Chapter 336 Tables Turned
Chapter 336 Tables Turned
"This is the Aurora College forum app, isn't it?" Amelia asked as she swiped to the last screen on Saul's phone.
There in the final slot sat a red icon labeled "Aurora College Forum," hard to miss.
That anonymous post claiming Professor Lewis had called the victim to her office for sexual harassment and attempted rape.Could Saul have written it?
The possibility hadn't occurred to any of them before.
Campus forums were student territory. So aside from Amelia, everyone had automatically assumed the poster was a student.
None of them had considered that Saul, as an Aurora College professor, would have his own campus accountand could post anonymously just like anyone else.
And the motive fit. Saul had already spent $30,000 behind the scenes to stalk doctor photos, and contact a journalist to smear Trevor. It wouldn't be a stretch for him to post an anonymous accusation, destroy someone's reputation, then delete the account to cover his tracks. To make sure Trevor could never recover.
But when Amelia tapped the app, the screen showed a login page.
Two possibilities: either Saul had downloaded the app but never logged in, or he'd registered and used an account that he'd since deleted.
"Let me handle this." Leroy reached out and took the phone.
Leroy didn't talk much. His presence was easy to overlookbut everyone knew what he was capable of.
If he said he'd handle it, that meant even if the account had been deleted, he'd find a way to recover it.
They divided up the work.
Leroy set about recovering the account. Amelia and Dorian organized the chat logs and transaction screenshots they'd need as evidence, planning how to frame the statement that would clear Trevor's name. Zander and Tobias tied Saul up, ready for when he woke and they could confront him face to face.
Everyone moved with purpose, focused on their tasks. No one bothered checking Instagram.
Or rather, ever since this morning,when Amelia had seen her post from last night hit the trending page with tens of thousands of comments tearing her apart,she'd stopped paying attention. She'd told the others not to worry about her either.
Because the priority was finding evidenceand proving Trevor's innocence.
But the truth was, by this afternoon, the situation had reversed in a way none of them could have anticipated.
The #AmeliaAzure hashtag, which had been third on the trending list this morning, had now climbed to second.
And the number one trending topic? #GeniusGirlAmelia.
The first shot in the reversal had been fired by a beauty influencer with over two million active followers on Instagram.
At three p.m.right when the online mob was at its most vicious,she'd posted.
Some were saying Amelia had "traded" herself for the admission slot, that Trevor hadn't seduced her but that she'd actively slept with him for the opportunity.
Some were saying Amelia was a high schooler with delusions of grandeur, claiming she'd written an FSI Level 1 paper,ignorant and laughable.
Some were saying Amelia had refused Trevor's recommendation because they hadn't agreed on a price and she was just playing hard to get. Nobody turns down a guaranteed admission slot.
Some were saying Amelia had been paid to whitewash Trevor's reputation, but it wouldn't work because Trevor was already finished.
At 3:30 p.m., the beauty blogger posted something different.
Not a makeup tutorial. A long-form statement written in formal, serious language, followed by several screenshots and an audio recording.
[Hi everyone. I'm also a senior in Class A at Prestige High School in River City. This is the first time I'm revealing my real identity. I'm doing it to speak up for my classmate, Amelia.
This morning, I saw her post from last night trending, with tens of thousands of comments mocking and attacking her.
Those comments were vile. I've been running social media since freshman year and I've dealt with plenty of haters, but even I couldn't stomach what I saw. I can't imagine how Amelia,who just created her Instagram accountmust have felt reading those words.
I don't know if Amelia is the Azure who wrote that paperbut I know for certain she's not ignorant, stupid, or manipulative. And she would never trade herself to Professor Lewis for an admission slot.Amelia transferred to Prestige High School last September. On the placement exam at the start of the year, she scored nearly perfect.
If that test isn't enough to prove how smart she is, then consider this: at the recent Aurora College and Farpeak University special admissions exam, she got a perfect score.
And in the entire history of that exam, no one has ever scored perfectly before.
I'm telling you this to make it clear: Amelia is a genuine genius. Don't judge her based on your own limited understanding.
Never mind that she composed a globally recognized piece of music or won a piano competition by a wide margin. Let's talk about how she beat every fighter in the Abyss Underground Fights,people twice her weight.
Before her identity was revealed, who would've guessed Bald Eagle was an eighteen-year-old girl?
So now when she says she's Azure? I'm not surprised at all.
Because she's the kind of person who shatters expectations, who creates miraclesand who makes you realize nothing is impossible.
Now, about her refusing Professor Lewis's recommendation.
The comments are full of people mocking the idea that a professor would think she's talented enough to recommend. They're saying nobody turns down a guaranteed admission slot.
Well, let me surprise you.
Two days ago, three professors,not just Professor Lewis, but also Delbert and Emorytraveled all the way from Border Ridge City to River City just to see her. To offer her their personal recommendationsand to convince her to become their student.
And she turned down every single one of them.
Don't believe me? Listen to the recording below.
I have a habit of recording lectures so I can review them later. Two days ago when the principal called Donny and Amelia out of class, Donny forgot to turn off his mic. I happened to record the entire conversation.