"Besides, everyone was mocking Eustace, calling him a disgrace. He cried so hard yesterday he nearly passed out. This protects his reputation too."
"What about me?! I deserve to be dragged through the mud?"
"Stephen, it's just a few nasty comments from strangers online. Just don't look at them. Give it some time and people will forget. It'll blow over."
"Oh, and the wedding starts in an hour. Eustace's and mine. Hurry up and come be the best man. Apologize to Eustace in front of everyone. If we're going to put on a show, we need to commit to it."
Then, in a tone that was neither gentle nor harsh, she added:
"Be good. If you keep throwing tantrums, I can't guarantee I'll still marry you in three years like we planned. Remember, your mother is gone. I'm the only family you have left in this world."
I shook with rage.
Once, she had stood at my mother's bedside, held my hand, and sworn she would be my last family, that she would take care of me for the rest of my life.
And now this was how she treated me.
Tears were already falling when my phone buzzed with a new message.
"Mr. Fox, there's something I'm not sure I should tell you."
"I have surveillance footage from the day of the incident with Eustace Simmons. I think you need to see what actually happened that day."
I watched the video as it loaded onto my phone, and my body went rigid.
The graduation ceremony, one month ago.
Eustace, who was supposed to be onstage for the tassel-turning, had vanished. So had Sabina.
As the lab's sponsor, I joined several others from the university to search backstage.
We ran straight into Sabina, rushing out with an unconscious Eustace in her arms.
We followed them to the hospital. The doctor gave us a strange look and said, "Young people chasing thrills still need to be careful about safety."
That was how we found out. Eustace had been with someone in a storage room full of high-powered stage lights, looking for a thrill. They'd gotten locked inside and baked under the heat for a full three hours, leaving him severely dehydrated.
The university erupted. The administration immediately ordered Eustace's expulsion.
When Eustace came to, he sobbed and screamed that someone had knocked him out and dragged him in there to hurt him. That his attacker had already fled.
The university pulled the surveillance footage, but the recordings had been deleted.