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“What are you talking about? Aster's done nothing wrong.”
Alex glared at Hazel, who was biting her lip so hard, I was almost expecting her to draw blood. “That's not it though, is it H?”
“There's more?”
Hazel's gaze dropped, and it was almost like she was ashamed to look at me.
“As part of this investigation, her relationships are being called into question.”
“With who? Me? Because that's entirely consensual and, if anything, I was the one to push it.” I cursed, annoyed that I could be the reason she was in trouble when I essentially forced her to work with me.
“If I had known it would have affected her standing at the college, I obviously wouldn't have pursued it.”
“Not you.” Alex shook his head, remorse hanging heavily across his features. I bet he was upset that he put his foot in it and ended up being the one to have to tell me about this.
“Then who?”
“Professor Murphy.”
I swallowed, but my throat was so dry it just felt scratchy and irritating. Professor Murphy was the one that was offering her the student TA position, but I’d never suspected anything strange going on between them.
Alex and Hazel were quiet, leaving me to process this because they knew I'd been seeing her, and I hated that they looked at me with pity. The same pity I got when I was benched. Did everyone really think I was that dumb that I wouldn’t be able to see my girl cheating on me? Granted, I didn’t help the situation by getting benched for failing the most basic courses here, but there was no way this was true. It was almost laughable that anyone would think it in the first place.
I knew Aster better than anyone here, and I knew that there was no way she’d have an affair with her professor. She was too studious, too good for that.
Trying to process this mess was almost impossible, so I opened the urgent email and read through it. The further I read through, the more my heart sank.
'It has come to our attention that Miss Aster Paige has been using unsavory and potentially unethical routes to help increase her student's grades. Evidence has been handed to us, and we need to investigate its origins. We therefore request your co-operation in this investigation to ensure a swift outcome.’
Aster was being investigated by the Dean, and they had evidence.
“What evidence have they got?” I asked, still scanning the email. I was in fight mode, because I knew this was all false. I knew Aster, and the person they were trying to depict in this email, was some duplicitous homewrecker. She wasn't that. She didn't even want to take me on as a client until I begged her.
“Apparently, another person she tutored came out and admitted that she helped him cheat, and she bragged about how she had Professor Murphy wrapped around her little finger and could get him to do anything she wanted.”
That didn’t sound like Aster at all, but my mind flitted back to my first study session and how she managed to wrangle an extra credit assignment for me to help get my grade up. Did that count as unethical? Did she get it because she was cheating on me with the professor? Well, if it had been at the beginning, she wouldn’t have been cheating on me. But still.
Was Aster really the girl I thought I knew?
Of course she was. This was all stupid.
My mind irrevocably knew Aster was being set up. I’d spent too much time with her to believe any of this garbage, especially if it came out of some random ex-client.
“Do you know which student came forward?”
Alex scratched the back of his head, reluctant to tell me. I raised my brow, looking at him pointedly.
“You were the one that sought me out and asked how she was doing. You can’t be angry that I asked the question.”
Alex sighed, dropping his hand, along with the facade.
“My teammate, Connor Stephenson.”
The second his name dropped out of Alex’s mouth; I knew it was all lies. “The other day in the locker room, he was bragging about how she helped him cheat to get better grades, and it probably had something to do with the fact she’s good at oral.”
Without thinking, I banged my fist against the table. I was angry. So frustrated that I wanted to throw things and watch them break. Aster was being smeared for the fun of it.
Gasps were heard across the echoey library, but I was too hung up in my own anger to apologize.
