Behind them walked three detectives wearing plain clothes.
Every eye followed them.
The detectives crossed the stage without saying a word.
One stopped directly beside Caleb.
“Caleb Morris?”
Caleb tried to stand.
“I… I think there’s some misunderstanding.”
“There isn’t.”
The detective presented a warrant.
“You are under arrest for fraud, forgery, identity theft, and destruction of institutional records.”
The room exploded into chaos.
Vanessa jumped to her feet.
“This is ridiculous!”
“He didn’t do anything!”
Another detective approached her.
“Vanessa Collins?”
Her confidence evaporated.
“You are also named in the investigation.”
“What?”
“You knowingly submitted forged disciplinary complaints and falsified witness statements.”
She looked toward her mother.
“Mama…”
Marlene finally stood.
“This girl is lying!”
She pointed directly at me.
“She’s been manipulating everyone ever since she was little!”
The detective calmly opened another folder.
“No, ma’am.”
He held up several documents.
“We obtained bank records this morning.”
Marlene froze.
The detective continued.
“Funds from university scholarship accounts were transferred into an account registered under your consulting business.”
Color drained from her face.
“That… that’s impossible.”
“It isn’t.”
He produced another page.
“Thirty-two transfers over fourteen months.”
One of the trustees leaned toward another and whispered something with obvious disbelief.
Students all around the auditorium began taking out their phones.
The woman who had laughed at me only minutes earlier quietly sat back down.
Marlene suddenly pointed toward Caleb.
“He handled all the paperwork!”
Caleb stared at her in horror.
“You told me nobody would ever check!”
“I never said that!”
