Chapter 12
The moment those words left her lips, everyone’s expressions changed.
Hannah almost failed to maintain her innocent facade and shrieked,
“What nonsense are you spouting?!”
At that moment, Ethan rushed in, clearly having come straight from somewhere, looking
disheveled and tense.
When he saw Elijah lying pale and weak on the bed, his first instinct was to walk over to her, only
for Hannah to throw herself into his arms.
“Ethan… is Elijah hurt in the head?” she cried softly, voice trembling.
“She just accused me of instigating a crime! That’s terrifying! Can we get her a better doctor to
check her mental state?”
Ethan had no choice but to comfort the sobbing Hannah in his arms.
It took him a long moment before he finally remembered Elijah on the hospital bed, but when he
turned, she had already turned her face away from him.
After coaxing Hannah out of the room, the ward fell quiet, leaving just the two of them.
Elijah’s voice was still hoarse, but unnervingly calm as she spoke.
“In the car, Ivan tried to rape me–he said Hannah told him I was someone you had played and discarded, so he could do whatever he wanted to me.
The flatness of her tone only made Ethan’s breath catch. He froze, stunned.
Trying his best to keep his composure, he murmured,
“Maybe… maybe you misheard? Hannah wouldn’t say something like that-”
Elijah gave a cold, humorless laugh.
“I know where your loyalties lie, Ethan. I get it.”
“And I also know Hannah won’t ever face any real consequences, so I’m just telling you this once.
Whether you believe me or not… I don’t care.”
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The room fell into silence again.
After a long pause, Ethan stood up, quietly closed the door behind him, and left.
Elijah, expressionless, took the apple he had carefully peeled for her and threw it straight into the
trash.
Elijah’s injuries weren’t serious, so she was discharged from the hospital quickly.
There was only one day left before she officially moved out of the Morgan residence.
She originally planned to finish her remaining coursework so she could free up time to look for a
new house.
But as she walked across campus, she quickly noticed the strange, disdainful looks people were giving her eyes full of mockery and curiosity.
“Can you
at him…”
believe it? She’s just somebody else’s pathetic simp, and she still keeps throwing herself
“I heard at first she acted all high and mighty, saying she wasn’t interested in Ivan Collins, but the next day she jumped right into his arms…”
“Please, she just wants his money! That’s why she agreed to the date and even tried to seduce him.”
“Ivan already said he wasn’t into her, and she still lashed out and kicked him in anger!”
“Some people… honestly.”
Piecing together the whispers and gossip, Elijah realized exactly what kind of story had been spread
about her.
But this wasn’t new. She had heard the same tone before, malicious, contemptuous,
condescending.
Sweeping her gaze over the gawkers, she spoke coldly.
“You all believe his words just like that?”
Then, a faint, almost sardonic smile curved her lips.
“Well, if you’re that sure of yourselves, let me tell you this–Ivan is about to be arrested.”
A ripple of shock ran through the crowd.
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And sure enough, before the end of an open lecture that afternoon, Ivan was dragged away by the police. The entire campus exploded into heated chatter.
Elijah, however, wasn’t surprised at all.
The moment she had realized something was wrong in the car, she had discreetly started a
recording.
That audio, combined with her medical report, had already been submitted to the police before she even returned to school.
With the charges of attempted rape, Ivan should have been done for.
But Elijah had underestimated just how far Ethan’s meddling would go.
Ivan was released after just one day.
It turned out that Ethan had signed a settlement agreement on her behalf, without her consent.
Ethan tried to explain himself later, his tone full of guilt, but his words cut like knives.
“Hannah has always considered Ivan a friend. She cried all night yesterday; her eyes were swollen.”
“I listened to that recording. It’s ugly, yes. But drunk people talk nonsense all the time. You can’t use that to claim Hannah was involved.”
He sighed deeply, his gaze soft with shallow remorse.
“Look, Ivan is a scumbag, no denying that. But Hannah is pure. She’s already devastated as it is. If she found out the kind of person Ivan really is, it would break her completely.”
“Please, Elijah… Hannah’s not as strong as you are. And you weren’t… you know, actually harmed. So… can’t we just let this go?”
At that moment, Elijah thought she had never hated Ethan more.
Ever since she came back, reborn, she had deliberately kept to herself. She had stayed out of trouble, asked for nothing, wanted nothing more than to live quietly.
And yet… First, her artwork was stolen and paraded around under someone else’s name. Then she
endured the trauma of almost being assaulted.
And now, even her right to justice was being stripped away by the very man who had wronged her
the most.
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Why wouldn’t these people leave her alone?!
Finally, Elijah’s composure snapped.
SMACK!
Her hand came down hard, delivering a slap so sharp it echoed through the room.
