Wendy became livid at that. “This has nothing to do with Howell, so don’t rope him into this, sir. Also, there’s nothing going on between me and Howell, we’re just in a neutral teacher-student relationship. You know what, I rather resign from my post right now knowing that you’re threatening to fire me if I don’t take the matter public. I refuse to bear the responsibility for what those degenerates did to me, and I’ll continue to seek justice for myself from the police once I resign,” she fumed.
“I’m afraid you don’t even have a say in this. May I remind you again that I’M the president of this institute?” President Burke hollered.
She frowned. It seemed to her that if she didn’t yield, he wasn’t about to let her retain her post in the university so easily.
“From what I know, you only got to your position right now due to Master Henson’s help, right sir? I don’t suppose you’ve forgotten what he’s instructed you to do before you took office?” she argued.
It was only then that Burke recalled what he’d said to him. Master Henson had instructed him to take good care of Wendy.
But after his display towards her that day, it was obvious to Burke that he didn’t take too kindly to her, so why should he listen to her requests now?
Not one to be threatened, he looked at her and continued in a stern tone, “Huh, if that’s the case, then you leave me no choice. I’ll be the one to make decisions for you then. I’m the president of this establishment, after all. So, if I fire you, I doubt if any other institute would want to take you in,” he scoffed.
She could merely nod as she clenched her fists tight. “I won’t put up a fight if the university decides to fire me out of my misgivings, but to fire me over nothing I did wrong? I absolutely refuse to give in, no matter what you say,” she said stubbornly then
fished out her phone to call Henson.
He picked up almost immediately as always. “Something’s happened to me on campus, Henson,” she said after taking a deep breath.
“Howell told me. The way you handled it was outstanding, by the way. Calling the police was a nice touch, it’ll help prove your innocence soon,” he said.
“But… I have another problem now,” she muttered.
“What is it?” he asked.
“The president told me that I was the one who was behind all the uproar on campus, and he wanted me to review the matter publicly, if not he’s threatening to fire me,” she explained.
“He personally said these to you?” he asked.
She nodded and said, “Yep, I’m even in his office right now. I told him I’ll resign if I actually did anything wrong, but-”
“I get it. Just hand your phone over to him,” he instructed.
She then walked up to her boss and said, “Master Henson wants to talk to you,”
Burke gasped at that. He didn’t think she’d actually snitch on him to Master Henson.
He later grabbed the phone from her hands with an icy look on his face. “Good day, Master Henson,” he greeted formally.
“I heard everything from Wendy, Burke. I asked you to take good care of her, and you made her feel bad instead. Not only did you not do what you’re supposed to do, you even made it worse. I didn’t know you liked butting heads with me so much, Burke,” Henson replied coldly.
“I don’t think it’s fair of you to shove all the blame onto me though, Master Henson. There are just too many rumours about Miss Evans floating around campus right now. Even the other lecturers have come to me complaining about how it’s affecting their student’s performances in class and that they want me to put an end to this,” Burke reasoned.
“And that’s your problem. Not only did you fail to get this matter under control, you even hoisted all the blame onto the victims. I don’t suppose San Diego University needs such a president like you, does it? Please do let me know if you’re not up for the task at your earliest convenience, I have people who are lining up just to take your spot,” Henson threatened.
After realising that Henson was enraged at him, Burke knew that he’d stepped on the toes of the only person in the whole of San Diego he should never ever step on.
He shot Wendy a look of mild annoyance afterwards, but the words that followed didn’t reflect that at all. “I get what you’re trying to say, Master Henson, but I promise to make everything right again soon. Rest assured, I won’t make Miss Evans feel wronged ever again moving forward,” he cooed
then returned her phone back to her.
She then promptly hung up after talking to Henson for a bit.
“What are you to him exactly, Miss Evans?” Burke asked as he stared at her quizzically.
She calmly and collectedly put her phone back into her pantpocket before speaking. “You don’t need to know what my relationship with him is. I only have one goal here, and that is to work in a job I’m qualified for and put in my best.
“I know you must be mad at me just because I talked back to you just now, but I could say the same to you too, you know. I could say that I was disappointed at how you handled the matter so frigidly too. If I really were just an ordinary professor’s assistant, I’d probably be fired by now after getting my *ss handed to me today. From the way I see it, I wasn’t the one who caused this whole thing to boil over on campus, it was you,” she sneered.
Burke frowned at that. Nobody on campus would ever dare to talk to him like that, apart from this woman whom Henson stuck his back out for.
Initially, he assumed that having her on his side would prove useful to him in the future,
but it sure felt like a double-edged sword that was pressing on his throat right now.
Having her on his side could either be a curse or blessing, it seemed.
“Well, since Master Henson has already said it himself, I suppose I have to obey his wishes now, but I really hope that you don’t get caught up in such unflattering news in the future as well, Miss Ev-”
“When the police uncover the truth behind all of this and prove my innocence, I’ll be looking forward to hearing your apology, sir. I’m pretty sure I know how to steer clear of ‘unflattering news’ more than anyone, so there’s no reason why I should just be humiliated like this without putting up a fight,” she interrupted and
gave him a bow before leaving his office.
The moment she left his office, she let out a big breath. Henson… was truly her guardian angel.
Upon recounting the year, she felt that she’d landed herself in so many pickles. Thinking of all the rumours she got caught up in just a few months before
and the people who were there to witness it… she wondered if she was truly unlucky or not.
The police prioritised the investigation since Henson stepped in.
However, the rumours floating around campus didn’t cease even as the
investigation ensued.
The police finally found a lead two days later.
After comparing IPs and cross-referencing with the time of posting, they finally found out that the poster uploaded the thread from their own home.
Wendy was both somewhat shocked and sad to finally hear the name of the culprit behind the post, but she still steeled her expression outwardly.
So it turned out to be Gill…
She’d just about had it up to here with her at this point. It was only time until she finally cracked.
But what Gill wasn’t aware of was that after that incident with Cael, Wendy could stomach cyberbullying much better now.
After she received a notice from the police, she hailed a cab to go to the police station where Gill was being detained.
A middle-aged man dressed in a suit who was standing in a corner slowly went up to her after seeing her come in the door. He walked up to her to greet her, “Good day, Miss Evans. I’ve been sent here by the Charles Group to be your lawyer for this case, so from now on I’ll be handling your case to help you fix your reputation,”
“Good day, Mr. Lawyer. Did Master Henson send you here?” she asked through pursed lips.
“That’s right,” he said.
“I’ll leave everything in your hands then,” she said.
“You’re too kind, Miss Evans,” he replied cordially.
Gill, who was sitting behind her heard Wendy’s voice, so she turned to look.
Her gaze was full of disdain as she got up from her seat to glare at Wendy. “It’s true that I was the one who posted the thread. I’m willing to admit to what I did, but what gave you the right to report me to the police? I’ll have you know all the photos attached were authentic and not photoshopped at all. Just admit that I caught you in the act,” she hollered.
Wendy raised her eyebrows slightly at that. “I don’t care if the photos are faked or not, I just take issue with the fact that you wrote that I’m a spoilt pet raised by the rich and that my life is trash. Were your harsh words not faked as well? And what makes you think I should take your word as fact? You’re not speaking based on evidence right now, are you? So, what gives?” she clapped back.