Expelled, Betrayed, and $100M Richer

Chapter 4

Ethan took hold of the computer mouse, fully expecting the recorded video to prove his innocence once and for all.

His fingers clicked rapidly through the files on the monitor screen. He opened the main video folder, eager to show the truth to the entire room.

A cold wave of dread washed over him as nothing appeared on the display. The screen remained completely blank, showing an empty gray box with zero video files saved inside.

"No, this cannot be right," Ethan whispered in sheer disbelief, his hands shaking with sudden fear. "The program was running when I left this morning, so where is the footage?"

He clicked the refresh button again and again, but the monitor showed nothing new. A mocking red warning sign flashed on the screen, stating that the video feed was lost.

Panic surged through Ethan's chest like an icy shock, stealing all the breath from his lungs. His heart hammered wildly as he spun away from the desk, his terrified eyes shooting straight up toward the corner of the wall.

He stepped up onto his wooden chair, lifting his trembling hands toward the small security camera mounted near the ceiling.

To his absolute horror, the connecting wires had been completely severed. The thin black cords hung loose, showing clean, deliberate cuts. Someone had purposely sliced through them before he even returned to the apartment. The camera hadn't recorded a single second of Marcus and Chloe.

"The wires were cut," Ethan choked out, his voice cracking with sheer terror and disbelief. "Someone cut the wires!"

From the doorway, Julian leaned forward, pointing his phone camera directly at the blank monitor. A cruel, triumphant grin spread across his face.

"Look at that blank screen, everyone!" Julian shouted, laughing in mocking delight. "There is no video! The scholarship beggar was lying!"

Noticing Ethan's sudden panic and frozen despair, Marcus and Chloe seized the moment with terrifying speed. They knew this was their final chance to destroy him completely, amplifying their acting to a fever pitch.

Chloe collapsed on the floor, bursting into deep, agonizing sobs that filled the room. She buried her face in her hands, shaking violently like a hunted victim trapped with a monster.

"He was lying to ruin my life!" Chloe shrieked, her voice trembling with masterclass fake terror. "He made up this disgusting story just to punish me because I refused to stay with him!"

She pulled the white bedsheet tightly around her bare shoulders, weeping hysterically for the flashing cameras. 

"I was only trying to study my math book, and Ethan dared to accuse me of something like this!,” Chloe sobbed, looking up at the surrounding students with wide, terrified eyes. "He is so violent, and I was terrified he would hurt me!"

Beside her on the floor, Marcus played the role of a devastated, broken father. He clutched his hands against his chest, weeping dramatically over his son's shocking mental breakdown and baseless fabrications.

"What kind of person have you become, Ethan?" Marcus cried out, rocking back and forth on his knees. "How could you say such filthy, wicked things about your own loving father?"

Hot tears rolled down Marcus's cheeks as he looked up at the recording phones.

"He has lost his mind completely!" Marcus wailed, beating his chest with heavy thumps. "My poor son has finally lost it!"

The surrounding students looked from the blank monitor to Ethan's helpless silence. Seeing that he had no proof to show, the crowd turned on him with fury.

A vicious barrage of cruel insults erupted from the students, and they glared at Ethan with hatred, pointing their bright phone cameras directly into his bruised face.

"You're a desperate liar and a monster!" Garrett yelled angrily. "You made up that sick lie about your own father just to cover up your own insane jealousy!"

"He is supposed to be locked inside a psychiatric ward!" a girl shouted, waving her hand in a show of disappointment. 

"A disgusting scholarship leech who fabricates lies to frame his own family!" Brett sneered venomously. "Westley Academy needs to kick this dangerous criminal out!"

Ethan stood by the desk, his dry lips parting as he tried to speak. The heavy weight of their poisonous words crushed his chest, making it impossible to utter a word.  

"Listen to me, all of you!" Ethan shouted, raising his bruised hands in a desperate gesture. "They planned this whole thing together! They're lying!"

"Shut your mouth, Ethan!" Julian barked with a cold laugh. "Nobody believes a word you say anymore, because the blank monitor proves you're lying!"

Deep beneath their outward distress, Marcus and Chloe exchanged a swift, cold glance. A secret, wicked smile touched their lips as they recalled quietly disabling the camera when they got inside.

"I deeply regret the day I ever looked at you, let alone accepted your proposal, Ethan," Chloe cried softly, her voice dripping with venom as she hypocritically wiped her completely fake tears with the back of her left hand. "I actually thought you were a kind, trusting person. I never imagined you would turn into a monster far worse than anyone else on this campus!"

"Chloe, stop telling these monstrous lies!" Ethan pleaded, his voice cracking with unbearable agony as he reached out a trembling hand toward her. "You know you slept with him! You know what the both of you did!"

Before Ethan could utter another word, heavy, thudding boots stomped loudly down the narrow hallway, drowning out his pleas. Three campus security officers pushed roughly through the jeering crowd of students, barging directly into the messy bedroom.

"What on earth is going on here?" the lead guard, Officer Briggs, demanded in a stern, booming voice that echoed off the walls. 

He looked around the room, seeing Marcus weeping miserably and clutching his chest on the floor, and Chloe trembling while clutching the white bedsheet to her bare chest in terror.

"Officer, you need to arrest this violent boy right now!" Julian shouted, pushing his way to the front. "He just assaulted this poor, defenseless young woman, viciously attacked his elderly father, and fabricated crazy lies just to cover up his monstrous crimes!"

"He threatened to beat me half to death, officer!" Marcus wailed loudly from the floor, rocking back and forth on his knees with theatrical despair. "Please, I am begging you to protect us from my own flesh and blood before he goes completely out of his mind!"

Officer Briggs nodded with a hard frown, his eyes locking onto Ethan's bruised, blood-streaked face with absolute disgust. 

"That is enough out of you, young man. You are coming with us to the disciplinary committe office right now."

Several angry students surged forward together, grabbing Ethan roughly by the arms. Rough hands twisted his wrists mercilessly behind his back, digging cruelly into his aching bruises and freshly cracked ribs.

"Wait, officer, please listen to what really happened!" Ethan cried out, struggling desperately against their grip. "They cut the security camera wires on purpose so I could not show you the truth!"

"Save your lying excuses for the administration, boy!" Officer Briggs barked, twisting Ethan's arm even higher. 

The sharp jolt of agony shot straight through his cracked ribs, making him gasp out loud in pain.

They dragged him out of the apartment building and down the narrow stairs. His wet boots scraped fast against the steps as the guards ignored his desperate protests.

The laughing, jeering crowd followed right behind them, holding their bright phone screens up high. They recorded Ethan being hauled down the stairwell like a dangerous animal caught in a trap.

"Throw him out of Westley Academy once and for all!" Garrett yelled from the landing, pumping his fist in triumph. "We do not want liars and abusers walking on the same campus grounds with honest students like us!"

They hauled him across the flooded cobblestone paths of the campus in the pouring rain. The freezing wind whipped through his soaked clothing, chilling his shivering skin down to the bone.

Students walking beneath umbrellas stopped along the stone pathways to watch the humiliating scene. They whispered among themselves, pointing their fingers and sneering at the bruised scholarship boy being marched away in shame.

They marched him straight into the grand administration building, pushing him forcefully through the doors. Wet, muddy puddles dripped from his torn clothes on the floors of the lobby.

Officer Briggs marched Ethan down the quiet corridor and shoved him hard through the heavy mahogany doors of the disciplinary committee office.

Ethan stumbled and fell roughly on the cold floor, his knees slamming hard against the hard tile. Breathing heavily, he slowly raised his head, wiping the tears from his burning eyes.

A sudden wave of relief washed over him like warm sunlight as his gaze met the familiar figure sitting behind the massive main desk. It was the respected Dean of the Disciplinary Committee, Dean Raymond.

Ethan immediately remembered that Dean was his late mother's closest and most trusted friend. Dean Cole was the sole person who had stood by him to fight for justice after her tragic death.

The Dean had fought tirelessly during the painful investigation into the accident that took her life, protecting Ethan from every corrupt official who tried to sweep the truth under the rug back then.

Knowing the Dean's strict commitment to honesty and his deep, unwavering affection for his mother, Ethan pushed himself up on his feet. A quiet reassurance and a sudden sense of safety settled warmly inside his aching, battered heart.

He convinced himself that even with the malicious lies and sabotaged evidence stacked against him, the absolute worst punishment he could possibly face under the Dean's fair and righteous judgment was a brief two-day suspension.

Since the final exam was still four days away, he would return in time to write the exam, claim his rightful place as the overall best student, and finally fulfill his mother’s dream.

Or so he thought.