All Chapters of Breaking the Facade, Becoming the School's Sweetheart: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

The classroom went dead silent. One could almost hear a pen drop.The lazy look on Steven Bart's face vanished at once. His expression darkened. I jumped to my feet and tugged on Cecily Young's sleeve, then turned to him with an awkward smile."She's just… I'll go instead, Mr. Bart!"The gloom on Steven's face eased a little. He pulled out his phone and exchanged numbers. "I'll text you the list."I clenched my phone and was about to leave when Cecily suddenly grabbed my arm, her nails nearly digging into my skin. "Are you crazy? Why would you want to run errands for a spoiled rich brat like him?""Excuse me?" I frowned and shook her hand off, countering, "You don't want to do it? Fine. But don't stop me."Her face flushed red before quickly turning pale. She raised her chin and snorted coldly. "I'm not spineless like you. I came here to learn, not to serve a bunch of parasites!"Those words finally set Steven off. He took a step forward and looked down at Cecily from above, his

Chapter 2

The night I climbed out the window and ran, I had only one thing in my pocket. It was my brother's discarded old smartphone. The screen was cracked, and the battery would die frequently.While waiting for my SAT results, I worked in a restaurant, washing dishes. My fingers stayed soaked in water all day until they turned pale and numb.On the day the scores were released, I sat in an internet cafe. When I read "Score: 1540. Meets application criteria for highly selective colleges", I felt no joy at all. Instead, my throat tightened.No matter how high my score was, I had no money for tuition and no home to go back to.One day, my phone received a message from an unknown number. It was a special admission offer from an elite college, with a full tuition waiver. The fees would all be covered, plus a 30-thousand-dollar annual financial aid.I stared at the screen for a long time before tears rolled down my cheeks. This wasn't an invitation at all—it was a lifeline.That was why I co

Chapter 3

Cecily shot me one last furious glare before reluctantly going back to her seat. I knelt and carefully picked up my phone. The screen was completely shattered, and the display underneath was ruined.I gritted my teeth and shoved it back into my pocket, then returned to my seat and tried to focus on the lesson.After that, Cecily didn't say another word. I could feel it in the way she looked at me. Underneath the old disgust, there was now a deeper layer of resentment.…The last class of the afternoon had just ended when a brand-new smartphone box suddenly landed on my desk. I looked up to see Sonia Harrison, the heiress of the Harrison family real estate empire.She was usually aloof in class, never spoke more than a few words, and somehow never repeated the same Chanel outfit twice."This is for you," she said somewhat coldly, but devoid of her usual arrogance. She crossed her arms and raised her chin slightly. "Didn't you break your phone this morning? I happen to have an extr

Chapter 4

I could hear the murmurs of the students around us. Cecily's hand holding the mug was veined and tense, but she didn't manage to get a single word out.Finally, she shot me one last glare and bolted for the door. As she passed Sonia, her steps faltered for a moment, and then she practically ran in a panic.I watched her retreating figure. The burn on my arm was still sharp, but my eyes were cold. If Cecily kept trying to ruin my chances, she wouldn't get away with it.…At lunch, while getting food in the cafeteria, I felt like someone was staring at me from behind. People were holding up their phones and filming me, their shaky lenses making me nervous.Then, my phone buzzed with a trending Reddit post. The title was scalding to look at."Exposing the True Face of the Gold-Digging Poor Student at an Elite College"The post claimed that I, a scholarship holder, was using the latest smartphone model, ignoring my studies, and only trying to curry favor with the rich kids in my cla

Chapter 5

After dinner, the new phone Sonia had given me buzzed in my hand. The text notification ringtone kept chiming. I unlocked the screen and saw the class group chat exploding with messages."Shit! Did you guys see that post on the campus forum? They're saying Naomi used her background to scam Sonia for a phone!""Sonia, did you really give Naomi a new phone?""I did. She helped me with my assignments. It's only fair she gets paid. What's the problem?""What do we do now, then? We can't just let Naomi get blamed for nothing.""Hey, Naomi, don't hold back. Say what you think. We've got your back."Reading the scrolling messages, I felt a warmth coursing through me. What a stark contrast to the hateful anonymous comments on Reddit.My fingers hovered over the input box, but I didn't type a word. Ever since leaving home for school, I knew one thing for certain—I could only rely on myself.…The next morning, before the bell rang, I received a private message from Sonia."Come to the

Chapter 6

Cecily's face went paper white. Her lips trembled, and she suddenly shrieked, "It wasn't me! You faked all of this! Naomi, you just can't stand that I also get financial aid, so you teamed up with Sonia and other rich kids to frame me!"Her voice was thin and shaking. It sounded painfully sharp in the silent office.Sonia leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed and let out a cold laugh."Frame you? You really think you're worth that much effort? Just last week, you were saying in the dorm that 'Naomi isn't even a real poor student. She just knows how to play pitiful and suck up to rich people.' Want me to bring witnesses to confirm that?"Steven, sitting nearby, spun the limited-edition ring on his finger, his tone casual but stern. "You've got this wrong. When Naomi went to check the IP and ran to the service center yesterday, none of us knew about it."She organized all the evidence herself before she ever mentioned needing help confirming things with the network center.

Chapter 7

"I was wrong, Mr. Barker!" Cecily cried out. "I won't do it again, I swear. Please don't expel me! If my parents found out, they'd tear me apart!"She looked at us as if she had grabbed hold of her last lifeline. With a loud thud, she dropped to her knees, hitting the tile hard. She then crawled toward a few classmates from well-off families, pleading as she went."Please, help me. I don't want to be expelled. I know I was wrong, and I won't ever spread rumors again. If you can help me keep my enrollment, I'll do just anything!"She kept bowing her head, but everyone either turned their faces away or stepped back without thinking. No one reached out to her.One of the guys frowned and said, "If it takes you this easily to realize you're wrong, why didn't you think about the consequences when you were spreading rumors about Naomi? Helping you now would be a slap in her face."Seeing no one would help her, Cecily stopped her pleading. She kept her head down, her shoulders shaking. A

Chapter 8

"Have you lost your mind? I didn't raise you all these years just for you to talk back when I tell you when and whom to marry!" Dad reprimanded me. "No amount of studying will change your fate as a woman—we might as well trade you for something useful!"The slap was about to come down on my face when a hand reached out and seized Dad's wrist. I followed that arm upward—it was Steven's.He stood about six inches taller than Dad, broad-shouldered and straight-backed. His gaze was terrifyingly cold as he looked down at Dad."Sir, causing a disturbance on campus is strictly prohibited, and forcing a student to drop out is illegal. If you keep this up, we'll have no choice but to call the police."Dad struggled several times but couldn't break free. His face flushed deep red, and he roared until his voice went hoarse, "She's my daughter! Who are you to interfere when I'm just disciplining my own child?"At that moment, a cluster of rhythmic footsteps sounded behind me. When I turned ar

Chapter 9

Although I was basically Sonia's sidekick, she was incredibly generous. Whenever she bought something, she would always get me one too.If we were in a luxury store and she spotted a dress that would suit me, she would toss it into the shopping bag and say, "This color looks good on you—and don't you dare take my fashion advice for granted."Passing by a dessert shop, she would grab an extra mango crepe just for me, grumbling, "Don't blame me if you gain weight." But her eyes betrayed the love she tried to hide.Meanwhile, I did what I could to help her—taking notes in class, doing assignments, grabbing meals, and picking up deliveries.Looking back, I realized just how ridiculously lucky I was. Those "hand-me-down" clothes she casually gave me were, in hindsight, a bunch of luxury items worth at least ten thousand dollars each.She would always shrug and say, "It'll take up space in the closet if I keep them. Just wear them and give them a new purpose."…The next time I heard

Chapter 10

My startup journey turned out to be way harder than I ever imagined.At first, the platform barely had any users, and the few people on our team were working until the wee hours every day. Sometimes, we didn't even have time to eat.There were more than a few nights when I would sit alone in the empty office and stare at the depressing numbers on the dashboard, tears slipping down my face. I thought maybe it was better to just give up.However, every time I felt like quitting, pictures would pop into my head—how my classmates surrounded me to defend me against Cecily in Harry's office, or how Sonia stood before me as she berated my parents, or when they all smiled and wished me success on graduation day.Thinking about them made me wipe my tears, take a deep breath, and open my laptop again.I knew I couldn't let them down—not them and definitely not the version of me who had fought tooth and nail to change her fate.Slowly but surely, my hard work paid off. After two years, the

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