Chapter 3

Whenever we went out, I was usually the one who paid. Even when Chloe and Lily were on the verge of failing their classes, I had tutored them and helped them scrape by.

I had given them everything I had.

But what did I get in return?

Betrayal.

In my previous life, when Yoana framed me, I begged Chloe and Lily to help prove my innocence. Instead, they backed Yoana and testified that I was the one who had poisoned the fruit.

With their lies and the evidence planted against me, I had no way to defend myself. I was brutally killed by the victims' parents.

If Yoana was the murderer who had killed me, then Chloe and Lily were her accomplices.

None of them could escape responsibility for my death.

As I thought about all that, Yoana finally noticed me sitting at my desk. She looked startled for a moment.

"Jessica, when did you get back?"

I knew I could not let her become suspicious yet, so I simply smiled at her.

"I got back just before Chloe and Lily. The second I walked in, I saw all these fruit cups covering the room."

Hearing that, Yoana visibly relaxed. She brought a fruit cup over to me.

"Here! It is so hot outside. Have some fruit to cool down. I just made these!

"Things have really been going my way lately. Not only did I make it onto the list for the school honor award, but I also happened to find fruit on sale. Maybe it is a sign that something good is coming my way!"

As she said that, a smug smile spread across her face. She looked practically drunk on her own success.

Chloe and Lily immediately chimed in.

"Then the school honor award is definitely yours! We are voting for you!"

"Of course! Once you win, do not forget your two old friends!"

Yoana's grin grew even wider.

However, when she noticed that I still had not taken the fruit cup, her expression darkened slightly.

"Jessica, why are you not taking it? Sure, the fruit was on sale, but I still spent a whole week's allowance on this."

Chloe immediately nudged me.

"What are you waiting for? Take it! Do not reject Yoana's kindness!"

Kindness, my foot!

This was not kindness. It was a deadly trap.

In my previous life, the moment I slapped the fruit cup out of Yoana's hand, they had used that reaction against me.

"If you were not the one who poisoned the fruit, why did you react so strongly?"

This time, I still refused the fruit cup. However, instead of reacting as strongly as I had before, I smiled and gently turned it down.

"Thanks for thinking of me, but I am allergic to peaches. Half of the fruit in there is peaches, so I cannot eat it."

The moment I refused, Yoana's eyes turned red. She looked like I had just broken her heart.

"It is my fault. I forgot, Jessica. You are a rich girl, after all. Regular fruit probably is not good enough for you, let alone fruit that is on sale..."

Her words twisted the situation completely. Chloe and Lily immediately took Yoana's side.

They glared coldly at me, acting as if they were defending her honor.

"Jessica, do not use your allergy as an excuse to insult someone! You just think Yoana is beneath you because she bought fruit that was on sale, do you not?"

"You were just lucky enough to be born into a rich family. If we are talking about who is actually better, Yoana obviously wins! She is a candidate for the school honor award this time, and it is only a matter of time before she gets it. Unlike you, who is nothing but a spoiled rich girl who thinks throwing money around makes her better than everyone else. With an attitude like that, you still think you can win a student excellence award?"

"Exactly! So what if your grades are good? With a personality like yours, you are still nothing but an annoying snob!"

"Since you are not going to eat yours, we will!"

They snatched my fruit cup away and started stuffing the fruit into their mouths. Juice ran down their chins as they devoured it.

Watching them, I sneered inwardly. I had already tried to warn them, so if they wanted to keep eating, they were welcome to help themselves. The more they ate, the better. Maybe they would even eat themselves to death.

However, something about the school honor award still bothered me.

My grades were excellent in every subject. I had even won multiple awards before. However, I had been eliminated in the very first round of the selection process.

Meanwhile, Yoana, who had failed countless classes and seemed to be good at absolutely nothing, had somehow made it onto the list.

There had to be more to this.

Could there be some hidden reason behind it?

Before I could think it through, Yoana had already packed up the remaining fruit cups.

She was getting ready to take them to our classmates.