The next morning, with less than two hours remaining before students needed to enter the exam centers, I opened my eyes to dozens of missed calls blinking on my phone screen.

I tapped open my messaging app. The group chat with the three guys was flooded with texts.

"Abby, where are you? Why aren't you answering your calls?"

"We miss you. Come meet us so we can study together."

The words "study together" sent a chill down my spine. In my past life, they had used this exact excuse to lure me into that dark alley before shoving me straight into hell with their own hands.

My expression was icy as I continued to scroll down. At around 3:00 am, the tone of the messages abruptly shifted.

"Abby, do you have 200 thousand dollars on hand? Lucy's family is dealing with an emergency, and they need life-saving money. Can you figure out a way to scrounge that up and get it to us?"

I scoffed at the pathetic excuse.

Family emergency? Please. They had merely been pinned down by the thugs at the time, forced to take compromising photos for blackmail.

After washing up, I went downstairs.

At the dining table, my parents noticed my expression and looked over with concern. I handed the phone over to them.

When Dad read the messages, he was so furious that he slammed his hand onto the table.

A flash of sympathy crossed Mom's eyes.

"Should we…" she started hesitantly. "Should we maybe call the police? It's already happened anyway… What if someone actually dies—"

But she stopped halfway through her sentence. Her eyes welled with tears as she looked at me, remembering how in my past life, I had lain in a hospital bed, covered in blood. And in the end, overwhelmed by despair and hopelessness, I jumped off a building.

Compared to how much our family had suffered in the past life, what those guys were going through right now was nothing.

Dad took a deep breath and placed a fried egg onto both Mom's plate and mine.

"Eat. After today, our Abby will be a top student at Mephton. We've got a long, happy future ahead of us!"

The mood had just begun to improve when a violent pounding shook the front door.

With a livid expression, Dad slammed his fork down and went to open the door.

Standing outside weren't just the same three sets of parents from last night, but also our homeroom teacher, Mr. Levinski, and several classmates who should have been on their way to the exam center.

The moment the door opened, Mrs. Burke shoved her finger in my face before turning to the teacher.

"Look, Mr. Levinski! I told you she must have something to do with my Greg disappearing! He's always glued to her side! Who else could it possibly be but her?"

Mrs. Trudeau, seemingly having completely forgotten the fight we'd had yesterday, rushed forward and grabbed my wrist desperately, as if she were grasping onto a lifeline.

"Abby, sweetheart," she said, switching to a gentle, coaxing tone. "The boys never came home last night. Be a good girl and tell us—what errand did you send them on this time? Where did they go?"

Mr. and Mrs. McFadden stood at the very back. Even though they didn't say anything, the look they shot me was laced with venom.

Hearing the phrase "this time" and seeing how entitled they looked, a wave of iciness surged from deep inside me.

They had behaved exactly this way in my previous life. The moment something happened to their sons, they blamed it all on me.

To them, I wasn't their sons' childhood best friend. I was just a free babysitter at their beck and call.

Before I could pull my hand away, Mr. Levinski squeezed forward in a rush. He looked frantic, and his tone was filled with reproach.

"Abigail! Do you know how important the CEA is for their futures? It's almost time to head into the exam hall, but they're still missing! What tantrum are you all throwing right now?"

Tantrum?

The image from my past life—my parents convulsing agonizingly on the floor after they drank pesticide—flashed through my mind. My nails dug deep into my palms as I forced the metallic taste of blood back down my throat.

Yanking my hand away, I stared at them expressionlessly. "I really don't know."

Chaos erupted at my words. A few of my close classmates began whispering among themselves, their eyes filled with disapproval.

"Why is our class president behaving like this? They're usually so close…"

"That's right. This is the college entrance exam. No matter what happened between them, she still shouldn't play around with their futures."

Looking at the chaos unfurling before me, I lost the desire to even explain myself.

"Excuse me, please move aside," I said, my voice cold. "We're going out."

I'd just taken a step when Mr. McFadden threw his arm out and blocked the doorway.

"You think you're still going to sit for the CEA?"

Mrs. Burke screeched in agreement. "That's right! If you're going to make my son miss the exam, you can forget about taking it too!"

Several classmates immediately piled on.

"Abigail, just go and bring them back quickly. Can you really bear the responsibility if they miss the CEA?"

"Exactly! If they can't make it, we won't go either."

Seeing them use the College Entrance Assessment as a bargaining chip to force me into submission, my lips curled into an eerie smile.

I met their furious gazes straight on.

"Who told you…" I slowly asked, enunciating each word clearly, "...that I'm taking the CEA?"

The words had just left my mouth when the crowd descended into chaos.

"So that's it! You all planned not to take the exam together!" Mr. McFadden roared at me, jabbing his finger in my face. "This is all your doing!"

Mrs. Burke planted her hands on her hips and yelled, "I knew it! All you do is play around all day! Are you able to take responsibility if you ruin Greg's future?"

Mr. Trudeau, who had stayed silent this whole time, turned toward Mr. Levinski.

"A student with this kind of character should be expelled immediately," he said coldly.

Mr. Levinski opened his mouth, but a very odd expression crossed his face. Then he glanced at me, hesitating to speak.

Mrs. Burke noticed this immediately. She whipped her head around and asked, "Mr. Levinski, what's with that look?"

I chuckled. Before Mr. Levinski could answer, Dad strode forward.

"My daughter has been admitted directly to Mephton!" he declared in a booming voice. "She doesn't need to sit for the CEA at all!"

Complete silence fell over the crowd.

Mrs. Trudeau was the first to shriek, "That's impossible! My son is the top student in their year, and even he didn't get guaranteed admission! So how can she possibly get it?"

The other parents also turned toward Mr. Levinski, their eyes filled with suspicion.

"Mrs. Trudeau," he said, smiling awkwardly. "Wendell hasn't been at the top of his grade for two months now."

Just as Mrs. Trudeau stilled, Mom walked back into the house and brought out the official admission packet, complete with Mephton University's official seals and bright red stamps.

The color immediately drained from all three sets of parents' faces.

Like a madwoman, Mrs. McFadden lunged forward to grab the documents, but Dad shoved her aside. Staggering to a stop, she glared at me with bloodshot eyes.

"What gives her the right to have guaranteed admission when my son is missing? Hand Jer over right now, or there will be blood!"

"Yes! There will be blood," the other two families echoed in unison.

I glanced down at my watch. There were 20 minutes before the examinees had to enter the exam halls. Looking past the three sets of parents, my gaze landed on the group of classmates behind them.

"Are you guys planning to stay here and chant that as well?"

Their faces instantly paled. The next second, they all spun around and bolted off without even saying goodbye.

Mr. Levinski quickly tried to smooth things over.

"Let's not panic. Maybe they've already gone to the exam centers on their own. Maybe they heard that Abigail received guaranteed admission and were spurred to study even harder, and that's why they didn't go home last night."

Six pairs of eyes lit up instantly as the parents latched onto the possibility, as if it were a lifeline.

"Yes! Greg's always been the most competitive!"

"Jer hates losing, too. He must've studied through the night!"

"Let's go, let's go! We'll wait for them at the exam center!"

The three couples wiped away their tears and turned to leave. Just as I thought that would be the end of it, two of the parents exchanged a look.

All of a sudden, Mrs. Burke spun around and lunged for the admission documents in Mom's hands, while Mr. McFadden grabbed me by the arms and dragged me toward the car.

"She has definitely got something to do with our sons' disappearance! If they don't sit for the exam today, she can forget about going to Mephton!"

"Let go of my daughter!" Dad yelled.

He charged forward, but Mr. Trudeau held him in a death grip.

I was shoved into the back seat, and with a heavy thud, the door was slammed shut. But I didn't struggle. I just calmly leaned back against the seat, watching the streets blur past outside the window and the morning sunlight filter through the trees.

In my past life, I'd done everything in my power to drag their sons into the exam center. This time, it was my turn to watch them beg their sons to show up.

"Don't worry. You're going to lose far more than this," I mused to myself.

…

The car finally stopped at the entrance of the exam center, where students were streaming through the gates.

The parents craned their necks, frantically searching through the crowd. But there was no sign of their sons. Not even a single one.

By then, my parents had arrived as well. They stood in the distance, their expressions hard.

The parents finally quieted down. They stopped arguing and yelling, and just stood frozen outside the gates like three wooden stakes hammered into the ground.

For 18 years, they'd woken up early and slept late, pinched pennies and lived frugally, all just for that day—the day their sons would sit for the CEA. It was the one literal turning point in their sons' lives.

They were right at the juncture now, yet their sons were nowhere to be seen.

Five minutes were left until the gates to the exam center closed. Three minutes. One minute.

The doors began to close.

"Please!" Mrs. McFadden cried out, lunging over like a madwoman and clinging to the iron bars desperately. "Please just wait a few more minutes!"

Mrs. Burke's legs gave out, and she collapsed straight onto the ground, while Mr. Trudeau slumped onto the steps, letting out a raw, animal-like howl.

15 seconds remained.

"Mom! Dad!"

Hoarse cries echoed from the far end of the street, and three disheveled, miserable-looking figures came stumbling toward the entrance.

Mrs. McFadden burst into tears as she threw her arms around her son. "Where did you guys go? Get inside! Hurry!"

Gregory and Wendell were about to run inside when Jeremy suddenly grabbed them both by their collars and yanked them back. Then he spun around, his eyes bloodshot and his entire body trembling, and pointed straight at me.

"It was her!" he screamed with everything he had. "She confessed her feelings for me yesterday at school. When I rejected her, she grew a deep-seated hatred for me. She drugged the three of us, locked us in a hotel room, and even hired people to take nude photos of us!"

He gritted his teeth, and his voice was so raw that it cracked. "She blackmailed us for 200 thousand dollars and told us that if we dared show up for the CEA, she'd post the photos online! It's all because she's terrified that we'd score better than her!"