"Lillian Gilbert, some of your classmates have come to me privately. They say you live a lavish lifestyle."
"You won't even acknowledge the parents who raised you. How is someone like that ever supposed to make it in the world?"
My hands curled into fists.
"Mr. Chavez, this is all slander!"
Alvin Chavez picked up the statement.
"It's all right here in black and white. What more do you have to say?"
I tried to explain.
"That statement is a forgery. The transaction numbers don't even match up."
Alvin looked at me and shook his head.
"Rachel Gilbert is the top student in this class. She wins a scholarship every year. What possible reason would she have to smear you?"
"You, on the other hand, never even bother to show up for class, and now you've dragged us into this disgraceful mess."
Rachel was crying so hard she could barely catch her breath.
"I really didn't want to make a scene, but Mom called yesterday. The hospital is already pushing for the money for her kidney transplant."
"If Lillian doesn't return the money, Mom has no way out but to die!"
Alvin looked at Rachel, and his tone softened considerably.
"Rachel, the school will make sure justice is done for you."
When he turned back to me, his face darkened at once.
"Lillian Gilbert, look at what you've driven your sister to."
"I don't have a sister, and I've never taken a single cent from her family."
I looked Alvin straight in the eye.
"Then how do you explain this statement?"
"I already told you. It's a forgery."
"Just call the bank and check the transaction numbers, and the truth will be clear."
Alvin's face flushed with anger.
"You think the bank belongs to your family? That anyone can just make a phone call and pull up someone's private records?"
"That statement is an original with an official seal on it. You think the bank would fake something for her?"
In my last life, I only found out right before I died that the seal was a counterfeit Rachel had someone carve for her.
But right now I had no proof.
Jasper Nolan walked over to my side.
"Lillian, just apologize to Rachel and give the money back."
"If you admit your mistake, I'll work jobs alongside you to pay off the debt, and Mr. Chavez will cut you some slack."
I looked at Jasper and thought he was absolutely ridiculous.
"Jasper, what gives you the right to confess on my behalf?"
"I won't admit to something I never did."
Jasper lost his patience, his voice climbing.
"Why do you have to be so stubborn!"
"Everyone already knows you took your family's money to buy luxury goods. What's the point of holding out?"
"Being poor isn't the shameful part. The shameful part is that you don't even have the courage to admit you were wrong!"
"You're not just ruining yourself, you're dragging me down with you, making people point fingers at me too!"
So that was what he really thought.
It was never about justice, and it was never about me. He just didn't want me tarnishing his perfect image.
"Since you're so afraid of being dragged down, let's break up."
I looked at him calmly.
Jasper froze.
"You're the one who did wrong, and you have the nerve to break up with me?"
Seeing this, Rachel quickly cut in:
"Lillian's had a stubborn temper since she was little. Back home, Mom and Dad would save her the last bite of food, and she'd still complain that the rice was too hard."
A few sentences, and she'd painted me all over again as a selfish, ungrateful brat who'd been that way since childhood.
Alvin waved his hand impatiently.
"Lillian Gilbert, you will return the three hundred thousand to Rachel before tomorrow morning."
"And you will apologize to Rachel in front of the whole class."
"Otherwise, you're expelled, effective immediately!"
Back in the dorm, I took out my phone and dialed a number.
"Hey, I need you to look into something for me."
"A forged bank statement, and all of Rachel Gilbert's recent transfer records."
The next morning, the second I opened my eyes I caught my roommates whispering.
“So disgusting. Acts all high and mighty in front of everyone, then turns out she's this wild behind our backs.”
“I heard she even handed over photos. Now the people she owes are posting them all over the forum.”
“Better check none of our stuff is missing. Don't want her stealing it to sell.”
I frowned and opened the school's anonymous forum.
The pinned post glowing red at the top of the page had a headline that stung the eyes:
【Shocking! A female student surnamed Gilbert from a certain college took out loans to buy luxury goods, and now her scandalous photos have leaked!】
The post had a few photos buried under thick blurring.
The face wasn't clear, but the girl in them was wearing that white hoodie I wore all the time,
and there was a red mole at her collarbone, exactly like mine.
Below the photos were a few screenshots of chat logs.
All of them me, groveling, begging for a few more days.
“No wonder she wouldn't give the money back to Rachel. Turns out she was pouring it into this bottomless pit!”
“How does someone like this deserve to stay at our school? She's a disgrace!”
“Expel her right now. Don't let her pollute the air we breathe!”
The comment section was nothing but vile abuse and curses.
I took a deep breath and saved every photo and screenshot.
After I washed up, I headed for the dining hall.
The whole way there, everyone who saw me was whispering.
Someone even walked right up to me on purpose and spat at my feet.
“Shameless slut.”
I ignored it and went straight up to buy breakfast.
I'd barely sat down when Jasper Nolan and Rachel Gilbert came over.
“Lillian Gilbert, first you force your parents to sell a kidney, and now you're taking out loans too?”
“People are asking me how I ended up with such a loose girlfriend!”
I sipped my soy milk, taking my time.
“I already told you yesterday. We're broken up.”
Jasper ground his teeth.
“Lillian Gilbert, I've completely given up on you.”
“I was actually going to give you one more chance to turn yourself around, but you're beyond saving!”
Rachel stood off to the side, wiping at tears.
“Lillian, how could you do something like this?”
“No matter how broke you were, you can't borrow from people like that. The collectors called Mom and Dad!”
“They got so upset they had heart attacks. They're still in the hospital right now!”
All around us, students set down their chopsticks and started cursing me.
“God, she drove her own parents into the hospital and she can still eat?”
“Something lower than an animal like her deserves to get struck by lightning.”
I put down my chopsticks and lifted my eyes to Rachel.
“Your parents had heart attacks? Which hospital? I'll go see them right now.”
Something flickered in Rachel's eyes.
“You'd only set them off worse. They don't want to see you at all right now!”
“They don't want to see me, or there's no hospital at all?”
I stood up and took a step closer.
“Rachel, this red mole. Didn't you photoshop it a little too far to the left?”
I raised my phone and zoomed in on the blurred photo.
“And this hoodie. It looks like mine, but the pattern on the cuff is completely different.”
Jasper yanked Rachel behind him and glared at me.
“Lillian Gilbert, stop trying to weasel your way out!”
“Rachel came over to help you out of the goodness of her heart, and you turn around and accuse her of doctoring photos?”
“You're the most vicious woman I've ever met!”
He announced it loudly, in front of everyone.
“From today on, Lillian Gilbert and I are done for good!”
“A shameless woman like her doesn't deserve anyone's sympathy!”
