Page 38 of The Revenge

“Please sit, Miss Anderson,” one of the men says to me as the door closes behind me.

The sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach returns as I sit down, trying to ignore the flashbacks I was having from when I moved into Denali house. Right now, I’d rather have Syn, Royal, and Gemini sitting across from me, because at least I’d have a better idea of what to expect.

“Good morning, Miss Anderson. Thank you for joining us on such short notice. I’m Mr. Woodhouse, head of HR. This is Mr. Ellis from the Professional Conduct and Ethics Committee, and, of course, Dean MacDonald,” the first man tells me.

The dean’s face is the only one I recognize. Aside from his name and face being all over the university website, I remember his speech from the Welcome Assembly on my first day here. Of the three, I think he’s the oldest. There’s more gray than brown in his hair, and wrinkles line his brown eyes. Eyes that are already narrowed in disapproval as he stares at me.

“What’s this about?” I ask, keeping my voice level.

“A serious allegation has been made against Dr. Wright,” Mr. Ellis explains. He is the only man with facial hair; a thick, red beard, matching the thinning hair on the top of his head.

“I’ll cut to the chase.” Mr. Woodhouse picks up the navy, leather-bound folder with the silver crest of JKU that’s lying on the table in front of him. “Has Dr. Wright made any inappropriate advances towards you?”

My heart starts racing. “Inappropriate advances?”

“Are you having relations, sexual or otherwise, with Dr. Wright?” Mr. Woodhouse asks.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Mr. Woodhouse’s eyes narrow, and then he pulls some sheets of paper from the folder before sliding them across the table to me.

Fighting to keep my face as expressionless as possible, I pick up the first photograph. Although Payne’s body is blocking mine, he doesn’t quite hide my ponytail of bright blue hair. I’m sitting on his desk, my legs wrapped around him, as he kisses me. I glance down at the next photograph. In this one, my face isn’t hidden. Neither is the fact that, at this point, I’m now only wearing my bra.

Whoever took the photograph did so from outside.

I’m going to kill them.

The only people who saw me go to Dr. Wright’s office were Syn, Royal, and Gemini.

Syn did accuse me of sleeping with Payne when they met me afterwards.

“As our code of conduct prohibits professors from having relationships with students, Dr. Wright has been suspended without pay, pending the outcome of the hearing. You’re free to tell us what happened, without fear of repercussions from him.”

I’ve accepted that I’m not coming back here, but I won’t be responsible for getting Payne fired in the process.

Fired…

This had been Syn’s plan from the beginning.

One of the initiation challenges he had given me was to seduce Payne.

Before I crumple the photograph up in my hand, I set it down on the table.

“What you’re seeing here is my initiation challenge for joining the Elite. I had to seduce a professor, and I chose Dr. Wright. I kissed him, and when he turned me down, I started to undress. I don’t know where you got these photographs from, but it seems you’re missing the key ones where I get dressed and leave shortly after.”

That story is not too far from the truth, but I’ll tell whatever lies I need to protect Payne.

“The only one who did anything inappropriate was me.”

A smile starts to grow on the Dean’s lips. “Speaking of inappropriate behavior…”

XV

Syn

Anybody who says appearances are not important is a liar.

Looks are the first thing that everybody sees, and how one presents themselves is the first thing to be judged. As my mother says, attractiveness is nothing more than a checklist, and each point can—andshould—be checked off before a person even graduates high school.

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