Countdown to Finals, Countdown to Heartbreak のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 1 - チャプター 10

Gemma froze. Before she could even process what Harry meant, Rachel swept into the classroom, surrounded by a few classmates. She looked mockingly aggrieved. "Harry, I lost the bet. I can't believe you actually fed Gemma laxatives. I totally believe you don't like her at all now."As she spoke, she blinked at Gemma in feigned surprise. "He put an entire bottle of laxatives in there. You seriously didn't taste anything off?"Harry let out a cold laugh. "I could feed her poison, and she'd still swallow it like candy."Gemma went rigid in disbelief. A sharp, twisting pain tore through her stomach, and her forehead was slick with cold sweat in no time.They were about to sit for their final mock exam before the college entrance exam. It was crucial.But that whole afternoon, she kept sprinting to the restroom in humiliation. The mocking looks from her classmates and the proctor's glares felt like steel nails hammering straight into her pride, tearing it to shreds.In the end, she was

A bad feeling settled in Gemma's chest.It wasn't long before a girl she didn't know stopped her in the hallway. "You actually have the nerve to show your face at school? Someone as shameless as you should be expelled!"Gemma stared at her, confused. "What are you talking about? Spell it out.""Wow, you really can play dumb. No wonder Rachel kept saying you can't live without a man. Your mother's no better. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Everyone's already seen what you two are really like. It's all over the school subreddit.""Don't you dare say another word about my mother!"The force in Gemma's voice startled the girl. In the end, she didn't dare say anything else.Holding back her anger, Gemma logged into the school subreddit. A post titled "The Dirty Secrets of School Belle Gemma Sinclair and Her Mother" was pinned at the top of the subreddit.The post didn't just smear Melinda, claiming she'd used underhanded tricks to break up Rachel's parents. It also

Greg sat in the office, looking stern. "There've been some nasty rumors about you going around school lately, but we'll set that aside for now because those videos are obviously fake. You joke around a lot, but your grades have always been excellent. I really don't understand why you'd want to throw your future away like this."As he spoke, he pulled up Gemma's college application forms on the computer. "I remember you originally picked nothing but top universities. Why have they all been changed to a bunch of bottom-of-the-barrel schools? And now the deadline's passed. What were you thinking?"Gemma glanced calmly at the screen. Her password was Harry's birthday, and only he knew that. This was probably just another way he'd found to make Rachel happy.She'd spent three years forcing herself to become the funny girl who could always make Harry laugh. But the second she was gone for a week, he'd turned her into a party trick for someone else.But she didn't care anymore.Greg was

Greg looked surprised at Harry's question. "Gemma, of course. Remember the day you came by the office to drop off that workbook? You heard her say she wasn't taking the college entrance exam, didn't you?"I called her in because I noticed all the top universities she'd originally wanted to apply to had been changed to low-tier vocational colleges. I thought she'd done it herself, but she said someone had secretly changed her choices. Fortunately, she'd already been accepted by a university overseas, so she decided not to take the exam at all."As if remembering something else, Greg sighed. "She'd just been hit with all those rumors and those fake explicit videos, and then her mother passed away. She must've been devastated. Maybe getting a fresh start somewhere else is a good thing."Harry's breathing hitched. He stood there frozen in disbelief.Someone had secretly changed Gemma's college choices and effectively forced her to study abroad? And her mother… Melinda had been undergoi

What if nothing Rachel had told him was true?The thought sent Harry's breathing into overdrive. He immediately searched for his phone and made a call."Trace that account I had you shut down—the one that posted those disgusting things about my mother. I wanna know who's really behind it." His voice was dry and hoarse.The wait felt endless. Harry paced back and forth across the living room, too restless to sit for even a second. At last, his phone rang. He snatched it up."Found it. The account traces back to Rachel York."The instant he heard her name, a loud buzzing filled Harry's ears. His knees almost gave out.Even though he'd already suspected as much, hearing the answer he'd half expected still left his mind blank. He thought of what Rachel had said to him back then."Gemma acts like she's trying to help you through your depression so you'll be grateful to her, but behind your back, she's saying these horrible things about your mother. She's been playing you for a fool t