32
Elvira
WHEN THE EMAIL DROPPED into everyone's inbox at nine AM, I didn't see it.
I always check my emails in the morning.
That's usually the first thing I do. There's usually important work I don't want to miss, and also because Levi likes to delegate and communicate via email like the tech dinosaur that he is, instead of instant messaging.
Or so I thought he was until the events of that fateful day.
I came in a little late. Levi had delayed me by giving me an early morning orgasm in the shower.
And then his mother had further delayed us by making a surprise breakfast for us.
Instead of a simple toast, eggs and bacon, maybe some pancakes, she had gone all out and prepared a full English breakfast minus the black pudding, thank god, but including hash browns and biscuits or scones as she kept calling them.
I couldn't exactly say no after she had put so much effort and had clearly gotten up early to prepare it.
Levi had wanted to rush out, but I pulled him back and drew out a chair next to mine at the breakfast table.
The joy on Rebecca's face made the otherwise inedible breakfast enjoyable.
It was obvious she rarely could be found in the kitchen.
Or if she's ever cooked at all, it was at least fewer than ten times.
But the love she had poured into this breakfast was clear, even though the toast was dry and charred and the bacon was a little too hard to chew.
I thought Levi would spit it out at one point, but he powered through and ate everything on his plate.
It was so heartwarming to see mother and son act like an actual parent and child that I almost wanted to cry.
So by the time I got to work, my belly was full of badly cooked breakfast, but I was too happy to care about work first thing in the morning.
Instead of my usual routine, I opened the project I had been working on last week, decoding some of the Johnson letters.
And it wasn't until Jess sent me a text that I realized what was going on.
Jess: Please tell me you did this.
Me: ???
Jess: The email!
Me: You're going to have to be more specific.
Jess: Either you don't know what has the entire university talking, or you're fucking with me.
I put down the phone and checked my email.
There were several business-related messages, one from Beth, a few from the head of department that were basically memos and then one that was suspiciously from an address I had never seen in my inbox.
It had the .edu address so it didn't seem that suspicious, but the subject was attention grabbing.
Subject: The Real Cheaters. Video inside.
It had been sent to everyone on the faculty.
My hands shaking, I clicked on the email, wondering if Wyatt had done something to get back at me again.
Only the video was not of me. The thumbnail was of Wyatt and Billie in Wyatt's apartment.
It was a security cam video. Wyatt had a few cameras installed at his place after a break-in.
I remember not feeling comfortable having sex with him in the living room after that, something he had bristled at, and yet refused to remove the cameras or turn them off.
They were sitting on a couch, half-dressed, though whoever had made this video had censored any private bits.
They were cradled in each other's arms, Billie's head lying on Wyatt's chest. I waited for that pang of jealousy to hit and, surprisingly; it didn't. Watching them was like watching some strange couple I had very little relation to.
Bille spoke first. "We can't keep hiding. I'm tired of sneaking around."
"I know," Wyatt said, "but you have to let me tell Elvira first. "That bitch can be annoying sometimes. I have to drop her gently or she will make a scene."
Make a scene? If anyone had the flair for the dramatics, it was him.
"It's sad seeing her talk about you all the time, knowing you've been with me like a few minutes before." Billie said. "But you have to do it."
"But what if I like running around with you behind her back," Wyatt said before licking her neck. Billie giggled. "Come on! I am serious."
The video ended there. I am pretty sure there was more, but that was the only clip. There was other stuff in the email.
"Not only is he a cheater in relationships, Wyatt Carrington is also an academic cheater. He did not get a PhD; he failed and had to get his precious daddy to pay for the doctorate. How did he do it? His father paid someone to do the thesis on his behalf. For proof click here."
It was a link to a website. truthaboutwyatt.com.
I've never clicked a link in a suspicious email so fast. I opened it to see images of bank statements and a video that looked more like a police interrogation room clip of a guy at a desk confessing to basically helping Wyatt cheat, and showing whoever was on the other side of the camera the assignments he did on behalf of Wyatt.
He had also plagiarized other dissertations and theses, and the person who helped Wyatt reverse-engineered how he did it.
Below that clip were images of sections of where Wyatt's thesis had been lifted from as well as references of the original papers.
Holy shit. Yeah. Wyatt definitely did not send this.
Another email popped into my inbox. From Thompson.
Subject: Re: Suspicious email
Please disregard the suspicious email from the address [email protected] sent into your inboxes earlier this morning.
DO NOT OPEN IT. The allegations and insinuations made in that email should be ignored.
The only legitimate Northride mass email information email addresses are [email protected] or [email protected].
I have called the tech team to investigate this matter.
I don't know if Thompson knew about the Streisand effect. Sending this email was only going to make people more curious. And I wonder if it mattered anyway. I'm pretty certain someone had already downloaded the video and was spreading it on other socials.
Another email popped in. It was from Thompson with a request to come to his office. Another text from Jess came in.
Jess: You won't believe how crazy this is. My HOD won't stop asking me about details. This is insane.
I got up, and when I got out of the office, Levi was waiting outside.
"Did you see the email?"
Levi nodded. "Thompson asked me to come with you to his office." He went to my side, and we began making our way to Thompson's office. His hand brushed mine, and I almost wanted to grab it until I remembered we were at work. Even though we were 'married,' holding his hand still felt unprofessional.
"Does he think I sent it?" I said.
"I don't know." Levi did not face me. He looked straight ahead, cooly marching on like we were on our way to lunch or something.
"Did you have anything to do with it?" I tried to assess his face, but he was giving nothing away.
Levi did not respond. In a few moments, we were in Thompson's office.
Wyatt was already there, fuming and pacing around the room like he owned it.
This time around, instead of just Christine, the HR manager, a guy in a golf-shirt and jeans joined us.
He had his laptop on Thompson's desk while he typed something on a barely visible black screen.
Thompson seemed to sigh in relief when we came in. "See?" he said to Wyatt as though trying to calm him down. "They're here."
Wyatt rushed over to me, almost knocking me over if it weren't for Levi, who threw himself in front of me, stopping him, putting a hand out to stop Wyatt.
"You're going to pay for that, you bitch!"
"Professor Carrington!" Thompson shouted. "You will behave yourself in a manner that this office and your rank at this university demand!"
But Wyatt did not care about decorum. He swung at me again, and this time, Levi caught Wyatt's fist in his palm and twisted his arm. Wyatt screamed. Levi let go. Thatstopped him from further violent aggression, but Wyatt was still red-hot angry. His face was red. Fuming, he said,"She did this!"
I peeped from behind Levi, shocked by Wyatt's anger. His veins were popping, and he was breathing like a bull who had just seen red.
"Professor Carrington!" Thompson shouted again, trying to gain some control of his meeting. "Please take a seat."
Wyatt's murderous gaze was still on me. And I thought he wasn't going to listen to Thompson, but at the last moment, he turned around and went to a chair next to Tech Guy.
He drew it out roughly, making Tech Guy shift in his, and slumped into it.
Satisfied that he had calmed down, Levi took my hand and sat next to Christine while I sat next to him at the far end of the table.
"Right," Thompson said, his voice lowering now that he had regained control. "I assume you've all seen the email."
"Or sent it," Wyatt muttered.
Thompson glared at Wyatt. "And if you haven't..."
"They've all seen it! Come on!" Wyatt's impatience, while grating, saved us a group watch. I don't think I would have wanted to see Billie and Wyatt talking about me, post coitus, in front of five other people.
"Right, of course. What we want to know first is who the culprit is who sent this uh, unverified and potentially harmful email? According to David, the email was sent over the weekend. Ms. Edwards,were you the one who sent it? If so—"
"Excuse me? Are you accusing her already without any evidence?"
I shook my head. "I could never do such a thing. Did you check the IP address of where it's coming from or something?"
"IP addresses can be faked," said David nonchalantly, without looking up from his computer.
"Who else would do it! Who else is so angry that I broke up with her? Women, am I right?"
"As far as I remember. I broke up with you. Billie was there. And that video looks like it came from your security camera. How do you know it's not Billie?"
Thompson's gaze went to Wyatt. "Who's Billie?"