Chapter 3: An Academic Dissection

Chapter 3: An Academic Dissection

The morning light that filtered into Elara’s sterile, temporary apartment was cool and gray, a perfect match for her mood. There was no grief, no second-guessing. There was only the quiet hum of a plan set in motion. She sat at a small desk with a laptop and a burner phone she’d purchased with cash the day before. The first phase of her operation required precision, not passion.

Her thumb hovered over the call button. She took a slow, steadying breath, then pressed it. She pitched her voice low and affectless, the anonymous, concerned citizen.

“Hello, I’d like to report a potential case of illegal animal possession and neglect,” she began when the officer from the State Fish and Wildlife Department answered. She recited Jake’s address from memory. “My… my daughter is friends with the young woman who lives there, and she’s been very upset. She mentioned some strange animals. A wild cat, she said. Very large ears. And some turtles that the man who lives there bragged were taken from a protected reservation.”

She let the fabricated story of a concerned mother create a layer of distance and credibility. She detailed the squalid conditions she’d photographed, her voice betraying no emotion as she described the overflowing litter box, the murky water, the general state of filth. “I’m worried for the animals, of course. But also for the students living there. It doesn’t seem safe.” She provided no name and ended the call before the officer could ask for one.

The first domino had been pushed. It was time to tip the second.

An hour later, Elara was walking across the university quad. She’d swapped her pajamas for a smart charcoal blazer and tailored trousers. She wasn't dressed as a scorned woman; she was dressed as a professional with a serious concern. Her target was Mary Thompson, the university’s Director of Student and Faculty Affairs. Elara knew from department gossip that Mary was the quiet, unshakeable core of the administration, the person you went to when things got truly complicated. She was also the wife of Alistair Thompson, a semi-retired billionaire whose name was on half the buildings on campus. Mary was polite, kind, and possessed a core of absolute steel.

Mary’s office was an oasis of calm and taste, with plush armchairs and framed botanical prints. Mary herself, an elegant woman in her mid-fifties with sharp, intelligent eyes, greeted Elara with a warm but questioning smile.

“Elara, dear. It’s lovely to see you, though you look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. Please, sit. Tea?”

“Thank you, Mary, but I’m afraid this isn’t a social call,” Elara said, her voice steady. She sat opposite the large oak desk, her posture straight, her hands resting calmly in her lap. “I’m here about a… a deeply uncomfortable situation involving a PhD student and one of his undergraduate pupils.”

Mary’s warm expression sharpened with professional focus. She folded her hands on her desk. “Go on.”

“As you know, I was in a long-term relationship with Jake Sterling in the Animal Sciences department.” Elara laid the foundation factually, without melodrama. “That relationship ended two nights ago. I’ve since become aware that he is now in a relationship with a nineteen-year-old student from his introductory genetics class, a young woman named Tiffany.”

She watched Mary’s eyes for a reaction. There was a subtle tightening around her mouth. She knew the university’s code of conduct inside and out. A relationship between a teaching assistant and a current student was a serious, fireable offense.

“This isn’t just about my personal situation, Mary,” Elara continued, leaning forward slightly, her voice laced with carefully crafted concern. “It’s about the power dynamic. He holds her grades in his hands. I’m concerned she’s being manipulated. When I discovered the affair…” Elara paused, letting a flicker of vulnerability show. She slid a small, sealed evidence bag across the desk. Inside was the fuchsia lipstick. “He was trying to hide it. This was on a glass in our kitchen. He told me he was breaking up with me over a ‘scientific divergence.’ He belittled my intelligence to cover for an illicit affair with a student he has academic power over.”

The lipstick, so petty in the context of their fight, became a powerful symbol of deceit on Mary’s desk.

“This is a very serious allegation, Elara,” Mary said, her tone now cold and official.

“I know. And I have the printout of Tiffany’s class schedule. He’s listed as her TA,” Elara said, producing a folded piece of paper from her bag. “I’m not trying to be vindictive. I’m worried about the university’s integrity. And I am, frankly, worried for her.”

Mary was silent for a long moment, her sharp gaze fixed on the lipstick. “The abuse of power is the one thing I cannot tolerate in academia,” she said finally, her voice like chipping ice. “It poisons everything. Thank you for having the courage to bring this to my attention, Elara. I assure you, this will be handled. Discreetly, but firmly.”

As Elara left the administration building, a profound sense of relief washed over her. She had aimed her weapons not wildly, but with surgical precision at the institutional pillars Jake leaned on for his authority.

Later that afternoon, her burner phone buzzed. It was a string of frantic texts from George.

HOLY SHIT. F&W IS HERE. TWO TRUCKS AND A POLICE CAR. They’re raiding the house. Jake is yelling about his rights. They just carried out the serval in a carrier. It looked terrified. Now the turtles. Oh man, Jake looks like he’s going to have an aneurysm. Tiffany is just standing on the lawn crying her eyes out. The neighbors are all staring. This is a complete shitshow.

Elara read the messages, a slow, cold smile spreading across her face. She imagined the scene: Jake’s carefully constructed world of arrogance and entitlement being dismantled, piece by piece, and carted away in official vehicles. His public humiliation was a satisfying bonus, but the true victory was the systematic destruction of his power base. He couldn’t blame her—the tip was anonymous. To protest his innocence would be to admit his guilt. He was caught.

The final blow of the day landed an hour later, not with a bang, but with a quiet electronic chime. George forwarded her the email that had just gone out to the entire department. He’d also received a copy, addressed to him personally.

Subject: Notice of Formal Investigation

To: Mr. Jake Sterling

This email serves as official notification that the University Ethics Committee has opened a formal investigation into allegations of unprofessional conduct. These allegations pertain to a potential violation of the university’s policy regarding faculty-student relationships. You are hereby suspended from all teaching assistant duties, effective immediately, pending the outcome of this investigation. You will be contacted shortly to schedule a preliminary hearing.

Jake’s world, once a fortress of academic arrogance, was now a cage. The state had confiscated his assets. The university was questioning his ethics. The bars were closing in, one meticulously filed complaint at a time. He was trapped in a web of consequences he was too arrogant to have ever foreseen.

But Elara knew he wasn't broken yet. He still had his research, his scholarship. He still had his precious federal grant. It was time to cut off his funding.