My father, Thomas, remarried and ignored me completely.
For three whole years, he never noticed my absence, never wondered if something had happened to me.
To him, it was simply easier not to be bothered.
If the flood hadn’t destroyed the track, I might have remained underground, unknown forever.
When my name was announced, the crowd erupted in shocked exclamations.
“Ah! It’s her?”
“Wasn’t Ms. Carter the one who supposedly seduced the president for promotion? After he rejected her, she left in disgrace… yet she’s been buried under the athletic field all along?”
“Hmph! I said it back then—Ms. Carter wasn’t that kind of woman. There had to be more to her disappearance. Maybe she was killed by that son-in-law!”
“Shhh! Keep your voice down—you want to get expelled?”
“Expelled, so be it! I can’t stand that Daniel Brooks! Youngest professor? More like a wolf in sheep’s clothing!”
“It must have been him. He killed her so he could marry the president’s daughter!”
My soul drifted away, floating into the research building, to a third-floor office.
There sat my former fiancé, Daniel Brooks, appearing serious at his desk.
But just beyond the desk was a far more scandalous scene—