Chapter 4

Clive was already there when I arrived at the principal's office. He timidly kept his eyes on the floor as he said, "Lilian kept peeking at Noelle's answer sheet during the math exam. All the teachers and students know that Noelle's math results are much better than Lilian's.

"After the exams were over, I heard Lilian talking to her boyfriend when I was walking behind them. She was smugly telling him about all the answers that she copied."

A strange glint flickered in the eyes of the supervisor from the Department of Education when he heard the word "boyfriend". Someone else also scoffed.

"I did no such thing!" I exclaimed firmly. "You can check the surveillance—"

The rest of my sentence died on my tongue. I had traveled back in time, and I had forgotten that the exam halls weren't equipped with surveillance cameras yet. The school only installed them when I took the college entrance exams for the second time.

Just then, Jared knocked on the door and entered the office with Noelle trailing behind him.

The principal was all smiles when he greeted them. He sounded exceptionally proud when he introduced them to the supervisor, saying, "This is Jared Casey, the top scholar for science of our city."

Jared nodded respectfully at the supervisor before glancing at me.

"I can vouch for Clive. Lilian threatened Noelle before the exams started, forcing Noelle to help her cheat. She didn't give up even after Noelle firmly refused, intentionally getting a new pair of glasses that improved her vision.

"When the results were released, Lilian started a rumor that Noelle and I were involved in a clandestine relationship just because she was jealous. She didn't have any proof when she spread the rumor that Noelle was pregnant. She only saw Noelle throw up when she was suffering from a heatstroke, forcing Noelle to slit her wrists and take her own life to prove her innocence.

"I would like to apologize to everyone here. Due to my own personal feelings, I didn't immediately inform the teachers even after I found out that Lilian cheated during the exams. I've already taken the time to seriously reflect on my mistakes."

Noelle's face was pale when she weakly said, "When Lilian begged me to help her cheat, I told her that I was too scared to do such a thing. She called me selfish and accused me of not treating her as a friend. She even offered to give me money, but I refused."

I stared at Jared and Noelle. Although I no longer expected anything from them like before, I couldn't stop my heart from throbbing painfully at that moment.

They were truly planning to ruin me.

Just then, a group of reporters with cameras and microphones barged into the office, demanding, "Which one of you is the student who cheated?"

A female reporter quickly determined it was me by following everyone else's line of sight.

There was a fierce and intimidating glint in her eyes when she said, "According to the information we received, your results were always in the top ten of your year during the mock exams. Why did you take such a risk? Did you do it because you believed that no one would find out or report you?

"Do your parents know about this? Do you think that they'll be disappointed in you? I heard that your father used to serve in the military and made some significant contributions. Don't you think that you're dragging his name through the mud by doing such a thing?"

Unable to hold himself back anymore, Dad shoved the reporters aside and shielded me behind him.

"My daughter didn't cheat! All of you are slandering her without any evidence! I know her better than anyone else. With her results, she has no reason to cheat!"

The reporters ignored Dad. Instead, they turned around and pointed their microphones at the principal.

"How do you plan to deal with this cheating incident? Are you going to intentionally sweep everything under the rug for the sake of the school's admission rate? Are you going to pretend that nothing happened?"

"Of course not," the principal answered with a stern expression. "We've already reported this incident to the Department of Education. Lilian's university application form has been sealed for the time being. As for how we plan to deal with this, the administrators will have a meeting and make a decision then."

My blood boiled, but the words were stuck in my throat.

Dad's face and neck turned a ruddy red. His hands started shaking violently before he suddenly crumpled to the floor in the next second.

"Dad!"

My heart stopped beating for a split second as my eyes widened.

Dad's phone started ringing at that moment.

Another group of reporters had shown up at my house, causing Mom's heart condition to act up due to the sudden stress.

I held Dad's hand tightly as I sat in the ambulance that rushed us to the hospital. Powering through the pain throbbing through my heart and my trembling hands, I dialed an unknown number.

"Hello, Mr. Murphy. I'm Freya Linnell's daughter. I need your help."