Trading Revenge For An Heir

“Sorry, Riley, you seem like a good girl,” he whispered lowly, while she struggled to lift her arms and push him away, but she couldn’t. Her fear intensified as she watched her sight grow blurrier by the minute, panic rising up her throat. “Please,” she whimpered, but got alarmed when she couldn’t even hear her own voice. What the hell was happening to her? Why couldn’t she move? Why was her body itching all over? “Too bad,” he ignored her pleas and tsked. “You were about to screw us over big time. There was no choice but to stop you. I hope you understand.” He said that, and before she could comprehend what was going on, he lifted her from the cold, hard floor and took her back inside, gently shutting the door behind him. * * * [Two Hours Ago] Riley didn’t know what was going on. The words her father was saying, the accusations he was hurling at her, did not make any sense at all. His anger felt unreasonable to her confused brain, and the way his voice kept rising, she couldn’t help but cringe. “Dad!” She tried to placate him. “Please calm down! I have no idea what you’re talking about.” “Are you deaf?” Her father roared, his dark eyes filled with absolute disappointment and red rage. “Did you even hear a word I said?” She did. But that was the whole point. Even after hearing everything he just sped out, it felt like he was talking about someone else, not her—his daughter. “I heard you, Dad,” it was a miracle she could keep her voice calm, and even though her insides were rippling with the need to scream and tell him to just hear her out without making a fuss, she kept her cool. “I just don’t understand.” “What’s there to not understand, Riley Collins?” Alright. It was bad. She officially knew that. The only time her father said her full name was only when he was beyond enraged. This was literally the last stage of his temper, and Riley finally started to panic underneath. “Nothing you said makes sense. I would never do something like that. You should know that better than anyone.” Her father’s face scrunched up, fingers tightly clenched in fists. “Maybe not for yourself. But you did that for that boy. You tried to steal papers for him, Riley. The staff caught you in the surveillance last night. You were fooling around with that boy. They saw everything!” Everything! The very word felt like a slap to her face. Her throat tightened, and her stomach felt hollow. Her father’s gaze was too intense for her to keep up with, and she ended up staring at the floor, her entire face simmering with shame. Last night, after the college party, she had indeed left the grounds with Jayce Bradford—her boyfriend—only to stumble back into the college premises. They were drunk, and if she were to be honest, a little horny. Jayce confessed his feelings to her, chanting that he had fallen for her again and again. The sober Riley might have done a better job of controlling herself, but the drunk Riley simply didn’t care. When Jayce kissed her, she kissed back. One thing led to another, and they ended up stumbling into her father’s office at the college for some privacy. No doubt her father held her responsible for stealing papers he had set for the upcoming exams. Her father taught Literature at their college and he was well respected by the students and his peers. Well, until now. She could only imagine the looks he must have gotten. Her father was humiliated because of her. Riley was the only one who had access to his office other than him. His every assumption was right. Except it wasn’t. Riley wasn’t a cheater, and neither was she a thief. Since childhood, she had been a grade-A student. There was simply no need for her to stoop so low. But if she wasn’t the one who stole them, then was it possible that Jayce… No. She shook her head. He wouldn’t backstab her like that. Or would he? She didn’t know. The truth was she didn’t know Jayce all that well. She would admit that having him show interest in her was something that felt too good to be true. Jayce Bradford was the most popular guy in their college. Not only was he a playboy by heart and soul but he was also the only son of one of the directors of their university. He was spoiled to the bones and never dated a girl for more than a month. Riley should have suspected his intentions from miles, but she didn’t. Instead, like any other fangirl, she fell for his charms and handed herself over on a silver platter. She felt so stupid now. So damn stupid. Riley looked back up at her father, and with each passing moment, his disappointment seemed to deepen. They were at home now, and since he returned from his classes, he had shut himself in his study. Riley had come to invite him for dinner, and that’s precisely when all hell broke loose. Her father shook his head as if he couldn’t believe himself and moved behind his desk. He started collecting papers scattered on the desk, but Riley noticed the way his arms were shaking. He was clearly under a lot of stress, and before she could say anything to comfort him or convince him of her innocence, her father broke down, slumping into his chair and burrowing his face into his hands. Riley’s heart shattered, and her face turned pale. “Dad—” “They have rusticated you for the whole year,” her father’s voice came, shaking with anger and disappointment. “You can’t go back until the next semester.” Her eyes widened in shock, and the weight of her father’s words sank in like an anchor in her chest. She rushed to his desk, wanting nothing more than for him to believe her. “Dad, I swear. I didn’t do it. You have to believe me.” Her father looked up, his eyes red and weary. “Riley, I want to believe you. But the evidence is against you. The surveillance footage, the accusations… I don’t know what to do. And if that wasn’t enough, the dean doesn’t want the higher-ups to find out about this. Exams are around the corner, and he doesn’t want to freak out the students. He wants you to own up to the mistake, take the fall for this year, and drop out. He promised me that you can resume your studies next year without any trouble from the staff and students. If you do what they are saying, they would keep the matter under wraps, and no one would know a thing. But only if we keep quiet.” Frustration bubbled up underneath instead of relief. Riley leaned over the desk. “But that’s wrong. Won’t they even give me a chance to explain myself? How’s that fair at all? They can’t just expect me to take the fall for something I didn’t do. Dad, this is not right. You have to help me. Let me talk to them. I’ll prove my innocence. I didn’t steal anything.” Her father looked dejected as he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his forehead. “It’s too late Riley. Too late. The dean himself declared the matter closed.” “But they can’t just do that? There has to be something we can do.” “It’s not just you, Riley, my job is on the line too,” he said, and she could tell how much it pained him to admit that. He didn’t even look her in the eyes. “At first, they thought I deliberately handed you the keys to steal the papers, but that theory got rejected after other professors got involved.” Tears welled up in her eyes, and a gasp escaped her mouth. She felt so helpless, and she could tell her father felt the same. No. This wasn’t fair. She wouldn’t accept this so easily. She had to do something. She had to prove her innocence. She refused to take the blame for something she didn’t do. Her father was a good man—an exceptional lecturer—and he didn’t deserve this kind of disgrace. Riley frowned and clenched her fists. There was only one person who could pull it off. The one person who used her, and now she was being forced to take the blame for something he had done. Riley was anything but someone others could just walk over. No. She wouldn’t stand for this. She wouldn’t just stand by and watch her year go to waste. She would fight back. She would confront Jayce and make him confess to his wrongdoing.