Unmasking Campus Betrayal

Synopsis

I arrived at the student government meeting forty-five minutes early, just as I always did. The polished conference room in Columbia's Hamilton Hall was still empty, morning light streaming through the tall windows. Perfect. I needed the quiet to arrange my materials before everyone arrived. I set my stack of color-coded binders on the treasurer's desk—blue for expenditures, green for income, red for reconciliation reports. Each tab was meticulously labeled, each spreadsheet triple-checked. The familiar ritual calmed my nerves. Numbers never lied. Numbers were safe. "You're always so prepared, Dawnie." Ryan's voice made me look up, a smile already forming. He stood in the doorway, student body president pin gleaming on his perfectly pressed blazer. My heart did that little skip it had been doing since we were twelve. "Just doing my job," I said, straightening the already-straight row of binders. "Big meeting today." He crossed the room and dropped a kiss on my forehead. "You worry too much. It's just a standard financial review." Something in his tone made me pause, but before I could analyze it, he was already moving away, checking his phone. Ryan had been distracted lately—graduation stress, I'd told myself. "We're still on for the party tonight, right?" I asked, watching him carefully. "Of course," he said without looking up. "Wouldn't miss it." By 9 AM, the room had filled with student representatives, faculty advisors, and even Dean Miller himself. I felt a flutter of anxiety at the unusually high attendance but pushed it aside. My records