Chapter 142 THE PERFECT SCHEME
Chapter 142 THE PERFECT SCHEME
DANTE'S POV
The video hits the student's gossip group chat at 4:17:56.
By 4:19:28, I already had three people on the phone about it.
“Pull every fucking copy you can reach! Put pressure on the fucking network if you have to. I want the original file traced right back to its source.”
I switch to a different line without waiting to hear the reply.
“Legal should start with the group chat admins, and the university office! Make it clear this is an obvious violation of the school's policy and a student’s privacy. I want this to be charged as a criminal offense.”
By the third call, my voice is quiet and firm. “Find Savannah’s location, now.”
I end the call and watch the clip once again.
The clip was of a good argument where I was insisting Micah eats something other than pasta and sweets, but without audio, it is misleading.
Plus the caption frames me as some sort of predatory captain and Micah as a helpless rookie.
Please. I would never use my influence to bully Micah.
But for the general public, it is effective and exactly the underdog story that everyone eats up.
I watch the footage once more, before setting it aside with a tight jaw.
Emotions are not needed right now, let's figure a way to contain the first impact first.
The moment I get the confirmation of where Savannah is, the original post has already been deleted by Savannah, and the other accounts are now getting an order to delete their posts.
It won't erase what has already happened, but it will slow down the worst of it.
I send one final instruction to the PR for them to prepare and send out a neutral statement about students' privacy, before I storm off the go and find that bitch that is putting Micah in the spotlight.
I find her alone in one of the smaller and private editing rooms, staring wearily at her laptop with fear.
When I slam the door loudly, she jumps and flinches when she sees me.
“Sit,” I simply say.
She nods blankly, before sitting down with her back pressed up against a wall
I stop a few feet away from her, before looking at her the same way I look at problems that require a permanent solution.
“You are the vermin I've been looking for all along. Plus you also posted that video with your own account?”
I know she's stupid, but I wasn't aware of the severity of it.
“I didn’t mean–”
“You meant to post it,” I cut in, calmly. “By your actions of deleting it quickly, and your reactions now, I suppose you meant to do it subtly, and anonymously. That was probably the stupid mistake you made.”
Her face goes through several expressions in quick rapid successions before she calms herself down forcefully, and assumes a righteous expression.
“People have the right to know just how you treat Micah! You corner him, control him, and force him into a–”
“And you put cameras in our home.”
Her mouth closes after that statement.
For the first time since the changing expressions, she truly looks afraid.
I take one step closer to her, but put enough distance so I don't catch her stupidity.
“You were the one who told Alison about the study hall hoping she'd freak out and interrupt us, but still do it in a private area like that. I already know you arranged the cabin photos, and today you tried painting me as the bad guy, but you still failed. Micah has already found your cameras, and the ones he didn't, I'll destroy them.”
She gasps loudly, and starts to speak but I don’t let her.
“I want you to understand something about this very clearly,” I start. “Right now and even a hundred years later, I have the resources to make sure every school, every internship offer, and even your future employers see how ugly you are. I have all the original timestamps and the proof with the original files, so I will make one thing very clear to you now.”
Savannah takes in a breath with trepidation.
Good. She should be fucking afraid.
“If you contact Micah again–if you so much as find your shadow touching his shadow– I will use all I have, and I don't even mind borrowing what I don't have to make sure you disappear quietly.”
Her eyes fill up quickly with tears. “But I love him.”
“No you dumb holt, you don't love him. You don't know what that means. And even last month, I didn't know what that meant, but I do now. You just want to own him, that is not the same thing.” I'm proud of how calm my voice is the entire time even though I want to screech at her.
“Stay the fuck away from Micah, stay away from our suite, stay away from our friends. Quietly disappear from his life, and I will drop the charges against you. That is the last kindness in offering you as Micah’s former friend.”
I leave her crying there alone, and already reaching out for her phone to probably call her family.
Outside the building, I stop long enough to send two more messages, one to legal confirming the decision to put the charges on hold until I'm sure Savannah has stopped and is gone.
The other message is to a private investigator who handles all of my offbook work.
The ones that should never see the light of day.
I have an important job that only she can handle.
Then I head right back to the athletic complex, already dreading the meeting with the sponsors and the board following this aftermath.
Championships don't pause just because we have an ongoing PR crisis that could affect everyone.
I close my eyes as I start getting closer and closer to the complex.
We have to come up with a gimmick or something that can easily cover this up, and I know just the thing.
It is the perfect scheme to bring Micah closer to me, hopefully ending this fight of ours finally.