Chapter 2

After Robin spoke her mind, Jenna raised her head in triumph.

"What else do you have to say? Your grades are terrible. You sleep through class and guess your way through exams. How could you possibly rank first without stealing the questions?"

One of my roommates quickly agreed. "Exactly! She would rather lie around the dorm all day than go to class. Then, she stays out until morning once every few nights. Who knows what kind of men she has been fooling around with?"

The classroom went wild in that instant. Everyone looked at me with suspicion.

"We stayed up late studying, while she stole the questions and took the spot to study abroad. We can't let her get away with such an unfair victory!"

"I saw her get into a man's luxury car at the university gate a few days ago. There must've been some dirty deal!"

"Ms. Brown! The university needs to revoke her grades and her spot to study abroad. The school must not tolerate this kind of corruption."

None of them knew the car had come from a national top-secret laboratory to pick me up. The project was urgent and demanding, so the chancellor had allowed me to miss class while still receiving full credit.

The research involved state secrets. Until the results became public, I couldn't tell anyone about it.

Fred's face darkened as he clenched his fists until his knuckles popped.

"No wonder you always said you were tired whenever I asked you out. You were tiring yourself with other men! Ruby, you're just a slut!"

His blind judgment chilled me more than my classmates' accusations.

My voice trembled as I asked, "Fred... After all these years, is that really the kind of person you think I am?"

He sneered at me while Jenna clung to his arm, and tears instantly filled her eyes.

"Ruby, what can you possibly say now? Fred and I grew up together, but you came between us and stole him from me. Now, you've cheated and stolen my study abroad spot too!"

Fred wrapped an arm around her. "Don't cry, Jenna."

Then he looked at me.

"Ruby, I only believed you because love blinded me. Jenna is so kind. How could you treat her like this? The evidence is right here! Admit what you did, apologize to Jenna, and give her the spot back!"

Jenna lowered her head to wipe away her tears, but I caught her hidden smile. When she looked up again, her expression was intense.

"I can overlook the fact that you stole Fred from me, but I can't let you use such a vile method to go abroad and disgrace our university and our country during an international exchange."

Her noble speech touched everyone's heart and immediately won them over.

"Jenna is so beautiful and kind, and she even cares about the country's honor. She really cares about the big picture!"

"Trash like Ruby isn't fit to shine Jenna's shoes!"

Robin looked heartbroken too. "Ruby, you're still young. Don't let temptation lead you down the wrong path."

When she began to doubt me, panic rose in my heart. "Professor Brown, I really didn't steal the questions. This exam paper was..."

Jenna cut me off with a scream. "The truth is right in front of you, and you still won't admit it? Why did you hide it under your mattress if you had nothing to hide?!"

"If I stole it, why would I keep the evidence instead of destroying it after the exam?" I argued.

Jenna sneered. "I was going to give you a chance to save yourself. Since you have no shame, it's not my fault for what happens next."

She pulled an exam paper from her bag and pointed at it.

"Open your eyes and look! Is that your name? Is that your handwriting?"

Disgust filled Fred's face. "Ruby, that's your handwriting. Stop denying it."

"My handwriting?" I raised an eyebrow. "As I recall, yours looks a lot like mine."

Fred sneered and held up his phone. "I knew you'd try to blame someone else. What about this?"

On the screen, someone with my build sat in the exam room wearing my clothes and writing furiously.

"You're not going to claim I dressed as a woman and took the exam for you, are you?"

The classroom burst into harsh laughter.

"Call the police! An academic fraud like her should be arrested!"