All Chapters of Her Reputation Means More Than My Life: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

Roxanne Horton, the drill instructor hired for orientation week, grabbed me by the collar and tried to haul me up with all her strength. But no matter how many times she tried, my limp body kept slipping from her grasp and collapsing back onto the pavement. She couldn't lift me at all.My classmates nearby couldn't bear to watch any longer, and one of them discreetly nudged me."Isabelle, Ms. Horton and Ms. Sheldon are really angry right now. Stop being so stubborn and get up already."But I still didn't move. My lips had already turned from purplish-red to a sickly bluish-white.That only made Roxanne angrier. She flung my limp body to the ground like a rag doll."You're really testing my limits! Since you love putting on a show so much, keep it up! You'll lie right there for three full hours—not one second less!"By then, the pavement was pushing 140 degrees. It was hot enough to cook an egg, let alone scorch human skin.The side of my face and my arms were pressed against t

Chapter 2

I hovered in midair, completely at a loss.Time and again, I tried to get back into my body, desperate to make my limp frame stand upright like my classmates, but it was all in vain.When I still didn't respond, Mom, who had always cared deeply about her image, felt even more humiliated. Finally, she snapped and kicked me hard several times."You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" she shrieked. "Just because you came in first but didn't get the Outstanding Freshman Award, you picked a moment like this to humiliate me and get back at me?"Her words grew even harsher. "When your dad and I divorced, why did I fight so hard to keep a scheming, vicious, worthless brat like you?"The entire field fell deathly silent, as if everyone present could hear the shattered pieces of my heart hitting the ground.I wanted so badly to tell Mom that I really had tried.Back then, Dad was determined to get a divorce. Mom was just a housewife, and he forced her to leave the marriage with nothing

Chapter 3

The manhole cover Mom pointed at shimmered in the heat, drawing a sharp gasp from everyone on the field.The pavement was already at 140 degrees, so the metal had to be well over 160. At that temperature, bare skin could suffer burns in as little as a second. A few seconds more, and flesh could practically cook.Mom's eyes were bloodshot, blazing with anger and bitter disappointment.When all my classmates froze in fear, she took matters into her own hands, grabbing a fistful of my hair and dragging me toward the manhole cover."You're already trying to get special treatment during orientation. What kind of stunt are you going to pull once classes actually start? If you don't get up and admit you were wrong, then you can stay on that manhole cover until you die!"My skin was already badly burned, and being dragged across the ground tore it open, leaving a gruesome trail of blood behind me.The male instructors leading the neighboring groups were shocked by what was happening and

Chapter 4

That order was the last straw. Every look directed at me shifted from pity to hatred.It wasn't just my classmates grinding their teeth—the students from the other classes looked ready to kill me too. Even the male instructors who had spoken up for me a minute earlier had gone cold.In heat like this, everyone wanted to get off their feet as soon as possible.One of the instructors, Kieran West, came over and tried to reason with me. "Isabelle, you need to have some sense of collective responsibility. More than a thousand freshmen are being forced to stand out here because of you. How can you live with yourself?"But a second later, Kieran stumbled backward in terror and collapsed to the ground."Something's wrong with her!" he yelled. "Half her face looks like it's been cooked! How could she just lie there without moving? What if something's actually happened to her?"He reached forward to check if I was breathing, but Roxanne barked at him to stop."This is why I say you're al

Chapter 5

The spoon slipped from Mom's hand and clattered to the floor. Her eyes widened in shock at Claire's words.For a moment, a spark of hope stirred in my heart. Mom still cared about me after all… didn't she?However, Mom quickly composed herself when she realized that the other professors were watching. She bent to pick up the spoon, then cleared her throat to mask her panic."Why is everyone panicking? I've already told you that Isabelle's faking it. There are still so many students out on the field. We shouldn't be making a scene and causing a panic!" she snapped.The professors had no other choice but to hurry downstairs to check on me, only to be stopped by Roxanne."What are you all doing? Isabelle's clearly been spoiled rotten. She thinks she can get out of the orientation drill by pretending to be sick because she's the dean's daughter. If you keep playing along with her, she'll only become more entitled!" Roxanne exclaimed.She grabbed Claire, who'd gone deathly pale with f

Chapter 6

Sure enough, the ambulance sped onto campus with its siren blaring. The crowd immediately parted to let it through.The paramedics rushed over and gathered around me. As soon as the lead paramedic, Adrian Walter, examined me, he shook his head."She's gone. There's nothing we can do. Call the police," he stated.In an instant, the field—packed with more than a thousand freshmen—fell into a deathly silence.Roxanne was the first to snap out of her shock. She stormed over and grabbed Adrian by the front of his uniform."That's impossible! She's only been standing out here for half an hour. Who are you trying to fool? You barely even examined her. Check her again, now!" she demanded.Taken aback, Adrian froze for a moment before angrily swatting her hand away."Are you out of your mind? Her body's already gone stiff. There's no pulse, and she isn't breathing anymore. Can't you see that she's dead?" he exclaimed.Mom's knees buckled, and she nearly stumbled to the ground. Even so,

Chapter 7

This time, Mom could no longer deny the truth. Her vision instantly turned black.If Claire hadn't caught her in time, she would've hit the ground hard enough to split her head open.Roxanne completely lost her composure. She pointed at me and shouted at the top of her lungs. "That's impossible. I've trained hundreds of students and none of them has ever been this fragile. You must've made a mistake!"Kevin couldn't be bothered to respond. Instead, he turned to Mom, who'd just regained consciousness."I'm sure you knew your daughter had asthma. Students with a condition like hers should never have been made to take part in the orientation drill—especially in this kind of heat. How could you let her stand out here for so long? What were you thinking?" he demanded.Mom broke down in tears. "I'm the college dean, and Isabelle's my daughter. How could I let her skip the freshman orientation drill over something like this? If word got out, everyone would've said I abused my position,"

Chapter 8

I wanted nothing more than to throw my arms around Mom, but each time I reached for her, my hands passed straight through her body. In the end, all I could do was let them fall limply to my sides.Mom tried desperately to slip the spoon past my rigid lips, but not a single drop made it in. Instead, her hands shook so badly that she spilled much of it across my shirt.She immediately wiped the soup away with trembling hands, whispering apology after apology. "Isabelle… this is all my fault. I'm so useless that I can't even feed you a spoonful of soup. "I used to take such good care of you back then. When did I become so useless? Are you refusing to forgive me? Is that why you won't open your mouth? Please, I know I was wrong…" she choked out.But no matter how desperately she pleaded, my pale, lifeless face could never smile at her again.No one could bear to watch any longer as they broke down in tears. The police officers sniffled quietly before composing themselves and turned

Chapter 9

Panic flashed across Roxanne's face the moment Mom's words fell. Her eyes darted around for a moment before she forced out a few tears and turned to Mom."How could you turn on me like this, Ms. Sheldon? You were the one who cared so much about appearances that you forced your own daughter to attend the freshman orientation drill when you knew she had asthma. "I stopped everyone from speaking up for Isabelle because I thought I was helping you discipline her. She was just too fragile. Who could've known she'd die so easily? How is any of this my fault?" Roxanne demanded.Mom flew into a rage. She rushed forward before slapping Roxanne hard across the face."I did let my position as the dean cloud my judgment, but you were the instructor. It was your responsibility to look after the students' health! "You were the one who kept insisting that Isabelle was perfectly fine, and that she was only faking it. That's why I believed you! Tell me the truth. Why did you target my daughter?"

Chapter 10

Roxanne pulled out her phone, opened a photo, and held it up for everyone to see."That bastard, Julian, promised he would love me forever once we were married. That was the reason I willingly became his mistress and waited for him to divorce you. "When I heard he'd finally made up his mind, forced you to sign the divorce papers, and was planning to leave everything behind to start a new life with me, I was the happiest woman in the world."But little did I know that it was only the beginning of a nightmare. After he started the company and the business took off, he began seeing one woman after another. I put up with it for more than ten years because I wanted to keep our family together."I was overjoyed when my daughter was born. I truly believed that Julian would finally settle down once he'd become a father. However, he chose to celebrate his mistress' birthday instead of coming home when our daughter became gravely ill."That rainy night, I held my daughter in my arms and kn

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