Riley Ross-Chapter 184: Move

"This is ridiculous. He’s a minor!"

Clarissa tried to stop Riley’s arrest. But as a lawman, she knew exactly what would happen if she insisted on the actual laws she learned against law enforcers. She turned to look at Riley, who didn’t seem to mind at all that the officers were tying zipties around his wrists.

She then turned to look at Bernard and Diana, and Diana was completely silent now. The look in her eyes, however, didn’t bode well for anyone at all.

But... something else made her nervous now.

Bernard, who was previously completely civil and somewhat carefree, now had his hands on his back; the faint smile on his face, completely gone.

"P-please, wait a minute!" She raised her palm at the billionaire, quickly pulling out her phone to call the mayor of Cambridge. Before she could call, however, she saw that the mayor had already sent her a text saying,

’It was the governor’s orders.’

"Th—Eep?!"

She was going to tell Bernard and Diana, but was shocked to see Bernard standing beside her and reading the text with her. He didn’t say anything, and instead only went to his wife, who was following the police as they escorted Riley out of the room.

Clarissa was already quite anxious when the two were showing signs of impatience earlier. But now that they weren’t talking at all, she couldn’t help but be completely nervous.

What exactly was the governor thinking? Was she trying to tank her political career? Is—

[Good morning, citizens of Cambridge, and citizens of America!]

"Huh...?" Clarissa blinked as she heard a very familiar voice coming from outside. She quickly rushed out of the room, only to see everyone in the station crowding at the entrance. Riley and his parents were also nowhere to be seen. But judging from the noises running around the station, things were about to turn messy.

"Shit. Why weren’t we informed that the governor would be here?!"

"You don’t know? We have the Ross kid here. I think she’s trying to make a statement!"

"...Against a billionaire? Is she crazy?" 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"You know how these young politicians are."

Clarissa listened to everyone’s words, now hesitating to see what the commotion was about since she didn’t want to be in the crossfire. Unfortunately for her, she only had a single exit here... figuratively and literally.

The only thing she could do was join everyone else.

[When you elected me 246 days ago, I made you all a promise! I, the youngest elected governor of our God

e]

She stepped outside and was quickly met with more than a hundred cameras. Riley was there too, right beside the governor. As for his parents, surprisingly, they weren’t doing anything to stop it, just watching from the side as the media feasted on their son.

And... this was scaring her.

[I made you all a promise that I will do the things that must be done, and that all of us are equal! Whether you’re pure or superabled, whether you’re the son of a billionaire or a homeless person. I will not stand if you think you can go through the law, because no one is above it!]

The governor raised her fist, the ends of her lush, bountiful afro hair trickling along with the flashes of light showering upon it. Her dark skin, almost turning completely white from the endless barrage.

Still, she seemed completely unfazed by it and continued on with her speech.

[And now, in front of the entire American people, I am fulfilling that promise here and now!] The governor slammed her palm on the podium before pointing right at Riley’s face.

[Riley Ross is the son of one of the most influential people in the world. But he also happened to kill someone! He will go through the court of law like the rest of us if we were in the same situation! And due to the nature of the crime, he will be tried as an adult!]

The media became quiet for a moment, looking at each other in confusion before wildly raising their microphones at the governor.

"But Ms. Healey—"

[Call me Denisia, please,] the governor said, raising her palm at the media before nodding. [And one at a time, please.]

"Are you siding with the villains? It’s clear as day that the person Riley killed was a terrorist!"

[I am siding with no one. As I told all of you, I am fair.] Governor Denisia crossed her index fingers before waving them. [Superheroes and villains, they are all equal in the eyes of the law!]

"But villains don’t have the same human rights as us!"

[Only at the time and act of the crime!] Governor Denisia pointed at the reporter. [But as you can see in the video, clear as day, that the man was already incapacitated and not even capable of lifting a finger when it happened!]

"But you are siding with the villains! Are you not afraid that the people might call for your impeachment?!"

"Aren’t you just trying to make yourself relevant?! Riley Ross is the son of Bernard Ross!"

"Mr. Ross! Can you make a statement? Mr. Ross!"

The media started turning their eyes toward Bernard and Diana, but the two completely ignored them and only stood there. Diana didn’t even care for them at all and was only staring at Riley.

And as for the star of this show, he was still calmly standing there without a word or a change of expression at all.

[Everyone, please calm down.] Governor Denisia raised her voice. [All of your questions will be answered promptly.]

"Why are you really doing this, Denisia? Are you that eager to prove yourself, since a lot of people are saying that you were only elected because of your popularity?"

[I may not be your conventional politician. But I assure you, the president has backed me in this decision. This is—]

"Whose is that? Huh?"

"Is that mine?"

"Is everyone getting it?"

And all of a sudden, a chaotic rhythm filled the outside of the police station as everyone’s phones started ringing. They all pulled out their phones, and without even a second, they all slowly turned their eyes back to the governor.

Governor Denisia was confused at the looks the media and the other people were giving her. She was about to ask what was going on, but her assistant quickly covered all the microphones in front of her. Her assistant wanted to pull her away, but she didn’t budge.

"What’s going on?!" she asked.

"We need to go now. I don’t know if this is real, but—"

"What’s real?!" Governor Denisia snatched her assistant’s phone, hastily looking at its contents. And it was a video. A video of her at a table with a known supervillain from Russia.

"W-what...?" Governor Denisia blinked several times, her eyes almost trembling as she took in everything that was happening in the video. "I... don’t... This isn’t real!"

Governor Denisia was about to speak to the media again, but Rogers, who had just been watching everything from the side, quickly blocked her path before grabbing her by the arm.

He didn’t even let her talk at all before ordering his men to take her away.

"What?!" Governor Denisia gasped, forcing out a chuckle as she looked around. The reporters clearly wanted to ask her a lot of questions, but the station started pushing them away.

Her eyes then landed on Riley, who was being cut loose already.

She wanted to say something, but Rogers tightened his grip on her arm.

"Don’t be stupid," Rogers whispered.

"I don’t know what you were thinking, Ma’am. Or if you were thinking at all. You’re young and new, so your fellow people in the congress might not have told you this—you do not want to antagonize Bernard Ross. He has dirt on each and every one sitting in the office. And if he doesn’t...

...he’ll make one. Ma’am, you are now an enemy of the state."