Lionel's smile froze as he stared at me in disbelief. "What do you mean?"

Yes, we had agreed to get engaged after graduation. But ever since Vivian slowly started intruding into our lives, everything had changed.

If she said she was scared to be alone, Lionel would abandon me in the middle of the street on our anniversary just to comfort her.

Once, I called him crying after being harassed by a drunk man, and all he gave me was an impatient, "Can you stop copying other people for attention?"

And during a rainstorm, because he worried Vivian would get soaked on her way home from her part-time job, he took the only umbrella I had and left me stranded in the pouring rain, unable to get a cab no matter how hard I tried.

I ended up with a high fever so bad that I nearly blacked out. When he came home, not only did he show zero concern for me, but he actually dragged me out of bed to make ginger tea for Vivian who'd only gotten drizzled on slightly. And he still accused me of being dramatic and spoiled.

There had been too many moments like that. I should've realized sooner that there was no place for me in his heart anymore.

I looked at him calmly. "I mean exactly what I said. You're not worthy of my love."

The room instantly fell silent. No one dared to speak.

Suddenly, Vivian fell to her knees, looking pitiful. "This is all my fault. I was the one who begged Lionel for help. He was only trying to be kind. Please don't break up with him, okay? He really loves you. He's already planned out your entire future for you. Please!"

Lionel snapped to his senses and hurried to help her up. He said to me, "I'm really disappointed in you."

The moment he said that, criticism exploded all around me.

"It's just a delayed graduation. Your grades are so good. It's not like you won't pass the makeup exam. Do you really need to make such a big scene over this?"

"Yeah. If you're so capable, what's the big deal about giving up one job opportunity? Stop making a mountain out of a molehill."

"She's about to get sold off to some old man, and all you care about is graduating. How can you be so selfish? You deserve to be shipped off to the mountains. Disgusting!"

Everyone chimed in one after another, throwing vicious jabs at me.

I looked at their righteous expressions and sneered coldly. "You all love to talk big without understanding the facts, huh? You love standing up for justice on behalf of others? Fine. Then let's all delay graduation together."

As I spoke, I immediately called my uncle. "I want a satisfactory explanation for my delayed graduation. You have 30 minutes."

My uncle clearly had no idea what had happened. He paused for a second before answering seriously.

After hanging up, I didn't want to look at their smug faces for another second. I turned to leave, but Lionel blocked my way.

"The degree certificate arrangements have already been finalized. Even if you go looking for someone, it won't change anything. Stop ruining everyone's mood and stay for dinner."

I looked at him with amusement. "You never know."

Several students with poor grades immediately looked uneasy. "What does that mean?"

Vivian looked at them pitifully. "She's just angry and trying to scare everyone on purpose. She wants you all to panic and push the blame onto me."

Lionel snorted. "Don't worry. No matter what she says, none of us will throw you under the bus! Besides, I've dated her for years. I've never heard of her having any relatives on the school board. She's obviously lying."

Hearing that, everyone visibly relaxed, and the hostility in their eyes toward me only deepened.

"Don't worry, Vivan. We won't let you suffer either. Someone like Amelia, always pretending and scheming, will definitely become a menace once she enters society."

I just smiled silently as they spoke with such confidence.

Lionel pulled me back into my seat and told everyone to relax and have fun. Then, he handed them the menu and told them to order whatever they wanted.

I had planned to leave. But hearing them call me petty and emotionally unintelligent changed my mind. I wanted to see the looks on their faces later when they had neither money nor degree certificates.

I watched as Lionel grew more and more generous in response to everyone's praise. With a wave of his hand, he ordered seafood platters, oysters, and other premium dishes for everyone without hesitation.

He certainly didn't hold back.

Back before graduation, Vivian's social media had been filled with photos of fancy meals—mostly from high-end restaurants.

Around that time, Lionel started lamenting that he had never treated everyone to a proper meal. He also mentioned that money was tight due to his internship and job hunting. Otherwise, he would've loved to treat everyone to a meal as thanks for all their support over the years.

At the time, I didn't think much of it. I just thought he was good at managing relationships, so I agreed to pay for it on his behalf.

He excitedly announced to the whole class that he was treating everyone, and even specifically asked Vivian what she wanted to eat. That was how they ended up choosing this restaurant.

Lionel glanced at me guiltily before quickly changing the subject. Soon, the atmosphere became lively again. He poured a glass of wine and placed it in front of me.

"You made such a huge fuss over nothing today and made everyone upset. I'll give you a chance here. Say tonight's dinner is your treat as an apology to everyone.

"And later, apologize to Vivian too. Everyone will let this go for my sake. I've already arranged everything perfectly for you, so stop being so stubborn. Sometimes, it's better to take the loss. Don't ruin everyone's graduation dinner."

I looked at his shameless expression and laughed softly. "You don't even know if you're graduating or not. Aren't you getting ahead of yourself by celebrating?"

The smug look on Vivian's face froze instantly. A second later, she looked too wronged to endure it any longer. "You've gone too far. You can say whatever you want about me. But are you really going to drag everyone down with you just because you can't get your degree certificate?"

I looked at her with disdain, then splashed my wine straight across her carefully made-up face. "Let me correct you. It's not because of me. Everyone is losing their degree certificates because you obtained yours through improper means."

Watching the makeup Vivian had spent so much time on get ruined, Lionel completely lost it and slapped me across the face. "Can you behave and stop embarrassing me? The school has already issued the degree certificates. Who do you think you are? You think you can change the school's decision?"

My cheek burned with pain. I was stunned. "You actually hit me?"

A trace of panic flashed across his face. "If you do something wrong, shouldn't you be taught a lesson? Today, it's kind-hearted Vivian. Tomorrow, what if you offend someone else?"

Everyone immediately backed him up.

I looked at him coldly. "You're the first person who's ever dared to hit me in my entire life."

At that moment, someone noticed that 28 minutes had already passed. They sneered. "Pfft! Stop pretending to be some rich heiress. Maybe you should check the time. It's been almost half an hour. Where's your explanation?"

"I told you she was bluffing. Amelia, hurry up and apologize to Vivian already. Then we can all pretend none of this happened, alright?"

Laughing, they brought over all the alcohol on the table. "Vivian, what should she drink? And how would you like her to apologize to you? It's your call."

Vivian looked at me, her eyebrows raised slightly. "That's too much."

With a loud crack, Lionel pried open the cap of a bottle of hard liquor. Vivian held an open bottle of red wine in her hands, her eyes wide and hesitant.

Seeing that, Lionel directly mixed the two together.

"Damn! I didn't expect you to be this ruthless to your own girlfriend."

Lionel held the mixed drink to my lips, sounding almost helpless. "She's way too spoiled. She needs to be humbled properly. Otherwise, once she marries into my family, she'll turn the whole house upside down."

He then looked at me. "Be good. I shouldn't have hit you earlier. Just drink it and let this end here. I'll help you beg Vivian for forgiveness."

I glanced at the message my uncle had just sent me and curled my lips into a smile. Then, I poured myself a glass of red wine and downed it in one gulp, as if to wash away my bad luck.

"There definitely will be begging for forgiveness tonight. But whether it'll be me begging you, or all of you begging me is another story. Oh, and one more thing. It's been exactly half an hour."

As soon as I finished speaking, someone looked like they were about to hit me. But the next second, the class secretary's phone rang.

The moment everyone saw the words "Dean of Students" flashing across the screen, their expressions changed completely.