Chapter 1

Emily Lane, the school's "it girl," accused me of harassment.

Millions of people watched on the livestream as I was shoved into a police car, completely humiliated.

But I couldn't say a single word.

Because at eight last night, I wasn't in my dorm at all. I was at the municipal police department, sitting in on a top-secret meeting.

*****

My name was Edward Finch. I was forty-two years old, and I was the president of Riverdale University.

I never imagined that a disaster capable of ruining my entire life would strike me out of nowhere on an ordinary morning.

The night before, I didn't get back to my faculty dorm until the early hours. After a quick wash, I crashed into bed without checking my phone.

When I was jolted awake by a furious pounding on the door, the sun was already blazing outside. But the light couldn't reach the chill that had suddenly settled in my heart.

"Edward, get out!"

"You pervert! Scum who preys on your student."

The shouting, insults, and banging on the door all blended into one loud, chaotic mess. It was so loud that it made my ears hurt.

My mind went completely blank. I thought I must be hearing things.

I was the president of Riverdale University. In the three years I had held that position, I had worked hard and never once stepped out of line. I would never do something as disgusting as going after a student.

I struggled to my feet and walked to the door. As I was about to ask what was going on, the voices outside hit me loud and clear.

"Edward, as the president, you molested Emily, the student council president. Arer't you shameless?"

"We used to respect you, but you're nothing but a two-faced hypocrite."

"Get out of here and apologize. Get out of Riverdale University."

Emily? My heart skipped a beat.

Emily was the hottest girl at Riverdale University and the student council president. With her innocent looks and top grades, she was insanely popular, basically the girl every guy secretly dreamed about.

The only times I ever interacted with her were for student council business, and there were always other faculty around. We were never alone, not even once, so the idea of harassment was absurd.

Harassment? It hit me like a punch to the chest. Panic set in as I fumbled for my phone on the nightstand.

The screen lit up, flooded with missed calls, unread texts, and chat app notifications. There were so many that it looked like my phone might explode. I had calls from school administrators, colleagues, friends, and family, but most of the messages were angry texts from strangers.

My fingers trembled as I opened the school forum, social media, and checked the local trending topics.

One glance was all it took. My blood ran cold.

[Riverdale University President Edward Finch Harasses Campus Belle Emily Lane], [President Threatens to Block Student's Honors Program Recommendation to Force Her to Sleep With Him], and [Hypocritical Scum of the Education World].

All three topics were locked in the top three spots on the local trending list, each with tens of thousands of comments, all of them full of insults.

And Emily herself was the one who started it all.

My hands shook as I opened Emily's accusatory exposé. Every word was like a knife, every sentence a condemnation, like I was a depraved monster.

In the post, Emily wrote in a tearful, desperate tone: [Last night at eight, I went to Edward's dorm to report on the student council's year-end work, as usual. But he suddenly shut the door and locked the windows.

[He told me that if I slept with him, he would recommend me for the Student's Honors Program. If I said no, not only would I lose my chance at the program, but he would also make sure I couldn't stay at Riverdale University.

[I fought back with everything I had, but he got angry and started groping me and forcing himself on me.

[I know people will judge me for speaking out, but I can't take it anymore. I want everyone to see Edward for the hypocrite he really is.]

Below the post, there was also a three-minute audio recording attached.

I tapped play. My voice came through, cold, sleazy, and full of threat. "Emily, the Honors Program recommendation goes through me. If you do what I say, everything will be fine. But if you refuse, you'll never get a chance in this life."

The voice was almost identical to mine, and even the pauses and tone were spot on.

If I didn't know for a fact that I wasn't in my dorm at eight last night, I might have believed it was really me.

This was a total fake recording.

But no one believed me, not the internet, not the students, and not even my own family.

My phone started ringing like crazy again. It was my wife, Susan Finch.

As soon as I picked up, I heard her crying. "Edward, what is happening? People all over the internet are cursing you out. Someone threw paint all over our front door. Our daughter has been crying nonstop. Please, say something."

Hearing Susan cry like that tore me apart. My daughter was only ten years old. She was innocent and pure, but because of these false accusations, she was being targeted and dragged into this online hate.

"Please, believe me, Susan. I didn't do it. This is all a setup, all of it," I choked out, my voice hoarse as I tried to explain.

Susan was on the verge of breaking down. "What does it matter if I believe you? The whole internet is calling you a pervert! Everyone at school is saying the same thing.

"Someone called, calling me the wife of a pervert, and our daughter a little freak..."

I couldn't hear the rest. I was overwhelmed by rage, sadness, helplessness, and frustration.

I wanted to scream, to defend myself, to tell everyone the truth, that I was innocent. But when I opened my mouth, I realized I couldn't say a word.

Because I couldn't tell anyone where I really was at eight last night.

It was tied to national secrets, to a major espionage case that hadn't been solved yet. Even if the whole world turned against me and the internet was full of hate, I couldn't breathe a word.