Chapter 1

Two nights earlier, at ten o'clock, my former homeroom teacher, Margaret Smith, called me.

She could barely contain her excitement. "Clara, our school's centennial celebration is next week. Could you come back for a visit?"

That same night, I asked my assistant, Rachel Moore, to arrange the trip.

Margaret told me the town was short on funds and that many local schools were badly outdated.

The teachers were doing their best, but much of the equipment was falling apart.

Margaret had suffered from back problems for years after spending her whole life working tirelessly for her students.

With nowhere else to turn, she asked for help in the alumni group chat, "Would any alumni be willing to help us buy new equipment? All I want is to give these kids a better environment to learn."

I told Rachel I'd pay for the entire science building and all its equipment. But I wanted to announce it at the celebration.

Then Emma suddenly replied in the group chat, "Mrs. Smith, I may only be the admissions director at a private school, but I can donate a hundred dollars. Don't worry. I'm happy to support our alma mater."

Then she tagged me. "Oh, Clara, I hear you're doing well in the big city. Why don't you chip in? Or are things going so badly that you can't even spare a hundred dollars?"

The group went silent.

Everyone was waiting to see how I'd respond.

A chill ran through me as I stared at the screen.

Margaret quickly came to my defense. "Enough. Don't guilt-trip your classmate. I'll be happy just to see Clara again."

I read her message but didn't reply.

The investment firm where I worked had just gone public on the Nasdaq, and my stock options alone were worth enough to buy ten towns like this one.

But I said nothing about it.

Once I got back, I spent my days going through the local schools' financial reports.

I worked from morning until night and barely slept.

Meanwhile, the alumni group chat buzzed nonstop.

Then Emma dropped another message: "Do you all know where Clara got that car? She's a homewrecker back in New York and the wife beat her so badly she had to crawl back to the town."

That was all it took. The whole group came alive.

Julian Reed, our former student council president, responded first, "Seriously? Wasn't she a good student back then?"

Emma sent a vomiting emoji. "People aren't always who they seem to be. She couldn't make it there, caught some filthy disease, and ran back to the town to hide."

Julian quickly joined in. "Well, there you are. I knew it. I was jealous when she got into college in New York. Turns out she went there to sell herself. What a disgrace to our class."

Grace Parker, our former cheerleader captain, jumped in too. "Emma is the one who made something of herself. She's an admissions director now. I'm glad you exposed her. Otherwise, Clara might have fooled us."

Emma kept going. "You should have seen her showing off in that beat-up car like she was loaded. But the second I asked to borrow it for my wedding, she panicked. She was probably terrified I'd scratch it and she'd have to explain it to her sugar daddy."

More messages flooded the chat.

I didn't respond to any of them.

No one knew I had joined the group with another phone number the month before.

I'd only joined because I wanted to see how everyone was doing.

Then Julian started mocking me. "She used to be the smartest one in our class. Now she's sleeping with some married guy. Guess all that studying didn't get her very far."

He even tagged Margaret: "Mrs. Smith, your favorite student has become a disgrace. Someone like her has no place at tomorrow's centennial celebration."

Margaret replied, "I know what kind of person Clara is, and I trust her."

Emma immediately fired back, "Mrs. Smith, you're too trusting. Why are you still defending someone like her? She's only going to drag our school's name through the mud!"

Soon, everyone was piling on.

The group chat had turned into a public shaming session.

I sat in my hotel suite while Rachel quietly sorted through documents beside me.

She barely dared to make a sound.

I scrolled through the chat from beginning to end.

Every insult. Every accusation. Every lie.

Screenshot. Save.