Reborn: Apocalypse Ready. War Goddess by My Side novel Chapter 41

Chapter 41 Defending Steven

Finished

Bianca’s eyes went red at the rims, and her voice broke with the force of her conviction.

“Steven is not a murderer! You’ve got the wrong person, all of you!”

Timothy’s cold laugh cut right through her. “Wrong person? We’ve got witnesses and evidence. There’s nothing to argue here.”

Lilliana glanced at Steven once, something complicated moving behind her eyes, and then she looked away and sat back down.

She’d been starting to think differently about him, but she supposed that was over now.

“He didn’t do anything!” Bianca’s tears were right at the edge, barely holding.

Steven turned to her. “Don’t cry. It’s okay. I didn’t kill anyone. Just ignore them.”

Timothy let out a sharp, dismissive sound through his nose. “What a poser.”

Then the sound of hurried footsteps filled the hallway outside, and a cluster of figures appeared in the doorway.

The substitute homeroom teacher, Anthony, arrived alongside three uniformed officers.

Somewhere behind them, Cassandra hovered at the edge of the frame with a cold, satisfied smirk on her face.

The three officers moved into the room without hesitation.

“Steven Fisher,” one of them said, stepping forward. “You’re a suspect in a homicide. You’re going to need to come with us.”

One officer flipped open his badge. The other two moved toward Steven like they already had the handcuffs ready.

Anthony exhaled heavily.

How did it come to this?

Over at the side of the room, Timothy and Cassandra let their satisfaction spread openly across their faces.

About time.

Bianca’s composure shattered entirely. “No!”

She moved to block the officers, her whole body trembling.

“Bianca!” Anthony’s voice came out sharp and urgent. “Step back. Obstructing an officer is a crime.”

Bianca shook her head over and over, tears streaming freely.

11:22 Wed, Jun 10

Chapter 41 Defending Steven

“Officer, Steven didn’t kill anyone. There’s been a mistake, I promise you.”

“Move,” the officer said, flat and unmoved. “This is an active arrest.”

The handcuffs were coming out.

“Hold on,” Steven said.

The officer looked at him. “Anything you want to say, you say it at the station.”

Steven’s expression stayed perfectly, infuriatingly calm.

“You can take me in, officer, but I deserve to know what I’m being charged with, right? You’re saying I killed someone. I’m telling you I didn’t.

“My classmate claims you have video of it, so I’d like to see it before I go anywhere.”

He kept his voice even and reasonable. “If I’m going to go down for something, I at least want to know what the evidence actually is. If anything happens to me on the way to the station and I don’t know what I’m being held for, who answers for that?”

The officer’s expression hardened.

“Are you implying we’d break the law?”

Steven shook his head with an easy smile. “Not at all. I just want to see the video.”

He already knew these officers were almost certainly Timothy’s doing, that Timothy probably greased some wheels to make this happen.

But the place to blow this open was here, in front of everyone.

“the officer said flatly. “Have a look.”

The officer flicked his wrist and activated the smart display on his watch.

A projection shimmered to life in front of Steven.

The footage played from start to finish, without a single frame cut. A young man ambushing Steven. The confrontation escalating. Steven landing blow after blow until the young man’s face was unrecognizable. “Anything to say for yourself?” the officer asked, his voice carrying no warmth at all.

Steven actually did that?

11:22 Wed, Jun 10

What’s happening?

Why do I feel so cold all of a sudden?

We’re done for!

He set a trap, and they walked straight into it like absolute fools.

The footage showed Timothy and Chris walking side by side with the young man from the earlier video. “Rough him up good,” Timothy said in the recording.

The young man replied, “Easy enough. I’m nothing like that sorry excuse for a homeroom teacher you’ve got.”

“Get in there first,” Timothy said. “Take him down, then we’ll follow.”

The conversation continued, and every word of it played out in front of the entire class. Timothy and Chris stood there with no color left in their faces whatsoever.

The students around them erupted. Timothy and that guy were working together the whole time.

Cassandra’s expression curdled. A sorry excuse for a homeroom teacher?

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11:22 Wed, Jun 10

Chapter 41 Defending Steven

Lilliana stared at the screen with something that looked like genuine surprise. Steven saw this coming and planned for it.

The level of calculation it took to set something like this up made her look at him differently, almost against

her will.

But he still beat someone bloody enough to potentially kill them.

What does any of this actually change?

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11:22 Wed, Jun 10

Reborn: Apocalypse Ready. War Goddess by My Side