Chapter 1

"You'd better get lost if you're going to play possum! You're just dragging us down with you!" Joseph Jensen, my boyfriend and drill instructor for the outdoor orientation boot camp, bellowed.

I jerked my eyes open only to see Wanda Lawson, the tycoon's daughter, lying on the ground, her face pale as her body curled and went into spasms. I looked at the scene from my past life and instantly realized that I had been reborn.

"It's funny how she's usually fine until it's time for the outdoor orientation boot camp. If you're going to slack off, at least be subtle about it!

"It's clear that she's using her status as a student from abroad to ignore your instructions, Joseph!" Ella Ziegler hissed, standing a few feet from Wanda with her arms crossed.

Joseph's expression immediately hardened after hearing that. He then turned to the group and barked an order, "Wanda is playing sick to get out of training! She lacks any sense of discipline, so every single one of you is running 20 additional laps this instant!"

In that instant, everyone in the group immediately lost it.

"You want us to run 20 laps?"

"That's not fair! It's not like we're the ones at fault here!"

"Exactly! How is it our fault that Wanda's faking it?"

In an instant, complaints broke out as the crowd redirected their collective fury toward Wanda.

"You'd better stop faking it and get the hell up! You're dragging all of us down here!"

It was then that one of the women in the group snapped, stormed up to Wanda, and kicked her hard.

Wanda's breathing was already labored, and the impact of the kick caused her complexion to pale further.

In the meantime, a crowd of students closed in, taking their anger out on Wanda by hitting and kicking her.

"Go on, keep up the act! Here's something to act about!"

"You think being rich makes you special, huh? You pathetic bitch!"

I yelled as I rushed toward them, "Get back! You're bullying her—that's against the law!"

Ella cut me off while keeping her hands on her hips, looking completely smug, "Who cares if it's considered bullying? Haven't you seen the news? That elementary student who was buried alive by several of his classmates got away scot-free!

"You ought to know that we're just teaching Wanda a lesson, not killing her! Who are you putting on this good Samaritan act for anyway? You're just desperate to suck up to her because she's rich!"

Ella's statement immediately sparked a murmur of consensus among the others.

"I-I need my medicine…" Wanda gasped weakly. She pressed one hand hard against her heaving chest, her other hand shaking violently as she clawed at her pocket.

I had completely forgotten about her medicine. I threw myself toward Wanda and scrambled for her pocket, only to find nothing. I snapped my head up to look around as panic flared in my chest.

Ella stood there with a smug smile, holding up a small white pill bottle. "You're looking for this, huh? How delicate could she be, to be carrying her medicine everywhere? Is this just a prop to help you with your little act, Wanda?"

I yelled anxiously, "Hand that over to me this instant! Otherwise, Wanda isn't going to make it, Ella!"

"I can do that," Ella said as she took a step back with a wicked smirk, pointing to the ground with her shoe.

"I'll do it as long as you grovel before me and bang your forehead on the ground three times. I also want you to yell this exact sentence—'I'm sorry! I'm pathetic! I'm a meddling busybody, and I got what I deserved!'

"I'll hand it over to you as long as you do that."

"You'd better not push it too far, Ella!" I barked, trembling from head to toe with rage.

Ella made a show of loosening her grip. "You refuse to grovel, huh? I'll throw this away. It'll be too late for regrets then!"

I realized that fighting them right now was a losing battle—it would only put Wanda in more danger.

I gritted my teeth, dropped to my knees, and banged my forehead on the ground, my voice shaking but unmistakably clear while yelling, "I'm sorry! I'm pathetic! I'm a meddling busybody, and I got what I deserved!"

Having banged my forehead three times on the ground, traces of blood were already seeping from my forehead. "You've got what you wanted, so hand over the medicine now!"

Ella clearly hadn't expected me to actually degrade myself like that. She froze for a moment, then burst into a shrill laugh. "You're really pathetic! You're so desperate to suck up to the elite that you've thrown away the last bit of your dignity!"

She leaned down as if to hand me the bottle, but just as my fingers brushed against it, she snatched her hand back, causing the bottle to sail through the air in a wide arc before landing with a splash right in the middle of the storm drain.

"Oops! It just slipped out of my hand!" Ella said with an exaggerated gasp, covering her mouth in a mock gesture of shock, while her eyes gleamed with pure, undisguised malice.

Upon seeing her only hope for survival disappear, Wanda's body spasmed once and then went completely limp on the ground.