On the first day of classes, my boyfriend's childhood friend, Wendy, used my supplementary credit card to pay for everyone's tuition fee, successfully playing the role of a kind and beautiful heiress.
During the creative writing competition, his childhood friend's submission was the same as mine. All my classmates pointed their fingers at me and confirmed that I had plagiarized her work.
As the competition was livestreamed, the entire internet turned on me immediately and harassed me. People were condemning me as a thief everywhere I went.
Meanwhile, Wendy managed to secure a graduate recommendation to Kingsbridge University, and she then blew up online as the rich and talented heroine of a power fantasy story.
As I was on my way back home to try and figure things out after I was thrown out, one of Wendy's fans waiting outside the venue ran me down and crushed me to death.
When I opened my eyes again, I had regressed to the time when Wendy wanted to pay everyone's tuition fee…
"This semester's tuition is ten thousand dollars, and dorm fees are five thousand, so the total is fifteen thousand dollars. Make sure you pay it sometime this week."
The familiar words sent a chill through me. One look at the familiar classroom was enough to tell me I had regressed.
My classmates pulled out their phones and were getting ready to pay.
Then, a young woman in front of me suddenly stood up. "Sir, can I cover the tuition for the whole class?"
The room went still. Even the professor looked stunned as he asked, "Are you serious, Wendy? Just tuition for fifty students is around 750,000 dollars."
A smile appeared on Wendy Lopez's face as she deliberately showed off the diamond watch on her wrist.
"It is only one week's allowance for me."
The whole class exploded.
"I saw that watch at an auction. It's worth more than a million dollars!"
"Wendy, are you secretly rich? You've been way too discreet."
"Ma'am, please accept my sincere worship."
I stood up and pushed through the crowd. Then, I scanned the QR code on the podium. "Sir, I've already paid my tuition."
Wendy came over and grabbed my arm. "Nancy, do you dislike me? I already said I'd pay for the whole class, but you still paid for yourself. Are you trying to embarrass me?"
In my last life, Wendy was the poor student I had secretly sponsored. To make it easier for her to cover her daily expenses, I had my assistant give her one of my spare cards.
At first, she had only spent a few hundred at a time, maybe a few thousand a month, and I did not mind. Later, it turned into tens of thousands a month, and I still said nothing. Even when she wanted to cover the entire class's tuition, I did not stop her since it was a good thing, and I figured there was no harm since my family was donating hundreds of millions every year anyway.
That tuition payment had made Wendy the class favorite. Not long after, the whole university was calling her a beautiful, kind-hearted heiress.
It was not until we entered a creative writing competition together and her submission turned out to be exactly the same as mine that the entire class took her side and accused me of copying her.
"Wendy even paid her tuition earlier, yet she still stole Wendy's work. How could she be so ungrateful?" they had said.
I was stripped of my eligibility for the competition, and the university management immediately stepped in and expelled me on the spot. Wendy used my work to secure a graduate recommendation to Kingsbridge University, then she blew up online as the rich and talented heroine of a power fantasy story.
As the competition had been livestreamed, the entire internet turned on me immediately and harassed me. People condemned me everywhere I looked.
I tried desperately to explain, but I was thrown out of the competition venue. Then, while I wandered the streets in a daze, one of Wendy's fans waiting outside the venue ran me down and crushed me to death.
The memory of that horrible death made me clench my fists. I shook off Wendy's hand and looked at her coldly. "I don't take things that I haven't earned. I'm not brave enough to take your money."
Wendy's eyes reddened at once. In a wounded voice, she said, "Nancy, I know you hate me, but you can't accuse me like that. My birthday's coming up, and I just wanted to do something nice. If this upsets you, then I won't do it. Everyone can pay their own tuition."
The moment she said that, everyone instantly exploded. Some people hurled books at me while others shoved me until I hit the floor.
"Nancy Garcia! You carry that fake bag that's worth ten dollars every day, and you really think you're some rich heiress?! If you don't want her money, fine. But why are you stopping Wendy from paying for us?! How can you be this vicious?"
"Fifteen thousand dollars is enough for me to buy outfits for a whole year. What right do you have to stop Wendy from paying our tuition?"
"Wendy is a beautiful, kind-hearted heiress. What makes a fake poser like you think you can reject her offer for everyone else?"
I was speechless. All I said was that I did not want Wendy's money, and somehow that turned into me stopping her from paying the whole class's tuition?
I opened my mouth wanting to explain, but a slap landed across my face instead. I looked up and saw Ivan Sanders caressing Wendy with a heartbroken expression on his face. Then, he pointed at me and roared, "Are you really that petty?! Wendy was kind enough to pay the whole class's tuition and help everyone, and this is how you treat her? You're disgusting!"
My face burned in pain as I gritted my teeth. Then, I grabbed Ivan by the hair and slapped him three to four times continuously. "If something's wrong with your brain, go get it checked! If you can't understand human language, then go live like an animal!"
The professor rushed over and yanked me back before yelling at me. "Where's your respect for me, Nancy?! How dare you hit someone right in front of me?"
I felt myself exploding. The professor had done nothing when I was slapped, but the second I fought back, suddenly I was the one at fault. "Professor, your hypocrisy is so obvious you might as well tattoo it on your forehead."
The professor glared at me. "Watch your tongue. You started this. Wendy was kind enough to offer to pay the whole class's tuition. Not only did you not appreciate it, but then you bullied her and even tried to stop her from paying for everyone else. You're just jealous because she's richer and kinder than you."
I smiled in speechlessness. "I never said she couldn't pay anyone else's tuition. I just simply said I don't take handouts."
With that, I turned and walked out. They kept cursing at me behind my back. They spat at me and called me fake while throwing every filthy insult my way they could think of. I ignored them and walked straight out of the classroom.
The moment I left the building, I called the bank and froze my supplementary card.
Without my card, I wanted to see how Wendy was going to pay that 750,000 dollars in tuition.
Over the next week, the entire class shut me out. I acted like nothing had happened and treated every icy stare as if I did not see it.
One day after class, the professor walked in carrying a card reader.
"Today's the last day to pay the tuition, Wendy. I borrowed a card reader from the university, so go ahead and pay the tuition for our class."
Wendy pulled a black card with gold lettering out of her bag, and everyone who was looking at her gasped.
"Is that the legendary black card?"
"I can't believe I'm actually seeing one of those black cards that only exist in stories in real life."
"You actually have a black card? Are you the daughter of the richest family in the state?"
Wendy kept a calm face and said, "Come on, it's just a card. My family has plenty more."
The professor carefully took the black card and swiped it through the reader.
However, nothing happened with the card reader. He tried several times, but not a single cent went through.
"Wendy, why isn't your card going through?"
Wendy's face froze. "That's strange. This card isn't supposed to have a spending limit."
She took the card back, her expression clearly flustered. "Give me a minute. I need to make a call."
A few minutes later, Wendy came back, her face pale as a ghost. "I'm sorry. There have been too many transactions on the account lately, so the bank froze my card. It won't be unfrozen anytime soon."
Everyone frowned.
"Wendy, you're the one who said you would pay our tuition. I already spent my money on a pair of new sneakers. If you can't pay now, what are we supposed to do?"
"Exactly. I already used my money to buy a bag. If you can't pay, are you trying to get us kicked out of university?"
"Wendy, we've already spent all our tuition money. I don't care what you do, but you have to pay for us first. We don't want to get expelled."
As the whole class started pressing Wendy for an explanation, Ivan stood up and stepped in front of her. "That's enough. Wendy was only trying to help by paying your tuition. It was just an accident, and this is how you're treating her?"
Wendy looked at the professor and nodded apologetically. "I'm sorry, Sir. This is my fault. Can I pay 300,000 first? My parents said that if I win a prize in the creative writing competition next week, they'll give me one million dollars as a bonus. I'll cover the rest once I win. Is that okay?"
The professor nodded. "Alright. I'll explain the situation to the university's management. But are you sure you can win a prize?"
Wendy smiled. "I'll be honest with you. The person in charge of this competition is my uncle. He has tutored me, so I have a very good chance of winning the prize."
Then, she turned to the rest of the class. "Don't worry, everyone. I always keep my promises. I'll pay the rest of your tuition soon."
I could not help wondering where Wendy had gotten that 300,000 dollars from, but I did not dwell on it. After the professor left, I got ready to leave too.
Suddenly, Ivan stepped in front of me. "Nancy, lend me your laptop."
My hand tightened into a fist. In my last life, I had carelessly lent Ivan my laptop. That was how my work got stolen. It left me unable to defend myself, and it even got me killed in the end.
"My laptop has important files on it. I don't lend it out," I told him.
Ivan looked annoyed as he said, "What's that supposed to mean? I'm your boyfriend, and you're still on guard around me? It's not like I'm going to leak your files. Do you even want us to stay together or not?"
I looked up at him. "Let's break up, then. Go be with your childhood sweetheart and have a romantic time."
Wendy immediately put on a hurt expression. "Nancy, my laptop broke, and I need one for the competition. Please help me. Otherwise, I won't be able to compete, and then I won't be able to pay everyone's tuition."
I looked at her coldly. "You don't need to pay my tuition, so why should I help you? There are plenty of people in this class. I'm sure one of them would be happy to lend you one."
Someone pulled Wendy over. "Wendy, I'll lend you mine. Don't beg someone so cold and heartless."
I just smiled and walked out of the classroom.
To be safe, I called my dad. Our company was one of the sponsors of the university's creative writing competition, so I asked him to speak to the organizers and change it to an on-site format with randomly assigned topics.
My dad replied quickly and agreed.
On the day of the competition, everyone looked flustered when the new rules were announced. I looked at Wendy, only to find that she seemed perfectly calm. Did she really have that kind of talent?
I did not have time to think any further. The competition began, and by sheer coincidence, Wendy and I drew the same topic.
An hour later, Wendy turned in her paper ten minutes before I did. After I finished writing, I handed mine in as well.
Just then, one of the judges suddenly shouted, "Nancy, you've got a lot of nerve! How dare you plagiarize right in front of us?!"
The judge threw the two papers down in front of us.
I stared at the two identical papers in shock. I had clearly written mine on the spot, so how did Wendy know what to write and finish before me?