Chapter 3

Gary glanced at me and said, "Rumors don't come out of nowhere. If you hadn't behaved inappropriately, nobody would've spread those rumors about you!"

Sharon smirked beside him.

"Mr. Jackson, you're right. She behaved inappropriately first. She even refused to pay me back for a meal. I only exposed her because I was angry.

"If she pays me 4,500 bucks, I'll delete the post immediately."

I argued, "They chose to eat there. Why should I pay?"

Gary cut me off. "That's enough. Esther, transfer the money to Sharon right now and apologize to her.

"And Sharon, delete your post on the campus forum. This ends right here, right now. Nobody is

allowed to bring it up again."

Sharon looked at me with a victorious smile on her face.

That explained why Sharon was able to see my enrollment information. They were working together.

I said furiously, "Why should I apologize to her? You're a counselor. A student came to you for help, but you can't even discern right from wrong. You've failed at your job. You're unworthy of being a counselor!"

Gary glared at me coldly. "You can judge me when you're in my position, if ever. Right now, you're a student, and you need to obey my orders!"

"Tomorrow, Mr. Lane is donating 1.5 million in scholarship funds to the college. I'll punish anyone who stirs up trouble during his visit."

His words reminded me that my dad would be coming to make a donation tomorrow.

Sharon and the others' families weren't well off. I was worried helping them directly would hurt their pride.

That's why I asked my dad to provide financial aid to poor students on campus under his

company's name. They each received 1,500 bucks every semester.

Now, I was certain they no longer needed this money.

Seeing how Sharon and Gary gave each other knowing looks, I knew I wouldn't get justice here.

I said coldly, "I won't transfer her any money. If she doesn't delete that post, I'll file a report at the police station for slandering me!"

With that, I turned around and walked out of the office to call my dad.

Soon after my call ended, I saw that the post disappeared, but it was replaced with something misleading.

[I'm just a migrant worker's child. I can't afford to offend someone backed by powerful men. Just pretend you didn't see what I said earlier.]

Instantly, people rallied behind her.

[What's wrong with being a migrant worker's child? A few generations ago, everyone came from a similar background.]

[Stay strong, Sharon! We're all migrant workers' children, and we've got your back!]

[Esther is a toxic girl. Expel her!]

I clenched my fists and switched off my phone.

I returned to the dorm to pack up and move to my apartment outside, but I saw Sharon and the others throwing my belongings into the hallway.

I quickly stepped forward to protect my stuff. I started yelling at them.

"What are you doing? Who let you touch my stuff?" I demanded.

Sharon clapped her hands and looked at me.

"You stink of filth. We couldn't stand it any longer. Didn't you want to move out? We're giving you a hand."

I glared at her angrily.

Sharon smirked. "Not happy? Why don't you run along and complain to your old and ugly sugar daddies?

"Tell them to come. Let's see if they can stop so many of us on campus."

I glanced at my stuff on the floor and then at the hallway camera.

"Let's see if you can still be this arrogant tomorrow!"

I gathered my stuff and left the campus.

The next day, all students and lecturers gathered and waited for the donation ceremony to begin. The donation would come from my father.

Just as I was about to sit down, Sharon blocked me.

"Do you know what day it is? Why would someone like you even dare show up here?"

I couldn't be bothered to argue with her. Once my dad arrived, he'd stand up for me.

I reached out and shoved her aside. "Move!"

After being pushed away, she turned to the crowd and shouted, "It's a big day for our college's scholarship recipients. Each one of us has it hard in life and needs financial aid.

"She's a shameless gold-digger who showed up here in designer brands. It'll only affect our college's reputation. Let's work together and kick her out!"

Thanks to Sharon's post on the campus forum yesterday, many people already despise me. Now that they heard her egging them on, they immediately started throwing bottles and trash at me.

"You're not welcome here. Get out!"

"Get out!"

I raised my hands to block the incoming debris while backing away one step at a time.

Amidst the chaos, Sharon grabbed my hair and started dragging me outside.

"Wretch, I know what you're thinking.

"Don't even think about complaining to the school management! Hurry up and get lost!"

My scalp hurt intensely. I reached out and grabbed Sharon. We started throwing punches.

The students around us saw this, and someone immediately stepped forward to help Sharon by pinning me down and beating me up. I felt pain all over my body.

That was when I heard a furious roar.

"Let go of my daughter!"