Chapter 5

I held up three fingers and spoke at an even, measured pace, "First, the leather is damaged. You owe me a thousand dollars for depreciation and cleaning. Second, you're going to write a full confession by hand, admitting that you stole my personal property.

"And third, you're going to sign a promissory note and transfer the money to my account within three days. If you can't do that, I'll take you to court."

"A… A thousand dollars?"

Paige's eyes went wide. "Gemma, are you insane? I don't have that kind of money!"

"You sure love being generous with other people's things." I let out a cold laugh.

"Funny how it stings when it's your own wallet, huh? That's your problem. Borrow it, take out a loan—I don't care. If you don't pay, you can wait for your arraignment. As for you…"

I turned to the woman cowering in the corner. "You got lucky this time. But if you ever come at me again, I'll make sure you never run another business in your life."

Under the watchful eyes of the police, and paralyzed by the very real threat of prison, Paige choked back sobs as she wrote out a humiliating handwritten confession with trembling hands and signed a promissory note for a thousand dollars.

Once I had everything, I submitted a conditional statement of forgiveness, and the police filed it as a civil resolution with an administrative penalty on record.

The night air was cool when I walked out of the station. Paige trailed behind Mr. Harmon, and the look she shot me was pure venom, seething with resentment and wounded pride.

I knew this wasn't over. Someone like Paige, who had that kind of narcissistic personality, would never accept a loss this big without finding a way to hit back.

But if there was one thing I wasn't afraid of, it was someone trying to come at me from behind.

…

Sure enough, the very next morning, a bomb went off across campus.

Riverton's student forum and even the local community boards all blew up at the same time with a series of lengthy anonymous posts.

The headline was pure bait.

"Riverton's Rich Mean Girl Exposed! Bullies Her Struggling Roommate, Forces Her to Grovel, and Terrorizes a Single Mother Running a Small Restaurant!"

The post told its story in the most pitifully manipulative, playing-the-victim tone imaginable, twisting every fact completely inside out.

"I'm a low-income student barely scraping by on financial aid. My roommate G comes from money and lives like she's above everyone else. She's always looked down on people like me.

"A few days ago, G went to a restaurant near campus run by a single mom. She blew up over nothing, screamed at the owner, and even threatened to trash the place.

"I felt so bad that I took one of G's old bags, one she never even used, and brought it to the owner as an apology to try to smooth things over.

"G didn't just refuse to appreciate it. She used her family's connections to file a false police report. She had the cops force me to grovel and beg for forgiveness, made me sign a fake confession, and even extorted a thousand dollars out of me!

"I honestly don't know if I can keep going. Is this what money gives you the right to do? Just trample all over someone who has nothing? Does justice even exist anymore?"

The post included a handful of blurry photos. One showed me at Marco's, stone-faced, pushing the bowl away. Another showed Paige crouching on the ground outside the police station, crying.

It was precision-engineered to hit every nerve, from class resentment to sympathy for the underdog to outrage at the rich, and it worked.

Within hours, the post had been shared tens of thousands of times. The comments section was a wildfire.

"This makes my blood boil! Just because she's got money, she thinks she's untouchable? She should be expelled!"

"Find out who G is! Riverton doesn't need trash like her!"

"Dox her! Let the whole world see who she really is!"

"I stand with the original poster! The rich are absolutely disgusting!"