Male Classmate Spread Sex Rumor, I Ruined Him

On the day the guaranteed graduate placements were posted, Matthew Perry from the student council marched straight into my open lecture and demanded, loud enough for the whole room to hear.

Professor, you really had to punish me like this? I didn't come to the hotel to see you that night, so you handed my placement to someone else?

In my last life, I assumed he'd just cracked under the disappointment of losing his spot, and I let the words go.

I never imagined that by that same day the whole campus was buzzing with it, saying I chased men, saying I traded graduate placements for sexual favors from students.

My daughter got bullied at school because of me, my parents were pointed at all over the neighborhood, and my husband couldn't stand it and divorced me, taking our daughter with him.

Matthew, meanwhile, not only collected a payout from the school, he got his graduate placement outright.

Blow after blow, storm after storm of online abuse, and I jumped.

Right before I lost consciousness, Matthew leaned in and said one thing.

"Thank you, Professor. I wouldn't be where I am without you."

Reborn, I was back on the day my suffering began, and Matthew pushed open my office door for the first time.

"Professor Pruitt, may I join your research team?"

I looked at him and shook my head.

"Sorry, Matthew, I don't take undergraduates."

The smile froze on his face, a flash of shock and disbelief crossing his eyes.

He clearly hadn't expected me to turn him down without a second's thought.

"Professor Pruitt, but you said before that undergraduates could come learn in your group if they asked."

"And you're the authority in this field, in our college and in the whole country."

"If you'd just give me a chance, I promise I won't let you down."

By the last words, a hard, determined light rose in his eyes.

Exactly the same as last time.

Back then, looking at this student with the polished rsum and the student council title, I really had felt a spark of interest.

That determined look especially made me think he was promising material.

I even paid out of my own pocket, giving him a stipend at the graduate student rate.

But I never realized all of it was fake.

His purpose was simple. Step on me to get what he wanted.

Seeing that look again, I couldn't help clenching my fist, my body giving an involuntary shudder.

"Matthew, I've already said I don't want undergraduates."

"I won't get in the way of the older students' research."

"I'll do odd jobs in the lab if that's all right."

"..."

No matter what he said, I only kept shaking my head.

By then a few of the other professors in the office had started chiming in too.

"Professor Pruitt, I know this Matthew kid, he's definitely promising material."

"Right, just let him learn from you."

"You wouldn't even have to manage him, Professor Pruitt, just let him help out with the grad students."

Their words meant nothing to me.

Last life, after everything blew up, these same people scattered as far as they could, and not one of them spoke a word for me.

Just then Ernest Finch, director of the academic affairs office, happened to pass by in the hallway.

"What's going on?"

The moment he saw him, Matthew said quickly, "Mr. Finch, I want to learn in Professor Pruitt's project group, but she won't take undergraduates no matter what."

"I don't mean anything by it, I just want to learn more."

Ernest looked me over.

"Professor Pruitt, this is a good thing. What's wrong with an extra pair of hands?"

I knew perfectly well that Matthew was on the student council and stood close to Ernest.

But this was my life on the line, and I wasn't going to spare anyone's feelings over it.

"Director Finch, my energy only goes so far. The grad students I already have wear me out. I don't have time for him."

Sure enough, the second I refused, Ernest's expression soured.

"Professor Pruitt! This is a school. It's a place for academic work and for serving students."

"Matthew wants to learn. Why won't you give him the chance?"

"And Matthew is on the student council. If he goes to grad school, he has a shot at a faculty position here."

"By every measure, Professor Pruitt, I think you should say yes."

I knew Ernest well enough.

Once he'd pushed it this far, refusing again would only earn me endless grief down the line.

I figured that, with a second life, I could keep a close watch on Matthew and still give Ernest his face.

I nodded. "Director Finch, I can agree. But let me be blunt up front. He has to write a formal application to the department, stating that he's joining to learn of his own free will, and have his advisor sign and stamp it, then contact me so it's on file."

Last life, Matthew twisted my letting him learn from me and work in the lab into "a test of my obedience."

And in the end he took his own failure to win a placement and reframed it as "refusing to submit to my abuse of power."

I'd had nothing I could put on the table, no way to defend myself.

This time, I wouldn't hand him that opening.

Seeing me relent, that humble smile surfaced again on Matthew's face, though the calculation in his eyes was more than he could hide.

That afternoon, I sent for James Chavez.

He was my star student, and he handled most of the research team's day-to-day work for me.

I told him to reach out that same afternoon and get another set of surveillance installed in every lab, and it had to record audio.

I also told him he was to be the last one out of the lab every single day, and that after locking up he was to check that the cameras were running properly.

The school had already put cameras in every lab, but I still didn't feel safe.

The next day, Matthew Perry came to me with his application.

I deliberately assigned him to shadow James. Trusting James was one reason. There was another.

The control experiments James ran were ones I never had to go near, so I could stay away from Matthew as much as possible.

To keep the tragedy from repeating, I couldn't afford to miss a single detail.

Over the next two weeks, James reported back to me on how Matthew was doing.

Every day, he simply finished whatever James assigned him.

Very obedient, and quick to catch on, sharper than a lot of the graduate students.

James even said Matthew was genuinely promising.

That actually made me start doubting myself.

Was it possible my rebirth had set off some butterfly effect, and Matthew had changed too?

Too bad I was overthinking it.

The graduate placement results were coming out this week, and Matthew couldn't sit still any longer.

That day, the moment I stepped out of the lab, he came right after me.

"Professor Pruitt, why is this experiment result so different from last time?"

"Oh, that?"

I turned back toward the lab.

"Come in and I'll walk you through it."

The second he saw the cameras inside, he only half-listened for a few sentences before making an excuse and leaving.

After that he waited for me outside the classroom building, and the moment I came out of class he rushed over, saying he had a few academic questions.

I just called James.

"Ask your senior about it. On the theory side, he knows it better than I do."

The last time, he sent me a long message.

The gist of it was that his family didn't have much money, and he was hoping I'd help him out.

In my past life, it was exactly because I felt sorry for him that I paid him a fifteen-hundred-dollar monthly allowance out of my own pocket.

When he framed me, that became the ironclad proof that I'd taken an interest in him.

Why give it to him and not to anyone else?

This time, I took him straight to the academic affairs office.

At first he had no idea what was going on.

"Professor Pruitt, what are we doing at the academic affairs office?"

Ernest Finch was there, and he looked just as puzzled to see me.

"What is it, Professor Pruitt?"

I pulled out my phone right away and showed him the messages Matthew had sent.

"Director Finch, look at this student's situation. I think the college ought to help him out."

Ernest read it, then took out a form.

"Matthew, why didn't you bring this up sooner? Hurry and fill this out."

While Matthew filled out the form, I took out my phone and snapped a photo.

Ernest watched me pull out my phone, his brow furrowing, clearly thinking I was making a fuss over nothing. "Professor Pruitt, the boy's family is struggling. If the college can help, it helps. There's no need to make this so formal."

"Director Finch, better to keep it formal."

I knew he was looking for an opening, and I wasn't about to let him have it.

With that I left, leaving Matthew behind.

That evening, while I was writing his placement recommendation letter, Matthew called.

"Professor Pruitt, I only wanted you to help me. There's no need to put me in such an awkward spot."

"Awkward? Are you the one who's awkward? Or are you the one hoping to make me awkward?"

Matthew went silent on the other end for a long moment before he managed a single line.

"What do you mean by that? I don't understand."

"If you don't understand, then never mind."

I hung up the moment I said it, and I could picture Matthew on the other end, fuming.

I also knew this wasn't going to end so easily.

Just as I knew it would, the moment came.

The day the placement list went up, I was in the middle of my open lecture.

Matthew shoved the door open.

Every head in the room turned toward him.

Same as last time, he glared at me.

"Professor, you really had to push me this far, didn't you? I wouldn't meet you at the motel that night, so you gave my placement to someone else?"

The class detonated.

"Holy crap, this is good."

"I always said Professor Pruitt gave him the most attention. So there was something going on?"

"Tsk, how come I never got that kind of luck..."

Snickers, chatter, the soft clicks of phone cameras quietly starting to record, all of it tangled together. I ignored it and kept my eyes on Matthew.

"Matthew, you say I told you to come find me at the motel that night. Where's your proof?"

"Do you have a recording of the call? A message I sent you?"

"If you can't produce it today, I'm calling the police right now."

The arrogance froze on his face.

He clearly hadn't expected this from me.

In his script, I was supposed to panic, go pale, deny everything.

A full minute passed before he got a word out.

"Don't think that's going to scare me. If I had no proof, I wouldn't be here demanding answers."

"Disrupting a class? Spreading a filthy rumor about me? You call that demanding answers?"

"I'll report exactly what you've said to the police and to the academic affairs office."

He listened, went white, gritted his teeth.

"Professor Pruitt, remember, you're the one forcing this. You're sure you want me to say it in front of everyone?"

I knew the person Matthew had brought was livestreaming everything happening in this room right now. One slip and I could end up right back where I was before. I had to hold steady.

"Of course, Matthew. Isn't fairness exactly what you want? Go on, tell everyone what happened."

He plugged a flash drive into the computer, clicked twice, and a video began to play.

I froze at the sight of it.

The woman in it was me, in sunglasses, wearing the pink floral dress I'd been wearing a lot lately, in heels, walking up to the entrance of a budget motel.

Glancing around, making sure no one was watching, then hurrying inside.

This...

While I stood there stunned, Matthew's voice reached me again.

"Professor, what you said to my face, no, I don't have proof of that."

"But while you were at the motel waiting for me, I happened to be passing by and filmed it."

The room went silent, then erupted again, every gaze on me now strange and cold.

"What an act. A second ago I actually thought she was innocent."

"This is ironclad now. Let's see what she says."

"Look, Professor Pruitt's gone white."

Seeing my reaction, Matthew's mouth curled into a cold, cruel line, and he added one more thing.

"Professor, why aren't you talking now? Go ahead. Call the police."