Chapter 4

Before the disciplinary hearing even started, the auditorium was packed.

The campus live stream's viewer count kept climbing.

My parents and I sat in the front row. Three apology scripts lay on the desk, complete with highlighted marks telling us exactly where to pause.

Mom stared at a line in the script, tears streaming down her face. "It was our failure in raising our daughter that caused such a terrible impact on the university…"

She couldn't read any further.

Dad snatched up the script and crumpled it into a ball. "We're not reading this. Demi didn't do a thing. Why should we admit to it?"

I squeezed their hands tightly.

This time, I would never let them be stripped of their dignity for my sake again.

Up on the stage, Alfie began reading the investigation findings. "Following our verification, Demi Nicholson entered the archives building at 11:47 pm in violation of policy and tampered with the evaluation scores for graduate school…"

A chorus of curses instantly erupted from the audience below.

"Expel her!"

"How does someone like this even deserve to be an honor student?"

"Jessica is the unluckiest one here. Her life was almost stolen."

Shortly after, Jessica walked onto the stage as the affected student. She wore a plain white dress without a trace of makeup, looking pale and thoroughly exhausted.

"Demi and I have known each other for four years."

As she held the microphone, she choked up on her words several times. "I refuse to believe she's a bad person. Maybe she was just terrified of losing her recommendation slot and made a wrong choice. I'm willing to forfeit my recommendation so she can have the spot."

Someone in the crowd immediately shouted, "Don't be an idiot! She's the one who screwed you over, and you're still pleading for her?"

Jessica lowered her head, tears falling right onto her speech notes.

Bursts of applause followed instantly.

Ethan stood behind the side curtain, giving me a reassuring look.

Everyone was pressuring me to plead guilty, while the two of them stood by me in their own ways. One pleaded for leniency on my behalf, and the other stayed quietly by my side.

Anyone who saw them wouldn't help but admire their devotion.

The hearing chair invited me up to the stage.

Alfie thrust the microphone in front of me. "Demi, please give a public apology together with your parents now."

I didn't take the apology script. "I want to watch the complete surveillance footage."

Alfie's expression darkened. "The key snippet was already shown earlier."

"That key snippet is only 15 seconds long."

I turned to Frankie, who was sitting right in the center of the panel. "Today is a public disciplinary hearing. Since the university claims the evidence is ironclad, why wouldn't you dare play the full video?"

Whispers began to spread through the auditorium.

Frankie frowned slightly. Clearly, he didn't want to leave any impression of deliberately hiding evidence in front of a live broadcast camera.

"Play the complete footage," he said.

Randy froze.

Alfie chimed in hastily, "Professor Harper, the complete video contains internal confidential data regarding the archive room."

"Blur the sensitive information." Frankie's tone turned stern. "We need to make sure every student accepts the outcome without question."

The lights dimmed, and the large screen lit up once more.

The surveillance timestamp displayed 11:47 pm. A figure in a black jacket walked into the archives building with their head down.

They pulled out an ID card and lightly tapped it against the scanner. "Authentication successful. Demi Nicholson."

The crowd below exploded instantly.

"How is she going to talk her way out of this now?"

"The door access can't possibly frame her, right?"

"Just apologize already. Stop wasting everyone's time."

Dad stood up in sheer anger. "My daughter was right in her dorm room. Someone definitely tampered with that card!"

Alfie grabbed the mic and barked, "Mr. Nicholson, please remain quiet!"

Mom held Dad tightly, tears welling up in her eyes.

I didn't look back once. I just kept my eyes glued to the giant screen.

The figure in the video entered the archive room smoothly and headed straight for the cabinet where the application materials were stored.

Their movements were swift and practiced, without the slightest hesitation.

As Jessica watched the screen, her tense shoulders relaxed bit by bit. She quietly clenched the speech in her hand. A barely perceptible smile played at the corners of her lips.

Ethan stood quietly at the side of the stage too. His gaze remained gentle and was tinged with pity, as if he were ready to wait until everyone abandoned me, then step in as the only person still willing to stand by my side.

The person in the video stepped up to the archive cabinet, took off their hat, and slowly raised their head.

In the very next second, dead silence fell over the entire room.

The smug grin on Jessica's lips froze completely.

There on the big screen, clear as day, was Frankie's face.