Chapter 198 Set Up
Hearing James, Sandra had no choice but to give in. He had proof she printed those photos, and if he went to the police, it would be a disaster for her.
"Why did you spread those photos of me and Jennifer around the school? What were you trying to do?" James asked, his face blank.
Sandra started to speak, "I..."
James cut her off, "Don't lie to me. If the police get involved, you won't have a choice but to tell the truth."
Sandra hesitated, then said, "James, I didn't do it on purpose. Someone paid me to."
"Someone paid you?" James looked confused.
"Yeah, they said if I printed and spread those photos, they'd give me fifty thousand dollars," Sandra mumbled, looking down.
"Who asked you to do this?" James asked, puzzled about who would spend that much to frame him.
Sandra stayed silent.
"If you don't confess who's behind this, I'll assume you're the one who did it, and I'll call the police right away to have you taken away. Not only will you end up in jail, but the school will definitely expel you. I know your family is well-off and you might not care about this degree, but if such a scandal comes out, I think your parents will be very upset, too."
Sandra's eyes showed panic. "James, don't call the police. I'll tell you."
"Then spit it out!" James snapped.
"It was Jennifer who asked me to do it," Sandra said in a voice barely above a whisper.
"What?" James was shocked.
"This was all Jennifer's idea," Sandra repeated softly.
"Are you kidding me? Jennifer's a victim too!" James shouted, thinking Sandra was lying. He pulled out his phone to call the police.
"James, don't! It really was Jennifer!" Sandra panicked and tried to stop him.
"Impossible. If Jennifer wanted to frame me, she could've used photos of another girl. Why use her own?" James couldn't believe it.
"Why would I lie at this point?" Sandra shouted, then continued, "Last night, after she got back to the dorm, she cried under her blanket. I asked what was wrong, but she wouldn't say. Then she stopped crying, got up, and asked if I knew how to use Photoshop. I said yes, and she asked me to Photoshop a picture of you two in bed. I was confused, but she gave me five hundred dollars, so I agreed."
"And then?" James asked.
"Then she told me if I spread the photo around the school, she'd give me fifty thousand dollars," Sandra said. "So, I went out that night, found a print shop, and had a thousand copies made of that photo. Then I hired a few students to plaster them all over the school."
James was stunned by Sandra's revelation. The situation seemed almost too bizarre to believe, especially since he couldn't understand why Jennifer would orchestrate such a scheme. Yet, from Sandra's tone, James could tell she wasn't lying.
"James, I'm telling you the truth," Sandra continued desperately. "If you don't believe me, you can call Jennifer right now. I'll confront her in person. It was Jennifer who made me do all of this!"
James squinted at Sandra. "And the things you accused me of at school today, were those also Jennifer's idea?"
"Yes, it was all Jennifer's idea!" Sandra nodded quickly.
"Do you know why she did this?" James asked quietly.
"I don't know," Sandra shook her head.
James took a deep breath. "Write down everything you just told me, sign it, and give it to me."
"James, what are you going to do?" Sandra asked, puzzled.
"I won't call the police this time, but if I find out you lied, I'll hand over the video and your statement to them. Got it?" James said seriously.
"I understand!" Sandra nodded, trembling, then quickly wrote everything down and signed it.
Five minutes later, James left the girls' dorm.
His mind was a whirlwind of conflicting emotions. He had initially thought that once Jennifer discovered his true identity, she'd avoid him from then on, steering clear of any further trouble.
But to his shock, Jennifer had orchestrated this elaborate scheme the very next day.
Everything had been a drama she set up herself!
James wondered about Jennifer's motive. After all, showing the entire school a photo of her with him shouldn't benefit her in any way. While this move would certainly tarnish James' reputation, it would also cast a worse light on her as a woman.
James ruminated on the situation for a while but couldn't make sense of it. Finally, he pulled out his phone and dialed Jennifer's number.
He needed to get to the bottom of this and clear things up, or Laura would continue to misunderstand him.
