Seeing me silent, Lily continued, "Liam, Emily said she was coming here to study. I trusted you and let her come. But it's almost ten, and she hasn't come home. Her phone is unreachable.
"Emily is a good girl. She wouldn't lie. If she said she came to your house, she must be here. I know you and Emily are close, but you can't keep her like this."
Lily's words made me laugh angrily.
"Auntie, Emily is an adult. If she were here, she would have come out by now. Do you think I could tie her up?
"And you broke into my house at night. That's illegal. Aren't you afraid I'll call the police?"
Before I finished speaking, Noah slapped me.
Noah was the head of security at my school. He was six feet tall and weighed 220 pounds, all muscle.
Three months ago, he caught two thugs at the school gate and was commended by the school leaders.
His slap left me stunned.
But he wasn't satisfied and took out his phone to start recording me.
"Whose brat is this? He can't study well himself and keeps my daughter from preparing for her exams. He's just a natural troublemaker! Isn't anyone going to do something?"
After recording, Noah posted the video in the school parents' group chat.
Because of the thug incident, Noah had some prestige in the parents' group.
As soon as he posted, everyone started to reply.
Noah was satisfied and raised his phone to record me again.
He recorded while explaining, "This kid is really wicked. My daughter is a good student. She helps him with his studies because his grades are average. But he pesters her every day, not letting her prepare for her exams.
"I thought he just had a crush on my daughter. With the exam coming up, I thought he'd behave. But he used the excuse of studying to hide her.
"Tomorrow is the college entrance exam. I can't reach Emily. I'm going crazy. But this brat is lying to me. Everyone, judge for yourselves!"
The parents in the group chat started sympathizing with Noah.
"Isn't this Liam? He looks innocent but is bad inside!"
"Exactly. If my daughter hung out with someone like him, I'd break her legs."
"Noah, the exam is tomorrow. Hurry and find out where Emily is. If she misses the exam, it'll be a lifelong regret."
Talking about the exam, Noah got anxious and started a live stream in the group chat.
The curious parents flocked to the live stream.
Seeing the number of viewers, Noah got excited and pointed the camera at my face.