Chapter 1

The captain of our college cheer squad was drowning.

I fought to pull her ashore and performed mouth-to-mouth in front of the entire student body and faculty.

But three days later, she went live, sobbing, and accused me.

"Owen Ellis pushed me into the water... He's wanted to force himself on me for ages!

"He threatened me, too. He said if I didn't sleep with him, he'd post photos of him kissing me on a porn site and ruin me!"

Overnight, I went from a lifesaving hero to a would-be rapist reviled across the internet.

The university expelled me. My parents were doxxed by online mobs, lost their jobs, and both sank into depression.

In my darkest moment, I stood at the same lake where I'd saved her and jumped.

As the water closed over my head, a notification lit up my phone.

The cheer captain was smiling on her livestream as hundreds of thousands of fans flooded the chat. The stream title read:

"A Strong Girl Rises from the Ashes."

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the moment she started drowning.

She was thrashing in the water, those wet eyes locked on mine, and she cried out.

"Owen... save me..."

Chapter 1

Her scream pierced the suffocating haze of my drowning like a needle of ice.

My eyes flew open, and I looked toward the lake, where a noisy crowd had gathered.

"Help me! Help..."

Layla was flailing in the water. The instant our eyes met, a flicker of satisfaction crossed hers.

In my past life, I'd fallen for that desperate act without a second thought, jumped in, pulled her out, and given her CPR.

Three days later, she went live in tears, claiming I "pushed her in" and "tried to assault her."

She sobbed and held up chat screenshots. "He threatened me. He said if I didn't sleep with him, he'd post photos of him kissing me on a porn site... I can't live like this!"

The internet exploded.

People edited my photos with captions like "Rapist scum, die" and "Doxx his whole family," then spread them across every platform.

Michael Carter, the dean, looked conflicted as he tossed an expulsion notice at me. "The damage is too severe. For the university's reputation..."

I dragged my suitcase off campus in a daze, only to get a call from a neighbor back home whose voice shook with tears.

"Owen... your parents... they were let go from their jobs! Both of them are so depressed, they say they can't face anyone anymore..."

The phone slipped from my hand. The world went silent.

I walked back to that lake. The cold wrapped around me once more.

As consciousness faded, the last thing I saw was Layla's smiling face on my phone, her livestream showing over a hundred thousand viewers.

"Thank you all for helping me through the darkness... I'll carry your love with me and live my best life!"

"Owen! Save me! Please!"

The desperate cry yanked me out of the nightmare of my past life.

Layla was still "struggling" in the water, eyes locked on me, silently urging me to act.

I looked at her, and a cold smile slowly spread across my face.

Then, under the stunned gaze of everyone watching, I turned and walked away.

Behind me came her cracking scream and the panicked sounds of choking on water.

But I barely made it a few steps before a figure charged at me from the side, nearly knocking me into the bushes.

I looked up. It was my roommate, Cole Miller.

He'd pinched every penny to buy Layla one designer bag after another, yet she'd never even let him hold her hand. Everyone on campus knew him for it.

"Owen! Are you even human?!" He was right in my face, jabbing his finger so close it nearly poked my nose. "Everyone knows you're the star of the swim team! A classmate is fighting for her life and you just walk away?"

Whispers rippled through the crowd.

I brushed off my clothes, unfazed.

"So because I'm a good swimmer, I'm obligated to jump in? You're pre-med too. You know how terrifyingly strong drowning people can become when they're fighting to survive.

"If she grabs me and pulls me under, who takes responsibility then?" My gaze swept across the crowd before settling on Cole. "Sorry, but I value my life. If you want to help her, call a professional."

I turned to leave.

Cole's eyes went red with rage. He shoved me hard back toward the shore.

"Cut the act! When the academic building caught fire, you dove into the lake and pulled out a bunch of students who'd jumped in. That made you the big hero and got you a scholarship! Why weren't you scared of dying then?

"Oh, I get it now. When there's nothing in it for you, you'll just stand there and watch Layla drown! What a hypocrite!"

Countless stares dug into my back like nails.

I gave a thin smile and spoke coolly.

"Save someone and I'm a hero. Don't, and I'm the villain.

"Since you're so righteous, why don't you jump in and save her yourself?"

Chapter 2

Cole choked on his words, face flushing crimson. He yanked out his phone.

"Enough talk! I'm asking you one last time. Are you going in or not?"

I folded my arms and stared at him in silence.

Cole lost his temper and shouted the first thing that came to mind.

"Fine! I'm reporting you to Dean Carter right now. Your hero scholarship is shady as hell! Maybe you were even behind that fire!"

The moment he threatened the scholarship that was keeping me in school, the last trace of goodwill I had for him vanished.

I stepped forward, eyes cutting into him.

"Cole, you want to report me? Go ahead. But you might want to think about yourself first.

"The day the academic building caught fire, I saw what you did. You locked the stairwell fire door behind you so you could get out first."

Cole's face went white.

"Afterward, you begged me never to tell anyone. You said if it got out, your life would be over. What's the matter? Not worried about that anymore?"

The crowd erupted.

"What?! He locked the door?"

"Holy shit! So that's why I couldn't get that door open that day. It was you, you piece of garbage!"

"Beat his ass! Scumbag!"

Cole, who'd been in my face just seconds ago, flinched and instinctively shrank behind me.

In the lake, Layla noticed the crowd's attention had shifted entirely. She glared daggers at me.

Just then, Dean Carter came running, ashen-faced. He saw a student in the water and jumped in without a word, quickly pulling Layla to shore.

"Does anyone know CPR?" Dean Carter asked urgently, scanning the crowd.

Cole saw his chance to redeem himself and immediately pointed at me.

"He does! Sir, he performed CPR during the fire rescue!"

Every pair of eyes snapped back to me.

I took a step back, looking conflicted.

"I'm sorry, sir. I have severe germophobia. I really can't... perform mouth-to-mouth on a stranger."

Dean Carter's expression tightened.

"This is no time for that. A life is at stake!"

But right then, Layla weakly opened her eyes and spoke up for me, her voice barely a whisper.

"Please, don't... don't pressure him. Just knowing everyone's here caring about me... that's... that's enough..."

Before she could finish, she broke into a quick series of light coughs.

That fragile, beautiful act instantly ignited the crowd's sympathy. Accusing whispers pricked at me from every direction.

Sensing the shift, Cole grabbed me and shoved me down next to Layla.

"Stop stalling and help her already!"

With the crowd putting me on the spot, I knew that if I kept refusing, I'd lose whatever ground I had left.

And Layla was waiting for exactly that moment, the moment I'd give her mouth-to-mouth, ready to turn it into evidence against me.

But I'd already planned for this.

Chapter 3

I pulled off my jacket and draped it over Layla, covering her mouth, nose, and chest completely.

"What do you think you're doing? What on earth is this?!" Dean Carter shouted.

"Sir, the first-aid manual recommends avoiding cross-contamination during rescue," I replied calmly, hands moving with practiced efficiency. "Especially when the situation is unclear, chest compressions alone work just as well as mouth-to-mouth."

Before he could respond, I'd already stacked my hands over her sternum. Years of football training had given me powerful hands, and now that strength surged into the compression.

First compression, full power!

Through the jacket, Layla's body went rigid. A sharp gasp tore from her throat.

Nice performance. Still "unconscious," huh?

I raised an eyebrow and added a bit more pressure on the second compression.

"Cough, cough... cough!!"

Layla broke into violent coughing, her eyelids fluttering open to reveal eyes blazing with shock and fury.

"She's awake! She's coming to!" Dean Carter's face flooded with relief.

Layla shot me a vicious glare, then, as if she'd used up all her strength, her eyes rolled back and she started to pass out again.

I immediately stopped, letting just the right amount of hesitation and alarm show on my face.

"Sir, I think she's fading again. But I already used the maximum safe pressure. If I push any harder, I could fracture a rib, puncture a lung... the consequences..."

I left it unfinished, but everyone understood: that wouldn't be saving a life. It would be ending one.

Layla's fingers, resting on the ground, curled ever so slightly.

That's when Cole, eager to prove himself, jumped in.

"Forget all that! Saving her comes first. A few broken ribs are better than a dead girl! Right, sir?"

Dean Carter looked at Layla's unconscious face, hesitated, then nodded.

"Given the circumstances... go ahead."

"All right. I'll do my best."

As if steeling myself, I rolled up my sleeves again, took a deep breath, and positioned my hands for an even harder compression.

"Get off me!!"

A full-throated scream exploded from the "unconscious" Layla on the ground.

She shot upright like a spring and slapped my hands away hard. There wasn't a trace of weakness on her face, only humiliated rage.

The whole world went quiet.

Chapter 4

A flash of embarrassment and anger crossed Layla's face. She quickly pressed a hand to her forehead and spoke in a weak whisper.

"God... I'm... I'm so dizzy..."

Although she looked a little odd, everyone still breathed a sigh of relief when they saw she was awake.

Dean Carter and Cole quickly helped her up from either side and into the ambulance that had just pulled up.

Before the doors closed, Layla shot me one last look, her gaze dark with hostility.

I knew she wouldn't let this go.

Sure enough, after the dust settled, she didn't back off. If anything, she and Cole got closer, clearly cooking up something.

Then came a group project. Citing my grades, they talked the professor into putting us all in the same group and making me team lead.

By the time I found out, the groups were final. I had no choice but to roll with it.

One of my buddies sent me a text out of the blue.

"Owen, Cole's been acting really weird! He told the professor he needed a sedative for an animal experiment and checked it out from the lab, but I just saw him hand it off to Layla!"

I locked my phone and gave a cold smile.

Just as I'd expected, they'd run out of patience.

Almost on cue, Layla's text came through:

"Hey, Owen. The classroom's too loud. Cole and I got a table at the cafe on the corner. Want to come discuss the project?"

I texted back two words: "Sure thing."

If they were walking straight into the crosshairs, they couldn't blame me for pulling the trigger.

I fired off quick texts to my buddy and another contact.

"Go time."

At the cafe, I'd barely sat down when Cole slid a coffee across the table with a big smile.

"Here, Owen. Get some caffeine in you and we'll take our time on this."

I glanced at the murky liquid and pushed it right back.

"No thanks. I've got a physical for tomorrow's swim meet. Can't put anything weird in my system today."

Layla and Cole both went stiff for a split second.

Layla awkwardly changed the subject back to the project.

After a few minutes of small talk, I excused myself to the restroom, already thinking about how to slip out.

But the second I turned on the faucet, someone clamped a wet cloth over my mouth and nose from behind!

"Mmph!"

My eyes flew wide. I fought wildly against whoever held me as one thought flashed through my mind.

The drug wasn't in the coffee. It was on the cloth!

But it was too late. A crushing wave of dizziness hit me and I crumpled to the cold floor like a rag doll.

The last thing I saw before the darkness took me was Cole's sneering face.

Chapter 5

When my eyes opened again, the harsh white light of a police station glared down at me.

Before I was even fully conscious, the cold metal on my wrists told me I was cuffed to a chair in an interrogation room.

"Detective, look! He's awake!"

Layla's shrill voice pierced the air. I turned to see her with tousled hair and disheveled clothes, curled up in Cole's arms.

A detective stepped in front of me, eyes boring into mine.

"Sir, this woman is accusing you of rape."

"No! I didn't do anything!" I jerked my head up, the handcuffs rattling violently and biting into my wrists. "I have no idea what happened! They drugged me!"

Detective Harris paused, then picked up a preliminary report from the table. His voice left no room for argument.

"But we found what appears to be your semen on this woman's underwear. How do you explain that?"

The words hit like a sledgehammer. I stared at Layla in disbelief.

She'd actually stoop this low to frame me!

The body's spinal reflexes don't shut down even when someone's unconscious. With the right stimulation, a small sample could be extracted.

I took a deep breath and forced down the rage churning inside me.

"Detective, I categorically deny this accusation. I demand that you pull the hotel's entrance and hallway surveillance footage to verify whether I entered that room voluntarily!"

"Owen Ellis, you're still trying to talk your way out of this!" Cole jumped in eagerly, his voice and expression fierce. "The cafe's security cameras and our classmates can all confirm you came to meet us on your own! What, are you going to claim we carried you in?"

"My request is clear. Pull the hotel footage!"

I ignored Cole's taunting and kept my eyes locked on the detective.

But Detective Harris frowned, a hint of regret in his voice.

"I'm sorry, but the hotel's surveillance system was hacked around the time of the incident. All the footage from the relevant time frame is... gone."

My heart plummeted.

This was a perfectly constructed trap.

A flash of triumph crossed Layla's face. She tapped her phone a few times, turned on the tears, and started a livestream.

"Oh God, I can't go on! This is him! He violated me, and now he's sitting in a police station denying everything! Please, everyone, you have to stand up for me!"

The public confrontation instantly set the livestream ablaze, and a tidal wave of abuse flooded the comments.

[What a piece of trash! Looks decent on the outside but he's rotten to the core!]

[He has the nerve to deny it? Throw him in prison! Let him see what real violence feels like!]

[What school is he from? He needs to be expelled!]

"Sir," Detective Harris said, his tone noticeably harder under the weight of public pressure, "if you confess now and show good faith, you might get a lighter sentence. Otherwise, once the charges stick, your education, your future, all of it is over!"

My chest tightened until I could barely breathe.

Then a ringtone sliced through the heavy air, one I'd assigned to a single person.

I snapped my head up, the dull look in my eyes blazing back to life.

"Wait! I have a witness and evidence! I can prove that when this supposedly happened, I wasn't at the hotel at all. I was in my dorm!"