Vanya's POV
The next day, I headed to Wolfe as usual.
As soon as I stepped onto the campus, I sensed that the looks of the people around me were pretty strange.
Their eyes were filled with surprise, curiosity, and more so, an indescribable oddness.
In the distance, a man's angry scolding could be heard, "Get away! What are you staring at?"
I looked up to see Wilmot tearing something off the bulletin board.
His movements were extremely rough, as if the item on the bulletin board was his enemy.
I frowned, a hint of doubt rising in my heart.
At that moment, he crumpled the paper in his hand viciously, his face as dark as a stormy sky, full of clouds, chilling to the bone.
People around saw me approaching and quickly scattered like they were avoiding a deadly virus, retreating to a distance.
Yet, they couldn't suppress their curiosity and kept stealing glances in the direction of Wilmot and me, as if trying to uncover some secret from me with their eyes.
I joked aside, "Haven't seen you in a few days, Mr. Hammond. Your temper has become more explosive."
I tried to break the awkward and tense atmosphere with this light tone.
"Are you an idiot? Look at this. Can you still laugh?" Wilmot had no mood to joke with me.
He threw the crumpled paper in his hand straight at me angrily.
I caught the paper with some confusion and unfolded it.
Just one glance, and my heart sank.
It printed a woman with a very hot figure, wearing revealing lingerie, and the face was mine.
The photo was crudely manipulated, and anyone could tell it was a fake at a glance.
Moreover, the photo was accompanied by many indecent sensitive words, such as "call girl", "bar starlet", "got promoted by selling her body", and so on.
These words were like sharp daggers, stabbing straight into my eyes, trying to destroy me completely.
I only glanced at it for a moment, then shook the paper in front of Wilmot.
I feigned calm and said, "That's it?"
In fact, my heart was far from as calm as I appeared. Anger and grievance were surging in my heart, but I knew I must not lose my composure at that moment.
"Otherwise, what else could it be? Vanya, can you still laugh now?" Wilmot was so angry that his face turned red.
His chest heaved violently, as if he was about to explode with anger.
And I, the person involved, was still indifferent, which made him even more furious.
"This photo is obviously forged with AI. Look at what's written above. Which one has anything to do with me? Obviously, someone with ulterior motives is deliberately creating public opinion, trying to drive me out of here."
As I spoke, I put the paper into my backpack.
I knew that this paper could become a key clue to finding the person behind the scenes, and it must not be discarded easily.
Wilmot's brows furrowed even more. Perhaps he thought of the last time I was secretly photographed at the nightclub entrance, and then the photo was posted online, causing a storm.
That incident caused a great deal of trouble and almost put me in an irreparable situation.
"Damn it, who is so bored? If I catch him, I will definitely make him pay a heavy price!" Wilmot's face was sinister, and his eyes revealed a strong murderous intent. It seemed that as long as the instigator appeared, he would not hesitate to teach him a lesson.
I just smiled and didn't take his fierce words to heart.
If I hadn't known that Melinda was the one who created the online public opinion last time, maybe I would still be like a headless fly, looking around blindly, trying to find out who I had offended.
But now, since I knew it was Melinda who did it, the instigator of this bulletin board incident was self-evident.
It seemed that Melinda was determined to drive me out of Wolfe, and to achieve this goal, she was really unscrupulous.
"Don't think about it blindly. It's useless," I said, comforting Wilmot, as well as comforting myself.
"Class is about to start. Don't waste time here." After speaking, I walked towards the second teaching building without looking back.
I knew that I must not be defeated by these baseless rumors.
Wilmot stood in place. He suddenly kicked the bulletin board forward.
The loud noise scared the people around, and I looked back. Those people looked at Wilmot, their eyes full of fear and awe.
As for me, I just paused for a moment, and then continued to walk towards the teaching building.