Part 3The Price of His Secrets: Exposing My "Perfect" Boyfriend

I grabbed a pair of scissors and started snipping their clothes.

One piece, two pieces... It wasn't until the room was littered with ruined fabric that they finally realized what I was doing.

"Holy shit! Are you psychotic?! What are you doing?!"

"Why are you touching my stuff?! I saved up for a whole month just to buy that dress, you're paying for that!!!"

"What the fuck! That's my favorite brand, I paid a fortune for that! You bitch!!"

They lunged at me, clawing and screaming. I immediately spun around, bolted out of the dorm, and locked the door behind me.

Since I couldn't stay in the dorm, I checked into a hotel near campus.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before I got a call from the Dean of Students, summoning me to her office.

When I arrived, I saw my three roommates huddled in the corner. The moment they saw me, their faces twisted into masks of pure victimization.

Mrs. Higgins, the Dean, tapped her finger on the desk and took a slow sip of her coffee.

Her eyes narrowed behind her thin glasses as she looked me up and down, her gaze full of heavy scrutiny.

"Maya, right? I know who you are."

"The girl in the Comp Sci program who's always dressed to the nines. It's hard not to remember you."

"But you need to realize that students come to college to learn, not to compete with each other over material things, and certainly not to feed their vanity."

"Regarding the damage to your roommates' personal property, they have already calculated the exact cost of their losses."

"If you refuse to compensate them, then my hands are tied. I'll have to put a major disciplinary mark on your permanent record."

"Your fast-track admission to grad school will be completely jeopardized by this."

"As for the scandal that's been making waves recently, I've heard all about it. We shouldn't jump to conclusions, but let me remind you: you cannot just take advantage of someone's love and do whatever you please."

"Being pretty isn't currency. Kindness and consideration for others are the virtues a young woman should possess. That boy cared for you so deeply, and your actions have truly chilled everyone to the bone."

"It's no wonder more and more people are criticizing young women today. People like you bring it upon themselves."

The office was quiet. Every single word she said drilled straight into my eardrums.

I pursed my lips. "So you just believe whatever they tell you?"

"As a faculty member, you should at least aim for fairness. If this is just going to be a kangaroo court, then issue whatever punishment you want. Why even bother calling me in?"

Mrs. Higgins didn't take kindly to my defiance. She slammed her coffee mug onto the desk with a heavy thud.

"Aren't you supposedly rich? I am ordering you to pay for the damages by the deadline, and return the money Ethan left with you. If you don't, I will call your parents and have them pay it back."

"We have your parents' phone numbers on file. If you refuse to act like a sensible adult, we'll find some adults who will."

Even though she was sitting down, her years of authority gave her a condescending, threatening glare.

I kept my expression blank. "Call them if you want."

Mrs. Higgins glared at me, her voice dropping dangerously low.

"Let me repeat myself. A major disciplinary mark will absolutely destroy your grad school fellowship. Our university does not allow students of your poor moral character to attend our graduate programs."

My chest tightened slightly. They were the ones refusing to investigate. They were the ones jumping to conclusions. Since this whole thing started, not a single person cared about the truth. They just blindly followed the mob.

I didn't expect a university official to be exactly the same.

I lowered my eyes. "Oh. Then let it destroy it."

I turned around and walked toward the door.

If all my hard work was going to be erased because of this, then to hell with their fellowship.