under control.

Jamie was using the university's internet when he uploaded that post.

I hired a tech specialist to track down the origin of the post. As I expected, it was posted from Jamie's phone.

I interrogated Jamie in front of all the teachers and students.

"You're the one who took the photo, am I right? Since you took it, you must have seen the entire encounter. Why don't you tell us exactly what happened?"

Jamie steeled his nerves and said in a righteous tone, "Of course, I saw what happened. I wouldn't have made that post if I didn't. I just couldn't stand to see you pretend to be a gentleman any longer."

"You need proof to back up your accusations," I said. "You need to take responsibility for your words."

Hesitance flickered across Jamie's face when I pressured him.

However, Sophie suddenly appeared below the stage, saying, "Stop bothering Jamie, Professor Lorenzo. He's just too righteous. I'm willing to let bygones be bygones, so you can stop scaring him now."

It seemed that she expected me to fall to my knees in gratitude for her generosity.

Jamie became even bolder at Sophie's appearance.

"You don't have to be scared of him, Sophie! Justice will always prevail. We'll just wait for the university to make a decision. He can kiss his career as a professor goodbye."

I chuckled.

Jamie was right. Justice would prevail.

Since Jamie's post had spread like wildfire, many people knew that Sophie was struggling financially. As a result, they organized a fundraiser for her and ended up collecting over 100,000 dollars.

I couldn't deny that everyone was very kind-hearted.

"Why do you want to frame me, Sophie?" I asked, looking at her. "Do you have the guts to swear in front of all the teachers and students that you're not lying?"

"I didn't lie!" she exclaimed.

The determination in her voice sounded so genuine that even I would have been fooled by her if I wasn't the victim of her scheming.

Truth be told, I didn't understand why Sophie was so fixated on me. If she just wanted to find someone to fund her lifestyle, she could have just switched targets when she realized that her tricks weren't going to work on me.

Why was she wasting her time on me?

Everyone was beginning to become emotional, which meant that it was time for me to bring out the surveillance footage.

"If that's the case, I have something that I want to show everyone."