My best friend loved playing 'jokes.'

On my birthday, she projected my worst photos in front of everyone, saying she just wanted to 'liven up the mood.'

When I was on my period, she deliberately gave me a defective pad. Even when she saw the stain on my clothes, she said nothing–claiming she was helping me 'get more attention.'

After I started dating, she edited my photos into suggestive images and spread them across social media groups, pricing them like a product.

When I finally snapped and confronted her, she just laughed.

"I'm just helping you test your boyfriend," she said.

"If he doubts you, then he doesn't really love you. How can you blame me?"

Later, a man used the information from those posts to track me down and harm me.

I did not survive what followed.

However, when I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day she first shared those images.

My phone buzzed in my hand so hard my fingers went numb. I looked down. The DMs were stacking up faster than I could read them.

[Sophia Shaw, come on, we're classmates, give me a discount. Fifty for one round, deal?]

[With a body like yours, who could stop at just twice a night?]

[I've sent the money. I'll meet you at the hotel you pinned tonight]

My mind went blank. I threw the phone away.

That suffocating feeling–like a plastic bag being pulled over my head–came rushing back, choking me.

Had I… been given another chance?

Before I could think it through, the door opened slightly, and Tara Mansfield's perfectly familiar face leaned in.

She looked exactly the same as she had in my previous life. Between her fingers, she waved a card printed with my explicit photos, grinning.

"Sophia. I made you famous on this campus. How are you going to thank me?"

"You have no idea–I was just joking around, but those disgusting guys went crazy asking me for your contact."

The old me would have already been crying, asking her how she could do this to me, voice breaking.

Not this me. My teeth clenched so hard they hurt. My whole body trembled with anger.

I snatched the flyer out of her hand and slapped her across the face.

Tara screamed, clutching her cheek in disbelief. "You hit me? I treat you like my best friend, and you can't even take a joke anymore?"

Best friend?

I let out a cold laugh.

In my last life, she spread rumors about me–dirty lies that ruined my reputation. She made my boyfriend, Connor Pierce, point at me outside the dorm and call me a sl*t in front of everyone.

Back then, I thought he just did not love me enough.

A few days later, I caught her kissing him outside the dorm.

I heard her tell him, "I've always known Sophia isn't as innocent as she pretends. I just didn't say anything because she's my best friend."

Calling me her best friend in public, while going after my boyfriend behind my back.

I pointed at the phone on the floor. My voice came out flat.

"A joke? Did you ask me whether I thought it was funny?

"You'd better start thinking about how you're going to explain this to the dean–spreading lies about me."

Just then, footsteps came from the hallway. My roommates, Holly Lane and Cassidy Mars, walked in one after the other.

Holly went straight to Tara's side, concern written all over her face. "The dean? Tara, what's wrong with your dad?"

That was when I remembered. From the day Tara enrolled here, Tara had been using the fact that she shared the dean's last name to hint that she was his daughter–never confirming it, but never denying it either.

My family was the school's biggest investor. I had already confirmed with my dad–the dean did not have a daughter.

In my previous life, I treated her like a friend. I thought she had her reasons, so I never exposed her.

But this time?

I was not going to let her keep up this act in front of me.

Tara quickly composed herself, eyes filling with tears, voice trembling. "I made one little joke, and she hit me."

"What? She hit you?" Holly came charging across the room, jabbing a finger at me. "How could you hit Tara? Who do you think you are?"

Tara put on a pitiful expression. "Connor Pierce is the campus heartthrob. Why would a guy like that fall for someone like you, ordinary as you are? I was helping you. Testing whether he really loves you."

Cassidy caught on and let out a mocking laugh. "I knew it. Tara was helping you, and you throw a tantrum? You really think highly of yourself."

Holly piled on. "It's just a couple of dumb flyers in a group chat. You are so fragile. We're in college–people joke around."

It hit me, listening to them, how easily I'd let this happen the first time around.

That had ended with me locked in a basement by some pervert who saw the flyer.

Three days. Three nights. I died there.

Not this time.

I kicked the chair next to me hard enough to send it sideways. "Joking around? Then why don't you put your own names and numbers out there and sell yourselves?"

I looked them dead-on, one at a time.

"Cut the chatter. We're going to the dean's office. Or I'm calling the police."

The air fell silent for a few seconds–then they burst out laughing.

Tara lifted her chin and tossed her hair. "Even if you take it to my dad, what is he going to do, Sophie? Really?"

I knew her too well. She was banking on me caving like I always had.

That ended now.

Giving in only gets you trampled.

I stepped closer. "If you're not scared, let's go right now."

Seeing I was serious, her expression stiffened. She quickly grabbed my arm. "My dad's busy. He doesn't have time for nonsense.

"And since you're my best friend, I don't even have to tell him."

Before she finished, I turned and walked off. She hurried after me.

As long as I found the dean, this would be easy to settle. I sent my dad a quick message and headed downstairs.

I got to the front of the building and walked straight into a wall of muscle.

I looked up. Connor Pierce.

His face was dark, his eyes filled with the same disgust as before.

Before I could react, his hand struck my face. The sound rang in my ears.

"Sophia. Didn't expect you to be this shameless."

His mouth twisted into a sneer. "You wouldn't even let me kiss you before. What was all that pretending to be innocent for?"

My cheek burned. But I did not even blink.

I did not feel anything for him anymore.

Anyone who turned on me because of someone else's words… was never worth anything.

The slap was loud. People quickly gathered around.

Tara came panting up behind me, took one look at the scene, and threw herself at Connor with a sob in her throat. "Connor? What are you doing here?"

He pulled her behind him protectively. "Was she bullying you?"

She did the broken little hiccup. "I just didn't want Sohpia to bother my dad over something so small…"

She glanced at me sidelong. "Maybe I'm the one who messed up. I'm her best friend. I should have stopped her from doing something like that."

Connor's face went black. He pulled her closer. "Tara, what are you blaming yourself for? Don't bother with someone like her."

"It's a fact that she's selling herself. She has no shame–and now she won't even let people talk about it?"

He whipped around and yelled at me, "I cannot believe I gave you a chance. We're done."

The crowd erupted.

The men looked at me with vulgar eyes, like they wanted to strip me bare. "If even her own boyfriend is calling her out, the hundred-bucks rumor must be real."

The women glared at me, furious. "She walked around acting all stuck-up and look at her now."

The dorm supervisor pushed through the crowd. When she saw Tara's tearful face, her expression immediately softened.

"What's going on out here?"

Tara spoke softly, still sniffling. "Sophia was insisting on dragging the dean into something stupid. I was just worried she'd ruin the dorm's reputation…"

The matron's face went purple. She rounded on me.

"I have had it with you. You stay out half the night, every night. And now you're running a side business out of a dorm room? And now you're picking on Tara on top of it?"

Tara's tears fell even harder as she pointed at me. "I've seen it myself… more than once. Coming back late at night with different men…

"I just never thought she'd be desperate enough to start running it on campus."

That was all the crowd needed. The shouting got worse.

I let out a cold laugh, my eyes fixed on the dorm supervisor.

"School rules say anyone returning after midnight has to sign in. If that's true, just check the log."

In all my time here, I had only been late once.

That night, I attended one of my father's events–and the dean personally brought me back.

Tara, on the other hand, came back drunk in the middle of the night all the time.

The supervisor's expression stiffened. She hesitated. "It's the middle of the night. Sometimes a sign-in gets missed."

I nodded.

Of course. She had already decided Tara was the dean's daughter. She was not going to log her in either way.

I pointed at the security camera over the front desk.

"If the log can miss things, then we can check the footage. That should settle it."

Tara's face changed. She grabbed my sleeve. "Sophie! Why are you still struggling? Just stop now. There's still time to turn back!"

I shook her off. My voice came out cold. "The one who needs to turn back is you."

"Sophia.. Why are you doing this to me?"

I started toward the security room.

Connor suddenly grabbed my collar and shoved me aside. "Enough! Sophia, drop the act."

He curled his lips into a mocking smile. "How about this. You bow and apologize to Tara, and we'll pretend none of this happened."

I stared at him. "Bow to her? Is she even worthy of that?"

His expression darkened. He reached out and forced me down. "Don't push your luck. I'm giving you a way out, and you're still acting tough?"

I stumbled, nearly losing my balance under the force.

I lifted my head and stared straight at him.

"All it takes is checking the cameras to see who's been sneaking out at night.

"And one phone call to the print shop would prove whether those flyers had anything to do with me.

"Why won't you check either?"

He burst out laughing. "Selling yourself and still expecting people to believe you? What a joke."

His fist slammed into me. "That's for seducing men and ruining this school's reputation."

The blow was heavy. Pain shot through my body like my bones were coming apart.

The crowd joined in.

"Hit her again! People like her deserve it!"

"And she still wants to go to the dean? Once the dean hears, she's expelled!"

"Expelled?" I laughed. I actually laughed. I yelled it back at the guy who had said it. "The one getting expelled is going to be you."

As the daughter of this school's largest investor, even if I offended the dean, there was no way I'd be the one forced out.

While I was down, I rolled over, pulled out my second phone, and quickly dialed my father.

Someone in the crowd sneered.

"Still pretending? Calling one of your clients to back you up?"

"Everyone on campus knows what you are, Sophia."

Tara was smirking too. "Sophia. Are we done with the show yet?"

I ignored all of them. I forced down the rage and spoke into the phone. "How far out are you?"

On the other end, I heard hurried footstep–and a voice filled with barely contained rage.

He was coming. Fast.

I was about to say more when Connor snatched the phone out of my hand and stomped on it until the screen shattered.

Tara stepped forward, full of smug satisfaction. "So. Your customer is almost here? Is it the hundred-per-time one… or the two-hundred-for-three?"

At that moment, a stern voice cut through the crowd.

"What in the hell is going on out here?"

The crowd parted on its own. The dean strode in, white as a sheet.

Behind him–my father, his expression even darker.