“But?” I whispered.
“Do it for you. Do it so the next asshole who spews crap you can sue like Coach Dunham because youcanunlike Kate who was silenced and shamed. Do it for those of us who didn’t have the power or ability to fight. We’ll support you through it because that’s what we can do.”
My lower lip quivered. “It’s hard to always be the one fighting. I’m tired, Emma. Even the headmaster wanted me to be on that committee and—why is it always me?”
“It’s not,” Gloria said firmly. “Some of us just didn’t know how. Now we can. We have ideas. After we pulled our heads out of our asses—we have ideas. Let us help.”
“We’re going to need help harvesting again, but we have a baller idea to bust some assholes,” Kate promised. “We want to be on your court and not just for the normal popular reasons. We want to change things. Kerwynn is open to it—we’ll fight with you. Hell, we’ll do the heavy lifting if you give us the path.”
“Others will join too,” Carmen added. “I had some female master’s students asking if there was something they could do to help so you didn’t get trapped in a relationship with that asshole. A lot of us want to fight but have been silenced.”
I accepted that and told them what Conrad had done to me physically. They didn’t downplay it or brush it off as just a kiss orlike it wasn’t serious. They were… Amazing. It was exactly what I needed.
To hear that I didn’t deserve what had happened to me. Again.
Jasmine arrived with the proposed statement to the press, and she’d already gotten one of the guards on board like Emma wanted.
Carmen was awesome, adjusting a few phrases here and there so it sounded better and less aggressive. Some of it she said needed to be more defensive or people would brush it off as protesting too much or some such bullshit.
She also added in a few lines that this was repeatedly demanded of me, and while I didn’t owe anyone answers, if it could keep another thirty-something creeper with a teenager fetish from trying to trap me, it was worth sharing my personal life.
Unfortunately, the press conference was playing at breakfast when I arrived to the cafeteria. I simply sighed and watched.
“Let me start on a personal note that I hope many of you took to heart what Bevin Millen said yesterday that the media acted like rabid hyenas instead of logical adults with any sort of manners or morals,” Jasmine said firmly. “But I don’t have enough faith in our society.
“I did have several women reach out to me saying Bevin was not Conrad’s first victim. Apparently, he targets women who he thinks can enrich his life and traps them in relationships using his father’s status and family’s wealth. I will be submitting that proof and the list of names to the High Council after this press conference.”
“She really is awesome,” Carmen said as she sat down next to me, Kate as well making it clear they were blocking me from the possible assholes who would try for me.
“Also, there are things such asfacts,” Jasmine continued. “The timeline is well recorded, so people just look silly spouting their nonsense. Bevin Millen contacted me when she had issues with the attorney who ran the trust she set up with her grandfather, Henry Millen. He refused to give up the financial power of it after she came of age.
“He also gave himself roles that the trust didn’t allow and wereillegalgiven she was an adult. Including, but not limited to, brokering her mating without her knowledge. On top of which, the information wasn’t accurate. He assumed the lies the Haddock family told about Bevin that she was intimate with Gregg Haddock.
“That attorney has lost his license and is inprisonover the disgusting situation and a list of pending charges that there are piles of evidence for. Because of that case, the president of Familiar Treasures learned of a female trying cases in front of the High Council, something nearly unheard of, and reached out to me.
“That is how I was hired as Familiar Treasure’s council and kept my position as the Millen family’s attorney. I am the attorney for both Bevin and Clare Millen. It’s not a complicated timeline. It’s not even worth some of the conspiracy theories I’ve heard because some people are bored in their lives. Hopefully, that clears up things so people can…” She sighed.
Oh boy, she wanted to say something she shouldn’t. Yeah, I don’t blame her.
“Now, back to the Haddocks. They lost the lawsuit and have faced criminal charges of fraud for their lies about what happened. Here are the facts, well-documentedfactsof what happened. Then Bevin Shaw and Gregg Haddock had never met before he stalked and followed my client the night he drugged her at Morrigan’s library.
“Yes, he was given the potion by her former parents, Charles Shaw believing that if Gregg Haddock raped his daughter, they would then be mated. Clearly, he was insane for a while and people ignored it. Once Bevin was affected by the potion, Gregg Haddock attempted to rape her in the library, the monster that brazen.
“Professor Derek Wyatt intervened and turned Gregg Haddock and the evidence over to campus securityimmediately. He removed Bevin Shaw from the situation before people could jump to conclusions—one of their favorite pastimes—and tried to figure out exactly what type of potion had been used.
“After Bevin passed out from the potion, he safely brought her to her room and gave his statement to campus security, asking to be unnamed given the contentious history between the Wyatt and Shaw families.” She gave everyone there a minute with it, seeming like she was staring down certain people in particular.
“She’s going to call out specific people later,” Carmen muttered as it dragged on. “She’s making it clear that she’s about to hand them their asses.”
That would be nice. We didn’t get to do that enough.
7
“My client woke up without answers, not knowing who helped her or if they could be trusted—completely in the dark,” Jasmine said firmly. “And knew she’d been unconscious aroundstrangers. That potion was powerful, and she was in physical pain from the aftereffects. Like any reasonable and responsible woman, she worried she might have been raped.
“So, she did the rational thing and made sure. She immediately called Morrigan’s impressive security team and was updated. She also asked for a healer and no, I will not give you a copy of that report. This is all beyond intrusive and ridiculous. What we are saying is rational, logical, and documented enough. I’m not giving out my client’s medical records.
“And neither would you. If it was you or someone from your family, you wouldn’t either, so don’t lie to me and tell me otherwise.” She paused and let out a slow breath. “So yes, my client absolutely took a pregnancy test. She even reported her purity status as unknown to be safe because she wasscaredand her own family tried to facilitate this.
