Chapter 3

Rowan stared at me, stunned.

Then, breaking into a grin, he pulled me into a tight hug.

He said, "Tori, you're amazing. Once you're better after the surgery, I'll fund another cheerleading competition. As long as you work hard, you won't need any performance enhancers to win first place. I know how much that championship means to you."

There wasn't going to be a next time. I only had 24 hours left.

Nelson chimed in with a nod, "Exactly. If you want to win in the future, you'd better train honestly and earn it the right way. No more shortcuts. And don't ever hurt your competitors just to get ahead. Even if you win like that, there's no honor in it."

I forced a small smile, about to say something, when a sudden heat bloomed at the tip of my nose.

Something warm trickled out.

I lifted my hand to touch it—blood. It was a nosebleed.

As I stared at the red streak on my fingers, a single thought flashed across my mind. I looked up at Nelson and Rowan. "If I died one day… would you two miss me?"

The room went quiet.

Nelson froze for a moment, then snapped out of it and gave my shoulder a playful smack, pretending to be annoyed.

"What kind of nonsense is that? You're healthy as hell. You're not dying anytime soon. Stop thinking about weird things all the time.

"If anything, it's Feli we should be worried about—she's always been the fragile one. As her sister, you should try to be more understanding. Stop being so petty all the time."

I froze.

Then it clicked—of course, they wouldn't believe I was dying. In their eyes, I would always be the strong, cold, spiteful sister—the one who bullied Felicia and never showed a hint of warmth.

I lowered my head and quietly wiped the blood from my nose, pretending like nothing had happened. I said casually, "I'm just asking out of curiosity."

Then, I handed over the flash drive to Felicia. "I've already organized all the academic papers. You can take them."

Felicia took it with a satisfied smile. "Thank you, Victoria. I'll make good use of it."

I didn't say anything. I just turned and left the room.

The next day, Felicia posted my thesis online, signing her name as the author.

She had planned to use it to show off her supposed scholarly brilliance. But what she didn't expect was for the backlash to come almost immediately.

One of my classmates was the first to call her out.

"Wait a second! I saw Victoria share research data related to that paper ages ago. There's no way this is Felicia's work."

"Yeah, I remember too. I saw her pulling books from the archives on that exact topic. She was at the library almost every night."

"I can't believe Felicia would plagiarize. She's the cheer captain—aren't people like that supposed to lead by example? That's just low."

Within hours, the forum thread exploded. Every comment beneath Felicia's post was filled with outrage and accusation.

Felicia trembled, her whole body shaking as she stared at the screen in disbelief.

"She gave it to me… Victoria gave me her thesis. Why are they saying I stole it? Maybe I shouldn't have taken it. I know I'm not as smart as her. I've never been."

She sobbed, tears streaming down her face. "Nelson, I don't want the treatment anymore. Let me die. That would be easier…"

Nelson's face tightened with heartbreak. He turned to me with a helpless look.

"Victoria, you need to issue a statement—say that you were the one who plagiarized Feli's work, not the other way around.

"She's the cheer captain, one of the most well-known students on campus. People admire her and look up to her. Her reputation can't take a hit like this… And she's already sick—she can't handle another blow."

I froze. I hadn't expected Nelson to ask me to take the fall like this.

But Rowan quickly backed him up. "Victoria, just do it for her, okay? Feli's barely holding it together. If this backlash pushes her over the edge, would you really be able to live with that?

I looked at them, my chest aching like something deep inside me was being carved out with a dull blade.

They were really asking me to take the fall for academic fraud. They wanted me to ruin my own name just to keep Felicia's reputation spotless.

But when I saw the hope in Nelson's and Rowan's eyes, I finally gave a small nod. "Alright, I'll post it."