Chapter 2 - THE ARREST ORDER
Graham Voss wore the kind of smile people used at funerals when they had already counted the inheritance.
He was the chairman of Voss Capital and a member of Westbridge’s board. For twenty years, he had competed with my father for companies, contracts, and influence.
Now he was staring at me as if he had been waiting for this moment.
Chief Nolan held up the document.
“Amelia Sterling, you’re accused of accessing confidential university financial records and stealing proprietary donor information.”
My father stepped between us.
“She needs medical attention.”
“She needs to answer questions,” Voss replied. “Unless Sterling Global believes its name places her above the law.”
The crowd began whispering.
Veronica recovered quickly.
“I knew it,” she said to her livestream. “She’s a criminal.”
Five minutes earlier, she had been assaulting me. Now she was playing the victim.
That was Veronica’s real talent. She could change roles before anyone noticed the truth.
My father’s attorney, Dana Brooks, took the order from Nolan.
“This isn’t an arrest warrant,” she said. “It’s an internal detention request signed by Dean Porter.”
“Then Amelia won’t be detained,” my father said.
I touched his arm.
“Wait.”
He looked at me.
For three years, I had asked him to let me attend Westbridge without drivers, bodyguards, or the Sterling name. I wanted to know whether I could succeed without people fearing my father.
That experiment was over.
But I wasn’t leaving as a victim.
“Show me the evidence,” I told Nolan.
He opened a folder. Inside were server logs showing that my student account had entered the university’s restricted donor database at 2:14 that morning.
“I was in my dorm,” I said.
“Can anyone confirm that?”
“My roommate.”
Nolan’s expression changed.
“What?”
“Your roommate, Lily Chen, gave us a statement. She said you left shortly before two.”
That made no sense. Lily was my closest friend at Westbridge. She knew everything except who my father was.
Nolan held out a printed page.
At the bottom was Lily’s signature.
My father leaned close. “Say the word, and we leave.”
“No. If I leave now, Voss controls the story.”
I looked at Veronica’s phone on the ground. Thousands of people were still watching.
“I’ll answer every question,” I said. “But first, arrest the people who assaulted me on camera.”
Chief Nolan glanced at Voss.
That tiny movement told me who was giving the orders.
Then my phone vibrated.
A message from Lily appeared on the screen.
May you like
I DIDN’T SIGN THAT STATEMENT. DON’T GO WITH NOLAN. HE KNOWS ABOUT THE CAMERA.
Before I could warn my father, every light on campus went out.
