Chapter 4

The call connected.

Catherine's face slid into something fawning at once.

She bowed and scraped down the line, spilling the whole story to whoever had picked up.

When she finished, the person on the other end paused.

I spoke up right away.

"My name is Victoria Winfield. I'm nineteen, a computer science student here at Ashford, and the only daughter of your dean, Timothy Winfield."

Catherine clapped a hand over the receiver and snarled at me.

"You dare keep spouting nonsense!"

"Today I've done the school a favor rooting out a shameless little slut like you, and I've dug out a fraud passing herself off as the dean's daughter!"

"Victoria, you've really handed me a gift."

Chester stood off to the side, his face darkening, and just as he stepped forward to snap at her I put out a hand and stopped him.

The voice came back down the line.

Catherine listened, then bobbed her head, agreeing over and over.

When she hung up, she turned to me, smug all over her face.

"They said it themselves. The dean's already nearby, doing an inspection right by our department."

"They've told him in person, and he says he's coming here himself."

I watched her practically bouncing, unable to hide her excitement, and gave a calm little nod.

"I'd like to see exactly how you earn this promotion and raise of yours today."

Before long a group of men in suits came walking up from the far end.

At the front, the year-level coordinator bent slightly at the waist, his face nearly splitting from smiling.

When he took in the scene on the field, he froze for a second.

Then he turned on Catherine, displeasure written all over him.

"Ms. Lambert, what is going on here?"

Catherine trotted forward at once.

"Sir, you don't know the half of it. There's a girl in my class who was seducing a male student on the very first day of school. Her private life is a complete mess."

"She and that idiot father of hers even had the nerve to impersonate the dean and the dean's only daughter!"

The coordinator's expression changed sharply.

He gave a cold snort and started to order her to handle it strictly.

But the man standing in front of Catherine didn't spare her so much as a glance.

The moment he saw me, he strode straight over.

Seeing that my clothes were more or less in order, he let out a breath without thinking.

Then his face went hard as he turned to Catherine, who was creeping along behind him.

"Weren't you the one saying my daughter's private life was a mess, that you were calling her parent in?"

"I'm her parent. Whatever you've got, say it to me."