Chapter 2 - The Name on the Paper

A ripple passed through the crowd. Richard climbed the first stage step, but Professor Hughes moved between us.

"She's having some kind of episode," he said. "Get her off that microphone."

"No," the dean answered. Her voice carried farther than his. "You will stay right there."

I unfolded a document I'd tucked into my diploma holder. A birth certificate. Not the pretty replacement the Bennetts kept in a safe. An old certified copy, with a hospital stamp and two names I'd learned to say only in private.

"I was born Emily Price," I told the courtyard. "My mother was Nora Price. My father was Daniel Price."

My own voice shook. I let it.

"Twenty-two years ago, a fire killed my mother at a warehouse owned by Bennett Industrial. My father was convicted of starting it. Richard and Elaine took me in. Then they told me they were my biological parents."

"Lies!" Richard bellowed.

"You signed the adoption papers," I said. "You also signed a statement saying Daniel had abandoned me. He didn't. He was told I'd died in the fire."

I looked at the flash drive. There were records on it, but I wasn't about to plug it into a random university computer and hand Richard a chance to erase or discredit everything. Attorney Miriam Shaw had notarized copies. Reporter Tessa Blake had the same files in a secure archive. This little drive was the one thing my family recognized on sight.

"I didn't come here to turn graduation into a trial," I said. "I came to get my degree. My father chose this stage."

Richard lunged. Security caught him before he reached the podium. The crowd erupted, a storm of voices, cameras and scraping chairs.

Professor Hughes took the microphone. "The allegations of academic misconduct will be handled through university procedures. There has been no finding against Emily. I ask everyone to give her space."

For the first time in my life, an adult had corrected Richard in public.

I stepped away from the podium. Tessa Blake, her press badge swinging, met me beside the stairs.

"The story's already online," she said. "And Richard just sent police a complaint saying you stole confidential corporate files."

"He can file whatever he wants."

"Emily." She showed me her phone. "He also says the files prove you started a blackmail scheme."

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