Chapter 2 Going Live

Celine listened to the murmurs around her, and her spine straightened up further.

She looked at me coldly. "Evander, we have both witnesses and evidence right here. What else do you have to say for yourself? Turn yourself in to the Department of Education and have the scores changed back. Otherwise, don't blame me for calling the police and having you arrested."

I looked at the two of them backing each other up and simply shook my head.

I'd known since I finished middle school that I was the villainous male side character in a novel.

In the original story, Celine and Lucian, the male and female leads, met in the same class in high school.

In that cliché tale, I was hopelessly in love with my childhood friend, Celine. So, I would constantly sabotage her relationship with Lucian, becoming the obstacle to what was a seemingly perfect power couple.

True to my villainous nature as per the novel, one of the terrible deeds I did was deliberately tanking my own exams and switching Lucian's college admissions exam score so they couldn't attend the same college.

My endgame was for them to end up separated.

Since Lucian's family was poor, he dropped out of school and started working. When Celine discovered what I'd done, she hired people to break my arms and legs before dumping me in the boonies, where I was tortured for the rest of my life.

To avoid that fate, I'd specifically applied to the Olympiad class, which was full of bookworms, and kept my head down. I spent nearly 24/7 focused on studying.

Nevertheless, that didn't mean I was blind to my surroundings.

According to the original plot, I was supposed to be a complete pest by interfering with their relationship, and Lucian was supposed to study hard to compete with me.

However, I barely spent any time with them in this life. As a result, they became an item earlier than they did in the original plot.

Now that I was no longer there to play the villain role, Lucian stopped working hard. Eventually, he got so caught up in his newfound romance that his grades plummeted. Yet, he somehow managed to maintain his image as a top student.

The thing about him scoring over 1500 on practice exams?

Hah, that tidbit was faker than plastic.

I knew for a fact that he wrote cheat sheets on his thighs for every test. He'd even bribed the money-hungry grade dean to change his scores.

I folded my arms and leaned against the doorframe, my expression indifferent as I looked at Lucian's hypocritical face.

"Lucian, you say you usually score over 1500. So, tell me, how did you solve the derivative problem in the second part of the final question on last week's math practice exam?"

Lucian's face went pale, and panic flashed in his eyes. "I-It was a long time ago. I don't remember."

"You don't remember?" I scoffed in disdain. "That test was only last week. Fine, say you forgot the math. But don't tell me that you can't remember what the essay prompt was?"

Lucian bit his lip and looked at Celine for help.

Celine immediately stepped in front of him and shouted, "Evander! Stop trying to change the subject! Lucian just suffered a major blow to his future. It's perfectly normal for him not to remember the questions! Don't think you can get away with this cheap trick!"

The comments exploded again.

"The side character is being way too aggressive! He's rubbing salt in the wound!"

"Exactly! Lucian is a genius who learns by experience. So what if he forgets everything after the test?"

"The female lead is so badass! I love how fiercely she protects him!"

As I watched Celine defend him without even caring about right and wrong, whatever lingering slivers of affection I still had for her disappeared completely.

If they were so insistent on stirring up trouble for me, then they couldn't blame me for not pulling my punches.

"Since you're convinced I switched the scores…"

I pulled out my phone, opened the camera, and pointed it at the two of them.

"Why don't we raise the stakes? Celine, you love sharing your perfect romance with Lucian online, don't you? You've got over 100,000 followers now, yes? How about going live and letting everyone online weigh in?"

Perhaps my out-of-the-box decision had disrupted the plot, because the comments in my head suddenly disappeared.

Celine froze for a moment before curling her lips into a mocking smile. "You think you can use public opinion to clear your name, Evander? Well, think again. I'm sure that the public can see right through your lies!"

Not only did she not back down, but she also quickly pulled out her phone and opened her livestream app.

She gave the stream an outrageous title.

"Rich Kid Pulls Strings to Steal Poor Student's College Admissions Exam Score!"

As soon as she went live, the sensational title and the fans who already loved her and Lucian as a couple drew thousands of viewers into the livestream. The number kept climbing as seconds ticked by.

"Everyone, this is the guy!"

Celine shoved the camera in my face and accused me indignantly.

"His name is Evander Holloway. He's always relied on his family's money to bully Lucian at school. Lucian has always been a top student. Yet, he only scored 324 on his college admissions exams.

"Meanwhile, this lowlife somehow got himself a fake score of 128 to cover his tracks!"

Lucian wiped away a tear beside her at just the right time, looking pitiful.

"Please don't blame Evander. Maybe he just loves Celine too much. He probably did all of this to stop Celine and me from going to the same college."

The livestream comments exploded.

"Holy crap! That's disgusting!"

"324? He took a kid who was headed for a good college and tanked his score so badly he could not get into college now!"

"Dox him! Someone like this deserves to be publicly shamed!"

"Evander, kill yourself! Give the poor guy his score back!"