I rolled my eyes and let out a cold laugh.

“Weren’t you the ones whispering behind my back saying you’d teach me a lesson once we got to Tanond? Should I pull up your group chat and remind you of what you said?”

The moment the words left my mouth, every face around me changed.

They exchanged nervous glances as suspicion flickered in their eyes.

No one knew how I found out, only that someone, somehow, had leaked their secret.

They would never know that in my past life, after I stopped them at the airport customs, I found their secret group chat — the one they made just to leave me out.

It was all because I had tried to stop them. They created a group chat and came up with a plan to steal my phone and passport in Tanond, leaving me stranded and helpless in a foreign country.

Back then, I kept wondering if I had gone too far and blamed myself for interfering too much. Perhaps Tanond was not as dangerous as I thought.

Then came the headlines — tourists vanishing one after another across Tanond, and I realized just how close I had come to dying.

Now, remembering all that, the only thing left in me was a bone-deep chill.

These classmates of mine were nothing more than a pack of wolves that could never be tamed.

…

I turned to leave.

Natalie suddenly yanked me back by the arm. She spun around and shouted to the others.

“She can’t go! If she leaves, she’ll definitely call the cops and tell our parents! Then none of us will be able to go!”

The moment she said that, the whole class turned pale.

In an instant, everyone closed in. Their eyes were sharp with suspicion and wariness, fixed on me.

“Zoey, you’re just waiting for us to board so you can report us, aren’t you? You just don’t want us to see the show, right?”

I took a half step back, doing everything I could to stall them.

Then, I took another half step back, forcing down the panic rising in my chest as I managed a shaky smile, pretending to play along.

“Of course not. I just heard that Tanond's too hot. I don’t want to get sunburned, that’s all.”

Natalie’s eyes darkened. She ignored my words entirely. With a single sweeping gesture, she pronounced me guilty.

“Don’t listen to her! She’s just jealous and trying to ruin it for us! If she won’t come willingly, we’ll drag her on that plane ourselves!”

Before I could react, several classmates grabbed me, one on each side, forcing my arms up as they started hauling me toward the gate.

I struggled, kicked, and twisted, but I was no match for all of them. Panic surged in my chest as the boarding gate loomed closer.

“Help! Somebody help me!”

From a distance, an airport staff member turned around and began walking toward us.

In a sudden panic, Natalie covered my mouth, her eyes filled with sheer panic.

“Zoey, what the hell are you trying to do?!”

Sebastian grounded his teeth as he spoke. His eyes were practically overflowing with irritation.

I wrenched Natalie’s hand away and turned to him, my words spilling out in haste.

“Sebastian, please, you have to believe me. I’m not calling the police. My mom’s still in the hospital. I just can’t leave the country right now.”

Perhaps mentioning my mother’s hospitalization was convincing enough. Sebastian froze for a moment, then glanced hesitantly at Natalie.

“Nat, maybe… we should just leave her.”

For a split second, a hint of hatred flashed across Natalie’s eyes when she saw how easily Sebastian faltered, but she quickly masked it with a smile.

She glanced around, quickly nodded, but her words dripped with cunning.

“We can leave her behind, but what if she’s just making an excuse to get out of it? Sebastian, you know my family’s sending me abroad soon. If we miss this summer, who knows when we’ll get another chance to go on a trip together?”

Sebastian’s gaze dimmed for a moment, clearly swayed by her words.

“Nat…”

When Natalie noticed that he was actually moved, a smug smile flashed across her face. She immediately pressed her advantage.

“Sebastian, why don’t we just strip her and lock her up? At least then she won’t dare to run off and rat us out.”

Strip me?

I froze and my body stiffened as panic shot through me. I immediately struggled desperately.

“No! Please, Sebastian, I won’t say anything!”

However, Sebastian’s eyes were locked entirely on Natalie at the moment. He did not pay the slightest attention to what I said.

The entire class descended on me, ripping off my clothes layer by layer like peeling an onion.

When they reached my underwear, I twisted and thrashed, screaming for help. Natalie panicked and yelled, “Who’s got rope? Get her tied up, fast!”

In the chaos, someone pulled out a few charging cables.

They bound me tight. The cords cut deep into my skin, leaving a web of red marks.

Just then, the airport broadcast rang out, urging passengers to board.

The group lost patience instantly, leaving me behind as they stormed off in a single, unstoppable wave.

Once they were gone, I wriggled toward the door like a worm, trying to bang my head against it to get someone’s attention.

I did not know how long I had been at it before the door suddenly opened.

A flicker of hope surged as I thought help had arrived. I looked up. Instead, I met Natalie’s venomous gaze.

She had my suitcase in hand, letting out a triumphant hum.

“I knew you wouldn’t behave. Still hoping someone will save you? Dream on!”

Before I could react, she dumped the contents of the suitcase with a crash and tried to shove me into the tiny 24-inch case.

I struggled desperately, but my body was bound tight. I could not move an inch.

With a loud click, the lid slammed shut, plunging me into total darkness.

…

When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in a hospital bed.

I had no idea how much time had passed. The room was packed with people. There were police officers, airport staff, and a cluster of anxious middle-aged men and women.

Judging by their familiar features, I guessed they were the parents of my classmates.

The moment I opened my eyes, a well-dressed middle-aged woman pushed forward.

“Zoey, where’s Sebastian? Didn’t he say the whole class was going on a trip together? Why can’t I reach him?”

“Yeah, how did you end up here? Which country did they go to?”

“Exactly! Where did they go? Tell us!”

I could not help a hint of scorn in my eyes as I faced these eager parents, but my expression remained perfectly innocent.

“They… they all went to Tanond to see a strip show.”

“Tanond?!”

The words hit the crowd like thunder. The parents' faces went pale. A few women’s knees gave out, and they sank to the floor, muttering,

“Why Tanond…?”

I knew exactly why they were reacting this way. In my previous life, it was at this exact moment that the news had broken — massive numbers of tourists to Tanond had gone missing.

They were rushing headlong into a deadly trap, risking almost certain death.

All I could do now was pray that fate showed no mercy and none of them return.

“Wait a minute.”

A man with glasses frowned sharply.

“Why did they all go, but you didn’t?”

I was weighing how to answer when the parents’ phones started buzzing one after another.

“Mom, I’m safe now. Don’t worry.”

A familiar voice came through the line. The tone was deliberately light, but I could hear the faint tremor underneath.

If everyone had said the same thing, it would have only sounded more like a carefully coordinated lie.

The police officer in the hospital room clearly noticed it too and was about to step forward to ask questions when the calls abruptly ended. It was as though the signal had been cut.

The parents exchanged nervous glances. The fear they had been holding back erupted. Some of them could not help but cry out.

It was not long before the police brought news.

The moment they landed in Tanond, the so-called local guides tricked them into a telecom fraud operation.

The boys could barely keep in touch, but most of the girls suffered inhuman abuse.

Those who resisted fiercely did not even manage to send a single message of reassurance to their families.

This rare case of high school students encountering danger abroad quickly caused a media frenzy.

However, since the incident occurred overseas, there was nothing the police could do.

Only some resourceful parents managed to reach certain families there, rescuing a few of the students.

I opened the news feed. Sure enough, Natalie’s name was on the list.

The Dunn family was immensely powerful in the country. It was no shock that they managed to get her out.

Natalie’s eyes were vacant when she faced the cameras. She answered the reporters’ questions mechanically.

However, when the last question came, she suddenly shivered and her eyes flashed with venom.

“You want to know why we went to Tanond?”

Her voice was sharp and terrifying.

“It was Zoey! She forced us to go see the strip show! We were all tricked by her!”

…

I stared at the scrolling news on the screen. My fingers clenched the phone so hard my knuckles turned white.

I was not surprised that Natalie tried to pin the blame on me.

A selfish person like her would always try to scrub herself clean and dump the dirt on someone else.

She was afraid that the parents who had lost their kids would tear her apart, so she shoved me forward as the scapegoat.

I took a deep breath, running my fingers over the photos in the police report.

Fortunately, I had already filed a detailed statement at the station, documenting the entire Tanond trip.

With that, no matter how she tried to shift the blame, it would not stick.

Just as I felt a flicker of relief, a thunderous roar exploded outside the door.

“Zoey Stone! You murderer, come out!”

“Give me back my child’s life!”

A shiver ran down my spine. I did not even have time to properly put on my slippers before I bolted outside.

I saw a dark mass of people outside my courtyard. Natalie’s mother stood at the front with a megaphone. Her eyes were bloodshot and, behind her, other parents clutched pictures of their children.

Even further away, reporters had their long lenses and cameras aimed at me. The camera flashes stabbed sharply against the gloomy sky.

The sheer spectacle of this made cold sweat run down the back of my neck.

I tried to turn back inside, but a rough hand grabbed my wrist. Someone — one of the parents had already forced their way through the gate of the courtyard and was trying to drag me out.

“Where do you think you’re going? Trying to hide after doing something wrong?”

The man’s voice was icy cold and his knuckles were digging into my skin.

Pain shot through me as I slammed my fists against his hand.

“Let go! Who do you think you are?!”

The response was even more brutal.

He let go suddenly, and I was flung onto the concrete. My forearm scraped harshly across the rough surface, tearing open a gash instantly. Flesh curled back and blood gushed out in a torrent, quickly creating a dark red stain on the ground.

“Zoey Stone, you little troublemaker!”