The Virgin’s Bucket List – Episode 35
Grant’s statement transformed a private investigation into a public accusation. Reporters gathered outside Maple Hill Academy, asking whether Mike had recruited Wayne to access the Adams trust. Students repeated the claim before anyone examined the evidence.
Wayne wanted to issue an immediate denial. The family attorney advised patience until Victor’s sworn statement was filed. Grant understood that truth moved carefully while scandal ran.
Lindsay’s journalism mentor called with another warning. The summer program had received anonymous complaints accusing Lindsay of fabricating stories to protect her father. Her acceptance remained active, but the committee had opened a conduct review.
Grant’s threat at the café had become real. Lindsay felt fear, then anger at how precisely he targeted each person’s dream. Mike lost coaching, Wayne risked football, and she risked journalism.
Wayne offered to release his own statement separating Lindsay from the trust dispute. She refused to let him pretend their connection was irrelevant. They would answer with evidence rather than denial.
Victor signed the affidavit and provided his original ledger. The district reinstated Mike pending final review, acknowledging that the transfer appeared authorized. The correction received far less attention than the accusation.
At practice, several parents demanded Mike remain off the field. They feared scouts would avoid a team attached to scandal. Mike listened without defending himself, then asked the assistant coach to lead drills until trust could be rebuilt.
Wayne addressed the team. He explained that Mike had given him housing and a chance to play without ever asking about the trust. Players who knew the coach supported him, but others worried loyalty could cost scholarships.
The division threatened everything Mike had built. Lindsay recognized Grant’s real strategy: not merely winning a legal dispute, but making every relationship too expensive to maintain.
She completed her article with Victor’s records, the altered scholarship release, and proof of the malicious software. Jamie permitted her to mention an unnamed minor beneficiary but not his adoption details.
No local newspaper would publish it. Editors cited legal risk, incomplete university findings, and Grant’s influence as a major donor. Lindsay’s carefully verified work remained trapped on her laptop.
Jeremy proposed an independent student-news site. Lindsay worried that publishing without institutional protection could expose them to lawsuits. He replied that documentation was protection, though not immunity.
Phoebe gathered classmates willing to sign a statement about Alyssa’s earlier manipulation, demonstrating how false narratives had repeatedly targeted the Johnson family. Jean provided Grant’s messages to Alyssa promising to restore her cheer prospects if Wayne became isolated.
The messages changed the case. Grant had directly coordinated harassment through a student, linking him to conduct beyond the trust. Alyssa had kept screenshots as insurance against being abandoned.
Lindsay visited Alyssa at home and asked for the complete conversation. Alyssa initially refused, claiming Grant was the only powerful person who had ever offered her a future after suspension.
Lindsay told her that he had never intended to rescue her. He used her fear of becoming irrelevant, just as she once used Lindsay’s fear of being unwanted. Alyssa recognized the pattern because she had perfected a smaller version of it herself.
She transferred the messages but demanded that Lindsay not portray her as a victim. Alyssa had chosen to hurt people and would accept responsibility. It was the first honest thing Lindsay had ever heard her say.
That night, the student-news site published Lindsay’s investigation with every supporting document. Within minutes, the story began spreading beyond Maple Hill—and Grant’s attorneys delivered a cease-and-desist order naming Lindsay personally.