Chapter 3

Harvey froze for two seconds before bursting out laughing. The people behind him doubled over with laughter.

"Did he get scared out of his mind?"

"Go easy on Harvey? Does he think he's some university administrator?"

"He probably couldn't even get into this school. He just sneaked in so he could play the big shot."

Harvey wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. "Fine. Since you don't know your place, I'll show you what happens when you cross me."

He pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "Aunt Faye, someone is giving me trouble at the south gate. Come quickly, or this guy might think he runs the place."

He hung up and looked at me provocatively. "My aunt will be here in five minutes. You can still kneel and apologize."

I ignored him.

There were 15 minutes left before the ceremony. My secretary and the university administrators should have already arrived at the auditorium. Once they realized they couldn't reach me, they'd come looking for me soon.

Less than five minutes later, a black sedan pulled over by the curb. A stern-looking woman in a business suit strode toward us. The head of student affairs, Paul Foster, and two academic counsellors followed close behind her.

Harvey ran over to her, putting on an aggrieved expression. "You're here at last, Aunt Faye! If you hadn't come, he would've gotten away with bullying me."

When Faye saw the red marks around his wrist, her expression turned grim. "Who did this?"

Harvey pointed at me. "Him. He wore a fake designer suit and claimed I was the one wearing a knockoff. Then, he insulted the Jetson family. When my bodyguards tried to get him to leave, he attacked them. He even threatened to have me expelled."

Faye looked up at me.

She visibly froze for a moment. She'd taken the day off yesterday, so she didn't attend the online university administration meeting. The documents related to my appointment were internal, so she hadn't seen my photo either.

She looked me over several times before speaking in a stern voice. "Are you a student here?"

I replied, "No."

"Then why are you on campus?"

"To take up my new position."

She looked as if she'd just heard the funniest joke. "Take up a new position? What position could you possibly be taking?"

I said evenly, "You'll find out soon enough."

Faye ran out of patience. "I don't care why you sneaked onto campus or what you're trying to accomplish. You assaulted someone on university property and disrupted the first day of class. You're coming with me to the security office for questioning."

I looked at the man lying on the ground and said, "They're wearing uniforms from a private security company, and the Jetson family pays their salaries. Since when are they university employees?"

Faye was momentarily speechless.

Paul quickly stepped forward and argued, "Don't try to change the subject. Even if they weren't university employees, you still assaulted them. That's a fact."

I countered, "Then the security footage should show that they attacked me first."

Paul's expression turned frosty. "The cameras weren't working."

I glanced at the security camera rotating above us. "I haven't even said which camera footage I was talking about. How did you know it wasn't working?"

Paul's face fell slightly.

The students around us began whispering. "He's right. He never even said which camera."

"Mr. Allen wouldn't let anyone check the footage either."

"Could there really be something they're hiding?"

Faye shouted angrily, "Why are all of you still standing around? Get to your orientation sessions!"

The students were intimidated by her tone, but no one left. If anything, the crowd watching the spectacle only grew larger.

Faye turned her attention back to me. "Listen here. I'm giving you one last chance. Apologize to Harvey and pay for the bodyguard's medical expenses. Do that, and we'll let this go."

I disagreed, saying, "I'm not the one who needs to apologize."

"Still being stubborn, huh?" Faye responded disdainfully.

She pointed at the two security guards and barked, "Take him away."

The two men grabbed my arms from either side. I didn't struggle.

I only gave them a cold warning. "Think carefully before you put your hands on me."