Chapter 132 Reversal
Author's POV
Two hours after the library, Aiden helped Malia back to her dorm room. She was still crying softly, exhaustion and devastation written in every line of her body. He guided her to the bed, eased her down gently, careful of her healing injuries.
"Rest," he murmured, lying beside her, pulling her close. "Just rest."
She curled into him, face pressed against his chest, one hand clutching his shirt like he might disappear if she let go. Her breathing gradually slowed. Evened out. Sleep taking her somewhere the pain couldn't quite reach.
Aiden waited until he was certain she was deeply asleep. Then he carefully extracted himself, tucking the blanket around her, pressing a kiss to her temple.
And left the room with purpose burning in his chest.
The walk to the administrative building was short. His stride long. Determined. Fury channeled into cold calculation.
They'd expelled her. Actually expelled her. For being a victim. For losing control of something that should never have been forced on her.
Unacceptable.
He took the stairs to the third floor two at a time. Reached Principal McLunar 's massive oak door. And knocked—hard, sharp, demanding attention.
"Come in," came the muffled response.
Aiden pushed through without hesitation.
Principal McLunar looked up from his desk, surprise flickering across his weathered face. He'd clearly been working through paperwork, reading glasses perched on his nose, the late afternoon sun slanting through the windows behind him.
"Mr. Moonfall ." He removed his glasses slowly. "I wasn't expecting you. How are your injuries healing?"
"Fine." Aiden's voice was clipped. "That's not why I'm here."
McLunar set down his pen with deliberate care. "Then what can I do for you?"
"You can revoke Malia Reed' expulsion."
The words landed like stones between them.
McLunar 's expression hardened. "Mr. Moonfall, that decision was made by the disciplinary committee after careful review—"
"Of fabricated evidence and deliberate manipulation." Aiden stepped closer to the desk. "Malia didn't attack me unprovoked. She was set up. Led into restricted territory deliberately. Forced into a transformation by the preserve's magic. Everything that happened was beyond her control."
"The video evidence—"
"Was edited." Aiden's voice rose slightly. "Specifically edited to remove all context. To show the attack without showing what led to it. Without showing that she was in pain, terrified, and completely overwhelmed by magic that targeted her specifically."
Mclunar leaned back in his chair. "These are serious accusations. Do you have proof?"
"I have my testimony as the supposed victim. I'm not pressing charges. I've stated multiple times that it was an accident. That she wasn't in control. What more do you need?"
"The safety of the student body—"
"Is not threatened by Malia Reed." Aiden planted both hands on the desk, leaning forward. "She's the most careful, controlled person I know. What happened at the preserve was a catastrophic failure of your supervision and safety protocols. Not a failure of her character."
"Mr. Moonfall , I understand you have personal feelings for Miss Reed—"
"This has nothing to do with personal feelings." Though that was a lie and they both knew it. "This has to do with justice. With not letting a coordinated harassment campaign result in the expulsion of its victim."
McLunar 's expression shifted. "Harassment campaign?"
"Lydia Moonfall and her friends have been targeting Malia since day one. Academic sabotage through Professor Vesper. Social harassment. Deliberate setup at the preserve. All designed to get her expelled. And you're giving them exactly what they want."
"Those are extremely serious accusations—"
"Then investigate them." Aiden straightened. "But in the meantime, you revoke that expulsion. Or I sue this institution for disability discrimination and unlawful termination."
Silence fell. Heavy. Dangerous.
McLunar 's eyes narrowed. "Are you threatening to sue Mooncrest College?"
"I'm promising legal action if you don't correct this injustice." Aiden's voice was steel. "Malia Reed has a documented condition—hybrid genetics that respond unpredictably to certain environmental stimuli. The preserve triggered an episode she couldn't control. Expelling her for that is discrimination. My family's lawyers will have a field day with this."
"Your family's lawyers—"
"And my family's money." Aiden leaned forward again. "Let me be very clear, Principal McLunar . If Malia Reeves is expelled, the Moonfall family withdraws every dollar of funding from this institution. Every scholarship we endow. Every building that bears our name. Every grant. All of it. Gone."
McLunar 's face went carefully blank. "You can't be serious."
"Try me." Aiden's eyes were ice. "My family has poured millions into Mooncrest. We can just as easily pour it elsewhere. Into institutions that don't punish victims for their attackers' crimes."
"You're out of line—"
"I'm fighting for someone who can't fight for herself right now because you've destroyed her." Aiden's voice cracked slightly. "Do you have any idea what that expulsion letter did to her? She's in her dorm right now, broken, convinced she doesn't belong anywhere. That she's a monster. Because you decided to believe edited video over actual evidence."
"Mr. Moonfall, you need to watch your tone—"
A knock interrupted. Sharp. Hesitant.
Both men turned to look at the door.
"Come in," McLunar called, voice tight with frustration.
The door opened.
Lydia entered, face pale, shoulders hunched in a way Aiden had never seen. She looked—small. Nothing like her usual composed, confident self.
"Lydia?" Aiden's surprise was genuine. "What are you doing here?"
She didn't look at him. Kept her eyes fixed on Principal McLunar . Took three steps into the office.
And dropped to her knees.
The shock of it rippled through the room.
"Please," she said, voice shaking. "Please revoke Malia's expulsion."
McLunar stared. "Miss Ashford , what—"
"I lied." The words burst out, desperate. "About everything. About Malia. About what happened at the preserve. I—" Her voice broke. "I set her up. I set the whole thing up."
Aiden went very still. Watching. Not speaking.
McLunar leaned forward slowly. "Explain. Carefully."
"I led her into restricted territory deliberately." Lydia's words came faster now, tumbling over each other. "I told her I'd found something significant. I knew she'd been feeling sick all day—I could see it. I knew the preserve was affecting her differently. And I wanted—" She stopped. Swallowed. "I wanted to see what would happen."
"You deliberately endangered another student." McLunar 's voice was dangerously quiet.
"Yes." Tears streaming down her face now. "And when she started transforming, when she lost control—I filmed it. I edited the video to make it look like an unprovoked attack. I removed all the context about what led to it. Then I posted it everywhere. I wanted her expelled. I wanted her destroyed."
The confession hung in the air like smoke.
Aiden's hands curled into fists at his sides. Hearing it confirmed—hearing Lydia actually admit to the deliberate cruelty—made rage burn fresh and hot in his chest.
"Why?" McLunar demanded. "Why would you orchestrate something so elaborate and cruel?"
Lydia's voice dropped to barely a whisper. "Because I wanted Aiden. And she was in the way. So I did everything I could to get rid of her. The video, yes, but—before that too. Working with Professor Vesper to tank her grades. Spreading rumors. Turning people against her. All of it. Everything. I orchestrated all of it."
McLunar sat back heavily. Processing. His face showed shock giving way to something harder. More calculating.
"Miss Ashford," he said slowly. "Do you understand the severity of what you're confessing to?"
"Yes." She was still kneeling. Still crying. "And I'll accept whatever punishment you decide. But please—please revoke Malia's expulsion. She doesn't deserve this. She didn't do anything wrong. I pushed her into an impossible situation and then used her breakdown against her. Please don't let my cruelty destroy her life."
McLunar looked at the expulsion letter on his desk. Then at Lydia kneeling on his office floor. Then at Aiden standing rigid with barely contained fury.
"This is—" He stopped. Tried again. "This is unprecedented. You're confessing to harassment, to assault by deliberate endangerment, to fraud through falsified evidence—"
"Yes," Lydia whispered. "All of it. I did all of it."
Aiden moved to stand directly over her. Looking down with an expression of cold contempt.
"Malia stays," he said to McLunar . Not a request. A statement of fact. "Her expulsion is revoked. Her scholarship reinstated. And Lydia faces a disciplinary hearing for everything she just confessed to."
"Mr. Moonfall , I don't appreciate being told—"
"I'm not telling you anything." Aiden's voice cut like a blade. "I'm informing you how this ends. Malia Reeves will not be leaving this institution. She's innocent. She's the victim in all of this. And if you don't reverse this injustice immediately, my family's lawyers will bury this school in litigation."
McLunar stared at him for a long moment. Weighing. Calculating the costs of defiance versus compliance.
Then he pulled the expulsion letter toward him. Picked up his pen. And wrote across it in bold, decisive strokes: REVOKED - EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.
"Miss Reed' expulsion is hereby reversed," he said formally. "Her scholarship will be reinstated as of this moment. She may remain on campus."
Relief flashed across Lydia's tear-stained face.
"As for you, Miss Ashford —" McLunar 's voice turned to granite. "You will report to a full disciplinary hearing tomorrow morning at nine. Based on what you've confessed, I anticipate severe consequences. Potentially including your own expulsion."
Lydia nodded. "I understand."
"You're both dismissed."
Aiden didn't spare Lydia another glance. Just turned and walked toward the door with his head high, shoulders back.
At the threshold, he paused. Looked back.
"Malia stays," he said again. "And she'd better be treated fairly from this point forward. Or we'll be having this conversation again. With lawyers present."
He left without waiting for a response.
Strode down the hallway with purpose burning in every step.
Malia was staying.
Against all odds. Against institutional power. Against deliberate conspiracy.
She was staying and he couldn't wait to tell her.
To see the hope return to her eyes...