School Beauty Accuses Our Class of Cheating

The exam supervisor’s gaze flicked back and forth between the admission ticket and Pearl Lowe’s face, his expression unusually stern. "I’m going to ask you one more time. Is this really you?”

Pearl tipped her head to one side and said in a sweet, syrupy voice, “Oh, come on, sir. Can’t you tell? Whoever edited this photo made me look ugly.”

A few chuckles rippled through the bus. The exam supervisor’s expression darkened instantly, and he reached for his phone to contact the exam committee.

Pearl quickly pressed her palms together and stuck out her tongue. “I’m kidding, sir! Don’t be serious!”

The exam supervisor let out a sigh of relief and shot her an annoyed look before handing back her admission ticket.

“Actually…” The very next second, she dragged out her words and smiled smugly. “It’s not just me. Everyone on this bus is here to take the exam for someone else."

Laughter erupted throughout the bus. My classmates looked at Pearl with indulgent smiles, and not a single person denied it.

The exam supervisor frowned as his eyes landed on me. “You’ve been standing this whole time. Is there something you’d like to say?”

A sharp pain shot through my wrist. Landon Dunphy was gripping it so tightly that it felt like he wanted to crush the bones.

Only then did I finally realize that I had been reborn.

I forced a smile and replied with two simple words, “No, sir.”

Then, I slowly sat back down.

The exam supervisor shook his head and told the driver to pull over before heading toward the inspection team’s vehicle behind us.

Landon leaned closer. His lips nearly brushed my ear. “Pearl’s just trying to help everyone relax before the exam. We all agreed to it, so don’t make trouble.”

After a brief pause, he added, “This time, we’ll protect Pearl no matter what.”

I turned to look at him in shock. The coldness in his eyes was painfully familiar.

Everyone on the bus looked at Pearl with the relief of someone who had regained something precious. However, when they looked at me, their eyes were filled with hostility.

In my previous life, they had worn those same expressions when they pushed me off the building on that rooftop beneath the night sky. After my death, they even gave false statements to the police, claiming I had gotten drunk and accidentally fallen to my death.

I bit my lip and murmured softly, “If we’re delayed and miss the college entrance exam, it’ll affect us for the rest of our lives…”

Several boys burst out laughing, unconcerned.

“Vivian, you’re worrying too much. We’ve already done the math. We’ve got plenty of time.”

“We’re the city’s top honors class. You really think the school won’t wait for us?”

“Come on. We could take an extra year and still crush it. We're just doing this for Pearl!”

Pearl’s cheeks flushed pink, and she could not hide the smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

“You... You’re all so kind to me. You guys are gonna make me cry!”

Landon leaned even closer and lowered his voice. “Vivian, know your place. We’re classmates. We stand together, no matter what.”

My phone suddenly started ringing in my pocket. It was my homeroom teacher, Ms. Zane.