Chapter 2
The pounding on the door kept getting louder. Some students had started kicking it, banging hard enough that the old dorm door looked like it could fall apart any second.
I peeked through the peephole, and my heart dropped.
The hallway was packed. At least a hundred Riverdale University students, maybe more. They were holding rocks, glass bottles, and bags of trash. Their faces were twisted with rage and disgust, and their eyes burned like they wanted to eat me alive.
Right at the front stood Emily. She was in a white dress, her eyes red and swollen, tear tracks still on her cheeks. She looked so pitiful and wronged that it would make anyone's heart ache.
The moment she noticed me at the peephole, she lifted her head and cried out to the crowd, "It's him! Edward molested me. I'm telling the truth."
As soon as her words fell, the crowd went wild.
"Beat this pervert to death!"
"Get out and apologize to Emily!"
"Riverdale University doesn't need a scumbag like you as president."
Rocks, bottles, and trash slammed against the door, splattering it with filth and filling the air with a disgusting stench.
I leaned against the door, feeling ice in my veins.
For three years, I gave everything I had to Riverdale University, sweating blood, expanding the campus, recruiting better teachers, pushing the school to new heights. I took a regular college and made it one of the top schools in the state.
I really thought I'd done right by the school and the students, and could look myself in the mirror.
But now, to them, I'm nothing but a creep, a disgrace, and total scum.
Right then, my phone rang again. It was Martin Warren, the chairman of the school board of trustees.
I took a deep breath and hit answer.
"Edward, what the hell did you do?" Martin's voice was practically exploding with anger, and he didn't bother hiding his disgust. "The whole school's in chaos, the education bureau's been calling, demanding answers. Do you realize how much trouble you've brought on us?"
"Martin, I'm being set up. I never touched Emily," I said calmly.
"Set up?" Martin sneered. "She's got recordings, witnesses, and the whole internet's seen it. How am I supposed to believe you? Edward, listen up. If you really did this, you're not fit to be president. Step down, now."
"I didn't do it, and I won't resign," I answered flatly.
"Still stubborn, huh!" Martin snapped, then slammed the call shut.
Right after that, the vice president, the academic director, and every department head blew up my phone. Not a single one believed me, endless grilling, accusations, and demands for me to confess.
People who used to treat me like a VIP now looked at me like I was already behind bars.
The door was already cracked from all the kicking, ready to give way any second. I could hear the students outside, yelling they were going to storm in and kill me.
Despair, endless and suffocating, swallowed me whole.
I wasn't afraid of being misunderstood or blamed. What terrified me was my family getting dragged into this. And the thought that I'd be stuck with this filthy accusation forever, that even after I was gone, I'd never be able to clear my name.
I couldn't tell the truth. All I could do was suffer in silence.
*****
With a deafening bang, the dorm door was finally smashed open.
Students poured in, crowding around me. Spit sprayed all over my face, and fists and feet hammered me from every direction, no mercy at all. And they kept cursing.
"You pervert!"
"Scum!"
"Beat him to death!"
I didn't fight back. I clutched my head and huddled in the corner. Pain tore through my body, but compared to the agony in my heart, the humiliation and despair eating me alive were so much worse.
Emily stood at the edge of the crowd, holding up her phone and starting a livestream.
The camera zoomed in on my miserable state, and she cried with tears streaming down her face for everyone watching. "Everyone, look! This is the principal who molested me. He refuses to admit it and keeps making excuses."
The number of viewers in the livestream was skyrocketing in real time. Ten thousand, a hundred thousand, fifty thousand, a million...
The whole internet was watching me get beaten up like I was public enemy number one. The comment section was nothing but hate.
[Someone like him should be dead.]
[Poor Emily, she's so pitiful.]
[Go to hell. You're a disgrace to education.]
I squeezed my eyes shut, taking the blows, with nothing but curses and ridicule from the stream ringing in my ears.
When I thought I was about to get beaten to death, the wail of police sirens cut through the chaos. A few local police officers burst in, pulling the students away from me. "Police, clear the way!"
The lead officer gave me a cold look, pulled out a pair of handcuffs, and with a click, locked them onto my wrists. The icy touch of the metal made me shudder all over.
He said, "Edward Finch, you've been reported for forcible molestation and insult. You're coming with us to the station for questioning!"
I looked up at the officer, wanting to say I was innocent, but the words died in my throat. I couldn't say it. I absolutely couldn't.
The officers escorted me out.
The students parted to let us through, but they kept throwing trash, soda cans, and shouting curses. A half‑full water bottle smacked against my head, liquid running down my face. Sticky soda soaked into my clothes. The smell was disgusting.
Emily's livestream camera followed me the whole way, showing every humiliating detail to millions of viewers online.
"See that, everyone? The bad guy finally got caught! Justice served." She flashed the camera a hint of smug satisfaction.
The officers escorted me into the police car, and the moment the door slammed shut, the noise of the crowd faded away, but the cold dread inside me lingered.
The car started up and pulled away from Riverdale University.
I sat in the back seat, hands cuffed, face and clothes smeared with filth, looking like a convicted felon.
In the rearview mirror, I saw the students cheering and celebrating, and Emily soaking up the sympathy, looking like the perfect innocent in the middle of the crowd.
The whole internet was cheering because I'd been arrested.
Even though I was innocent, I had to carry the disgrace and be thrown into a cell at the police station.