Some rumours, when allowed to fester, were very hard to quell indeed.
Wendy had already started avoiding Howell deliberately on campus because of that.
She’d also already explained her situation with Howell to her students, that they only have a student-teacher relationship, but this still didn’t deter people from making noise on the forums.
She would be fine if there were only rumours about them floating around campus, but the worst came when a new post alleging that they’d written the ‘truth’ about her started making its rounds on the forum.
The news even had a more resounding headline.
The post stated that she was a woman who had been pampered by many rich men and that she was ruthless and willing to do anything just to get her way. It stated that Wendy Nicholson of San Diego University was a shameless woman.
There were a lot of photos attached in the article too.
There was one of her and Gorman sitting on the grass with their backs to one another reading books together,
another where she met Bain in private and one where she shared a meal together with him in the cafeteria,
and even the most recent one where she met Ross at the campus gates.
There was also a picture of her in a luxurious car. The moment her gaze landed on the car, she broke out in a cold sweat out of fear as it was Henson’s car. Thankfully, he wasn’t in the car at the time.
Another depicted her listening intently to Howell as he whispered into her ear on campus.
Not to mention the photos of her before she graduated, depicting her talking to the parents of her male students in front of their homes or at their doors.
It was obvious that someone had stalked her, otherwise, how could they have snapped up so many… strange pictures.
The nastily-worded text not only blamed her for messing up her own life, it even leaked some of her brother’s, Ross’, Howell’s and even a few of her student’s and their parent’s private information.
While she sat in her office scrolling down on the post, her expression gradually turned overcast.
Carmen couldn’t help but probe when she noticed Wendy’s glum expression. “Who’d do something like this to you, Miss Evans?” she asked.
“Come on, Carmen, we’re from the same office. It’s already come to this, you don’t need to add to her troubles,” Linda snapped as she shot Carmen a glare.
“Don’t get mad at me, Linda. I was just asking out of my concern for her,” Carmen muttered.
“I doubt it. I have a feeling you’re just asking so that you can get information no one else knows out of her,” Linda accused.
Carmen piped up, “I-”
“No need to kick up a fuss, Carmen,” Wendy interrupted as she faced her. “I’m aware all of you have questions, but I really don’t know what to tell you all. It was as if the person who took these pictures planned all of this beforehand, since they depict all of the men I know in my life. There were even pictures of my brother, some of the parent’s of my students, all of whom I have a good relationship with.
“But… apart from Gorman, I haven’t gone to the next step with any of them. So, it seems to me that the original poster intends to use this article to smear my name. However, I don’t really care that my name’s being slandered, I just have an issue with how they leaked other people’s private information with obvious malicious intent,” she deduced.
“How do you plan to deal with this then, Miss Evans?” Linda asked with a frown.
Since they shared the same office, Carmen instinctively stood on Wendy’s side. “What say we ask the university to take it down,” she suggested.
“I feel the three of you are taking this a bit too lightly. It’d be useless to delete the post now since the majority of the student body have already seen it, plus… you deleting the post would only make people think that you’ve got something to hide,” Ian spoke up.
“Well, what’d you got?” Carmen shot.
“I’ll need some time to come up with a solution,” he muttered after thinking about it a while.
After giving it some thought, Wendy picked up her phone and started dialing a number.
“Good day, I’d like to report that I’ve been openly defamed on the university forums. Someone apparently leaked the identity of a few people I know,” she announced on the phone.
The three of them looked at her in astonishment,
but Wendy was as cool as a cucumber. It was true that one shouldn’t air their dirty laundry, but she wasn’t about to just sit there and take it either.
The moment she hung up, Carmen gasped in shock, “Why’d you take this to the police, Miss Evans? Won’t even more people know about this now?”
“Ian’s right, I don’t plan on resolving this matter in a civil way. Me deleting the post would only mean that I’d be admitting to my guilt when I clearly didn’t do anything wrong, so why should I give in? By getting the police involved, we can find out who the perpetuator is and let them get punished by the law. What’s not to like about that,” Wendy explained.
Linda then looked at her and gave her a thumbs up.
With her lips pursed, Wendy was confident knowing that Linda would always take her side.
The police showed up at their door half an hour later.
Upon noticing that there were a few policemen around, a bunch of staff came out of their offices to see what all the fuss was about.
After obtaining all the details, the police started investigating.
In the meantime, Henson had just got off a call with his little brother Howell.
He was elated that Wendy had decided to go to the cops for the matter.
So, instead of phoning her up, he phoned the chief officer
and even assigned two cyber experts to visit the station to help him out with the case.
Because of the incident, campus became even livelier and bustling with discussion after people started spreading news about it.
When noontime rolled around, the president called Wendy to his office.
Initially, he thought that Wendy was a member of Master Howell’s posse, which was why he daren’t offend her at all costs at first,
but after having dinner with her and Master Henson the other night, it appeared to him that Master Henson didn’t seem to favour the idea of her and Howell going out together.
Thus, he reckoned that he needn’t be scared of offending Wendy anymore.
His face naturally became more stern after his gaze landed on her. “Do you know why I called you here today, Wendy?” he asked.
She shook her head and said, “I’ve no clue, so do enlighten me, sir,”
“I’ll have you know my campus is in an uproar today after the little stunt you pulled. How are you going to solve it?” he accused.
“I’ve already resolved it,” she answered plainly.
He started ranting again, “I heard you even got the police involved. Don’t you think my campus has endured enough negative press until now? I can’t believe the distinguished San Diego University has been dragged into the mud because of a professor’s assistant of the likes of you. To think you even called the cops for this. Now because of you, the name of my university-”
“President Burke,” she interrupted. “With all due respect, I hope you can talk to me with more impartiality. I’ll have you know I’m the victim in all of this as well,”
“You? The victim? You can’t possibly convince me that those pictures were forged,” he said incredulously.
“They weren’t forged. All of them were real, but you can’t tell me that you haven’t spoken to the opposite sex before, sir. Since you have, tell me how do any of those pictures mean that I’ve gotten into illicit relationships with all the men pictured? The original poster obviously weaved lies and slandered me in the post, so are you telling me that you honestly plan on letting them get away with it?” she argued.
“Wendy!” Burke snapped as he stamped his hands on his desk. “I am the President of this institute. You shall speak with me with respect,” he demanded.
“I’m fully aware of that. You may be the president of the university and my superior, but I still wish that you’d speak to me with some impartiality. I still can’t believe that instead of standing behind your subordinate’s back when they’ve been wrongly accused, you even went so far as to berate me,” she retorted.
“You-” he cried and continued in an outraged tone. “Just admit that you’re the cause behind all the uproar on campus right now,”
“This has nothing to do with me, it’s the people who’ve slandered me who should bear all of the responsibility for everything they’ve done. I’ve done nothing wrong, so I don’t know why I should just go down like this for no reason,” she hollered.
“It appears to me that you’re still unaware of the severity of the situation, Wendy. Don’t think for a second that just because Master Howell has your back that you can do as you please. I want you to go public in reviewing the case, if you refuse, I’m afraid I’m going to have to let you go from the university,” he threatened.