My Fake Boyfriend Is the School Bad Boy novel Chapter 225

Chapter 225 Talking To The News Cameras

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The red recording lights cut through the gray morning mist.

Reporters swarmed the stone walkway. They carried heavy cameras on their shoulders and shoved fuzzy microphones past the security guards. They did not care about the Crestview Prep dress code. They did not care about the pristine reputation of the affluent elite. They smelled a story, and they descended on the courtyard like wolves to a fresh kill.

Chairman Davis froze at the top of the stone steps. The color drained from his weathered face. He possessed millions of dollars and a vast real estate portfolio, but his wealth offered zero protection against live television.

A woman in a tan trench coat pushed to the front of the media pack. She held a microphone bearing the Channel 4 logo.

“Chairman Davis!” the reporter shouted. Her voice echoed across the quiet plaza. ‘Channel 4 News. We received a tip about a mass student protest regarding administrative corruption. Can you confirm the school board plans to expel three hundred honor roll students today?”

The question hung in the damp air, sharp and undeniable.

Principal Miller panicked. He stepped in front of the cameras. He held his hands up, attempting a calm, authoritative posture.

This is a private campus, Miller stammered. His voice shook. “You possess zero permission to film here. We are handling a minor disciplinary misunderstanding. Please turn the cameras off and return to your vehicles.”

“A minor misunderstanding?” a second reporter called out from the back. “Three hundred students staging a sit-in does not look like a minor misunderstanding, Principal Miller. It looks like a rebellion.”

The woman in the tan trench coat ignored the administration. She turned her attention to the massive crowd of teenagers sitting on the damp stone. She bypassed the principal and walked directly toward the front row.

She stopped a few feet away from Hugo, Sofia, and me.

Ryder shifted his weight. He stepped closer to my side. He positioned his broad frame between me and the heavy camera lenses. He acted as a physical shield, ready to block any aggressive movement from the media.

I am speaking to the students of Crestview Prep, the reporter announced. She pointed her microphone toward us. ‘Why are you sitting in the cold rain? What are you demanding from the school board?”

Hugo looked at the microphone. He gripped his battered blue student handbook. The fear of Trent Lawson and the elite threats vanished from his eyes. He found his courage in the solidarity of the crowd.

We demand academic integrity. Hugo stated. His voice rang clear and steady. “We demand the administration honor their own rules. They issued an indefinite suspension to block a legitimate academic appeal. They protect the wealthy students and punish the scholarship students. We refuse to attend our morning classes until they grant the Academic Tribuņal.*

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Chapter 225 Talking To The News Cameras

The reporter turned toward me. She recognized my face from the leaked photographs and the digital whisper campaign

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“You are Raisa Petrova,” she noted. “The student involved in the dating contract scandal with Ryder Steinmann. Are you the focus of this tribunal?”

I stood up. I stepped around Ryder’s protective stance. I needed to fight my own war. I faced the reporter and the blinking red camera light.

“My personal life is not the issue,” I clarified. I kept my voice calm. I projected the focused discipline of a scientist. 1 hold the top

academic rank in this senior class. The administration refuses to let me defend my midterm grades in a public forum. They claim a

modern technicality blocks my right to a fair hearing. I just want a chance to prove my intellect. I want a fair test.”

The cameras captured every word. The local news broadcasted the truth to thousands of living rooms across the city. The narrative

shifted. I ceased to be the desperate charity case who forged a romance. I became the brilliant student fighting a corrupt system

Chairman Davis recognized the shift.

He understood corporate damage control. If the news anchors ran this footage on the evening broadcast, the Crestview Prep alumni foundation would riot. Donors would pull their funding. The prestigious reputation of the institution would burn to ash. He needed to

stop the bleeding.

Davis marched down the stone steps. He grabbed Principal Miller by the elbow.

No more statements, Davis hissed through clenched teeth.

He turned to the reporters. He forced a tight, artificial smile onto his face.

The school board takes student grievances very seriously,” Davis announced to the cameras. “We value transparency and academic excellence. We will convene an emergency session right now to review Miss Petrova’s petition. We will return with a formal decision

shortly.

Davis did not wait for follow-up questions. He turned around and marched back through the heavy glass doors of the administration building. Principal Miller and the remaining board members followed him in a panicked rush. The doors clicked shut.

The reporters retreated to the edge of the courtyard. They set their cameras up under the dry awnings, waiting for the final verdict.

The crowd of students remained seated on the stone pavement. No one broke the line. The gray clouds overhead opened up, releasing a steady, freezing drizzle. The rain soaked into my black sweater. My fingers went numb from the cold.

Ryder reached out. He unzipped his scuffed leather jacket. He pulled the heavy garment off his shoulders and draped it over mine. The leather retained his body heat. It smelled like cedar wood and the damp storm.

Keep it, Ryder commanded when I tried to protest. He stood in his black t-shirt, ignoring the freezing rain. “You are shivering.”

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Chapter 225 Talking To The News Cameras

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