The Inescapable Celibate Heir Chapter 81: The Truth

Lily's eyes widened in shock. "What did you just say?"

"Looks like Lily was in the dark," Dennis said, pulling out a hair clip. "This hair clip, someone must recognize it. We found it at the scene. Can anyone explain why Ella from the dance club's hair clip was found next to the snooker club's props?"

Everyone in the dance club turned to look at Ella, their faces full of surprise. Lily shot her a look of disgust. Could Ella really do something like this? How stupid and mean, and to get caught by the snooker club—how embarrassing.

Walter's face turned pale, and he touched his pocket. The hair clip he kept close was gone. It must have fallen out when he damaged the props yesterday. He should step up and admit it to clear Ella's name, but he hesitated.

Ella started crying, tears streaming down her face. "No! It wasn't me!"

"How can you prove this hair clip belongs to Ella?" Vivian challenged.

Mira stepped forward, taking the microphone. "Ella was wearing this hair clip the day before yesterday, showing it off as a limited edition. Lots of people saw it. If this isn't her hair clip, then where's hers? Did she just happen to lose it?"

Ella was pushed onto the stage, facing the accusing stares of many. She bit her lip, tears falling, and stammered, "I do have a hair clip like this, but I didn't wear it today. I can call my maid to look for it at home. She should be able to find it."

Mira pressed, "Then call her now. Video call her so everyone can see if your hair clip is at home!"

Ella slowly made the call. On the video, the maid searched the dressing table for a long time but couldn't find the hair clip. Ella's face grew more and more distressed.

Mira sneered, "You look so wronged, I almost believed you. Turns out you lie without even blushing. Where's your hair clip? And you still claim you didn't damage our props!"

Dennis gave Ella a cold look and said sternly, "Since you can't find it, it means the hair clip Victoria found is yours. Ella, can you explain why you were backstage at the snooker club? What do you have to do with their damaged props?"

Ella stepped back, shaking her head. "It wasn't me! Someone must be framing me! Maybe someone stole my hair clip. Don't you have surveillance footage? The person in the footage isn't me!" 

She glared at Victoria, suspecting her of setting her up.

Dennis shook his head. "Unfortunately, the footage was deleted. The only evidence points to you. Even if you don't admit it, we will take action."

Someone in the audience jeered, "What action? Are you just going to give a light scolding in front of everyone?"

"Who would've thought Ella, who looks so sweet, could be so ruthless? All this for a performance, using such underhanded tactics."

The audience's comments were filled with disdain, and Ella was crying so hard she was about to faint. 

Walter couldn't stand it anymore and stepped forward. "Stop bullying Ella! It wasn't her!"

Mira asked, "How do you know it wasn't her? Did you see it?"

Walter replied, "Yeah, because I know who messed up the snooker club's props last night. It was me. The hair clip is a duplicate I kept. It has nothing to do with Ella."

Vivian tried to reason with him, "Walter, we know you like Ella, but you don't have to take the fall for her."

Walter shook his head firmly. "No, I have the deleted footage on my phone. The student council can check it. This was my personal action because I dislike Victoria. It has nothing to do with the dance club or Ella. Please stop accusing her."

Everyone had thought Ella was the culprit, but now there was a twist. 

Walter's words made him seem responsible and protective, willing to take the fall for someone he cared about. 

Some girls in the audience even expressed envy. "Ella is so lucky. Walter likes her so much that he's willing to do bad things just to make her happy."

As for Ella, more people began to sympathize with her. She was almost wrongfully accused, just an innocent, pretty girl liked by a misguided boy.

Dennis announced, "We just learned that the rope Victoria used in her performance was also tampered with. She almost fell and got hurt. Although she wasn't injured, this is a serious matter. We will publicly reprimand the culprit and assign community service. Walter, did you do all this alone?"

Walter nodded. "Yes, it was all my fault." He glanced at Ella with a pained expression. Ella, her eyes red from crying, looked at him gratefully. 

He felt it was worth it. He had done wrong for Ella, willingly. Admitting his mistake in front of everyone would clear Ella's name. She must be grateful and might even fall for him.

But Ella was thinking, 'That useless idiot Walter, doing bad things while wearing a hair clip identical to mine, causing me unnecessary suspicion. If he didn't genuinely like me and step up, I wouldn't even want to look at him. Damn it, Victoria escaped again. Why didn't she fall and get hurt? Such luck!'

Victoria watched their interaction and quickly understood: Ella hadn't acted directly. She had manipulated Walter, keeping herself clean. Her tactics had indeed improved.

Just when everyone thought it was over and started to leave the stage, Elise suddenly stepped up with a microphone. "Since everyone is here, I want to ask Ella about the Campus Queen voting. You're currently leading with an unusually high number of votes. Do you have an explanation?"

Ella wiped her tears and smiled innocently. "Elise, what are you talking about? I don't understand."

"Really? I noticed your votes spiked unusually during the second round. We had computer science students investigate and found that many votes came from the same IP address. One account even voted a thousand times in a second! This is clearly cheating and violates the fairness of the voting. Are you really unaware of this?"