Chapter 23 Public Ruin

Chapter 23 Public Ruin
Adrian’s pov

My phone had been vibrating nonstop while I sat in a meeting at the foundation pretending to listen to projections and policy reports, and I do not get distracted easily, but when I saw Elsie's name tagged over and over in the notifications something cold settled in my chest.

I excused myself and stepped out of the conference room without apologizing and opened the link in the hallway, and there it was again, the same video from months ago, but this time it looked like it had been edited like someone had taken pleasure in sharpening a knife, slowing Ryan’s voice down, replaying the worst sentence, zooming in on her name, layering cruel captions over it, adding sound effects so people could laugh more easily.

It was no longer reckless humiliation, this looked very much intentional.

I felt my jaw tighten as I watched it to the end without blinking because anger for me has never been loud, it has always been quiet and controlled, the kind that calculates instead of exploding right away.

This wasn’t just about someone stumbling into cruelty, it was someone sitting down and choosing to do this.

I went back to my office and shut the door and locked it before I began tracing the upload because people assume deleting something online erases it, but it does not, it only hides it from the impatient.

The account that had uploaded the video was new and anonymous. I could see that it was created two days ago, which meant whoever did this thought they must be clever, but the IP trail bounced twice before settling into campus housing and from there it narrowed quickly into the athlete dorms.

That did not surprise me. Jealousy rarely comes from strangers. It came from those who were the closest to you.

Within half an hour I had a name already. The student who made the edit and uploaded the video was Derek Lawson.

I knew who he was immediately, He was a defenseman that had been benched twice this season, he was loud in public support when it came to Ryan and quieter in private resentment.

Rumors had it that he had always wanted to be the captain of the hockey team and he did not get it, and men who feel overlooked often looked for easier targets to punish.

If he could not strip Ryan of his title directly, he could bruise him indirectly by dragging Elsie back into humiliation.

That was cowardice disguised as revenge.

My phone rang while I was still staring at the screen. It was Elsie.

I answered immediately and before I could speak.

"Adrain, can you hear me?" She asked as she sniffed back tears, it was hard for me to hear while she sobbed at the other end of the phone.

"Yes, I can hear you." I replied instantly.

"Did you get the video that I sent to you." She asked, her voice was steady in a way that concerned.

"Yes, i got the video, I'm still trying to trace who uploaded the video on the Internet." I said, not wanting to tell her yet who was responsible for the video.

"Oh...okay." her voice broke me as she continued sobbing.

"Where are you?" I asked her, getting up and packing up with one hand.

"I'm..." she sniffed, "I'm at home." She answered.

"Are you alone?" I asked.

She stayed silent for a minute before she replied, "Yes, i am, mother stepped out just a moments ago."

"Okay, just stay there, okay, I'm coming back home now." I informed her.

"Aren’t you supposed to be in a meeting?" Her voice was steadier now.

"The meeting can wait, Elsie, I'm coming home to you." I said and ended the call.

I snuck out of the office with my laptop and rode back home before anyone would notice my absence in the office.

I dashed into the house and went straight to her room and knocked.

When she opened the door, she looked pale but not broken, and that almost unsettled me more because she had already learned how to endure this kind of cruelty once before and I hated that she had needed to.

I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. "Can you show me the video on your phone?" I asked her.

She brought out her phone immediately, scrolled for a while before handing it over to me without hesitation as if she was tired of holding the evidence herself.

I watched it again in her bed room and felt the same cold clarity settle in my bones.

"This isn’t random, Elsie, it was intended." I let out and handed the phone back to her.

"What does that mean?" She asked, staring at me sharply.

I watched the surprise flicker in her face when I told her i had already traced the video and found out who it was because she was still not used to the fact that I do not move without thinking three steps ahead.

"The person behind the circulation of the video is no other than Derek Lawson."

Elsie blinked as if she was trying to place it.

"Derek, the same guy who is on Ryan’s team?" She asked with wide eyed. "But why would he do that?" She went on to ask.

"Jealousy is enough reason for him to do that." I told her.

She was quiet for a long moment before she asked; "So what happens now?"

I could hear the exhaustion under the question because she was tired of being the girl at the center of gossip and scandal and whispered speculation.

"We only have two options," i said in an even tone because this decision had to feel like hers, not mine.

"We would have to either expose him publicly present the digital trail, hand it to the university and the team and let the consequences unfold in daylight, or I could handle it quietly, speak to the right people, ensure it disappeared without you having to stand in front of another storm. "

She studied me carefully before asking, "so what does that mean?"

"It meant that he would not do it again, the disciplinary action would happen without your name being dragged through another week of commentary." I told her. I didn’t want to elaborate on how, because she knew I was already capable of making things stop.

For a moment I thought she might choose to be quiet because she has already suffered enough public spectacle to last a lifetime, but then she surprised me.

"Is the evidence solid enough?" She asked, lifting her chin slightly.

"The evidence is undeniable." I said.

“I don’t want it quiet,” she said with resolve.

I watched her carefully because courage sometimes disguises itself as anger and burns out quickly, but this was not that. This was steadier.

“Are you sure,” I asked, because once something is public it cannot be undone.

“Yes,” she said, and this time there was no tremor in her voice. “I’m tired of disappearing every time someone tries to drag me down.”

Her words settled into the room between us.

For months she had endured whispers, lost her position, swallowed humiliation because the alternative felt louder and more exhausting, and I understood why she chose silence before because survival often requires retreat, but this was different. This was someone deciding that retreat was no longer acceptable.

“If we expose him,” I said, “there will be backlash. Not from everyone, but from some and you are aware that you will be talked about again.”

She let out a slow breath and nodded. “They are already talking.”

There was truth in that and I respected it.

I stepped closer, but I didn't touch her, I just stood near her close enough that she would feel I was there, and I told her I would handle the technical submission, the evidence packaging, the formal complaint, and she all she needed to do was to confirm she wanted it done, and she looked directly at me and said she did.