In my past life, I didn't understand how Bianca had suddenly gotten rich.

We grew up in the same rundown apartment building. Both of us washed and rewore our clothes so many times that they became worn and faded.

I couldn't understand how she suddenly became wealthy after transferring to my school, but I had a gut feeling that it wasn't because of her so-called business.

At first, I couldn't figure out why my money would disappear from my account without rhyme or reason. I assumed that I was caught up in some sort of telecom fraud scheme and thought that I wouldn't be able to find out the truth even if I made a police report.

Everyone assumed that I had gone mad due to my obsession with money.

The missing puzzle pieces finally fell into place when Bianca suddenly announced that she had earned seven million dollars through her business.

She had been the mastermind pulling the strings behind the scenes all along.

Fortunately, an omnipotent being decided to give me another chance at life.

This time, I was determined to make Bianca pay for her transgressions against me.

…

I spent the rest of the night taking care of Mom.

The next day, I noticed the students were shooting envious looks at me when I arrived at school.

"Anna scored the highest points for the mock exams in the entire city!"

"That's amazing! I wonder how she did it. She's probably going to become the provincial top scorer too. The award is three million dollars!"

Meanwhile, Bianca gripped her desk tightly. She looked extremely annoyed when she said, "So what if she scored the highest points in the city? She still has to rely on me to sponsor her.

"A regular person wouldn't be able to achieve the wealth of my family even if they worked themselves to the bone for an entire decade. So what if she becomes the provincial top scorer? She would still end up working for me in the end."

Bianca's eyes flashed before she continued, "Don't worry if you didn't do well on your SATs, everyone. You can work at my company. I'll even give you some of the shares."

The students immediately flocked to Bianca.

"You're right! So what if she's good at studying? In the end, she'll just end up being your employee, Bianca."

"You're so kind, Bianca! Anna, you should show Bianca how grateful you are. There's no way you would have scored the highest points in the city without her sponsorship."

"Grovel at her feet and show her how grateful you are!"

Bianca's upset expression morphed into a happy one. She puffed out her chest and looked at me haughtily.

I scoffed and pulled out my phone. I then dialed a number and set the phone on speaker mode.

"Mrs. Walters, it's me, Anna. Bianca only scored 700 points during the mock exams. I wouldn't have scored 1,600 points if I had known her results would end up like this. She's really upset now. Why don't you comfort her?"

A furious voice that belonged to a middle-aged woman echoed from the receiver, "You good-for-nothing, money-wasting Bianca! I had to spend so much money and nearly went broke to send you to the same high school as Anna. I did all of that because I wanted to give you the best learning environment."

The woman took a deep breath before continuing through gritted teeth, "And how did you repay my hard work? Anna scored 1,600 points while you only scored a measly 700 points! Your score isn't even half of Anna's!

"I'm going to teach you a lesson you won't forget when you get home!"

A dead silence descended upon the classroom.

The students exchanged glances with each other before whispering among themselves.

"Was Bianca lying this entire time? Her family had to use all their money to send her to this school?"

"That's impossible. Doesn't she own a successful business? And where did she get so much money from? Didn't she show us her bank balance in the past?"

"Maybe she edited the photo. Maybe she's been faking it this whole time."

The color drained from Bianca's face in an instant. She lunged at me and tried to snatch my phone out of my hand.

I immediately took a step backward and dodged her attack.

James clamped a hand around my arm and dragged me to the side, exerting so much force that the pain temporarily rendered me speechless. He snatched my phone from me and ended the call.

"What do you think you're doing? How dare you hire someone to act as Bianca's mother just to frame her? Bianca's giving you money to sponsor your studies. Calling you ungrateful is far from enough, Anna. You're such a despicable person!"

James glared at me with disdain. Gone was the tall and handsome man with the clear and bright eyes who had blushed and stammered when he confessed to me.

The students around us began chiming in upon hearing James' words.

"No way, Anna. I didn't know you were that jealous of Bianca. She treats you so well and gives you money every month. Why would you slander her like this? How terrible!"

"How frightening! I had no idea that Anna was such a schemer. I nearly fell for her lies."

"It's pointless for her to have such good results when she has such a horrible personality. What an ungrateful wretch!"

I stood there and let them hurl their insults at me. I wasn't bothered enough to explain myself to these spineless idiots who couldn't even form their own opinions. I turned around and prepared to leave.

"Wait," Bianca said, blocking my path. "Did I give you permission to leave? Do you really believe that you can just slip away after dragging my name through the mud?

"I'm willing to be the bigger person and let you go, but you have to grovel for my forgiveness first. You can forget about leaving if you don't."

Bianca's admirers immediately surrounded me upon hearing her words.

"Didn't you hear Bianca? Hurry and beg for her forgiveness!"

"You should get on your knees right now if you know what's good for you. Don't blame us for being rough with you if you don't."

The corners of my lips twitched up into a smile as I swept my gaze over them. I pulled out a can of pepper spray from my bag and sprayed it at one of the male students who tried to pin me down.

The student let out a bloodcurdling scream as he covered his face and rolled around on the ground. "My eyes!"

"Are you still going to block my way?" I asked lightly.

Everyone snapped back to their senses and immediately backed away from me as far as they could. They were terrified of being the next victim of my pepper spray.

"All of you are useless!" Bianca exclaimed while stomping her feet and digging her sharp nails into her palms.

I ignored her and left the classroom, making my way toward the office. I lightly rapped my knuckles against the door and waited.

"Come in."

My teacher, Heather Miller's, gentle voice resounded from beyond the door.

I pushed open the door. Looking at Ms. Miller with determination blazing in my eyes, I said, "I've decided not to take the exams, Ms. Miller. Instead, I’m going to sign my National Letter of Intent instead."

"Are you sure, Ms. Lawson?" Heather asked seriously.

I nodded without any hesitation. "I've made up my mind, Ms. Miller."

After the SATs were over, Bianca invited everyone out by telling them that she was hosting a student gathering.

"I'll cover all the expenses for tonight. Enjoy yourself to your heart's content, everyone. Don't feel guilty about spending my money."

Everyone hollered and cheered upon hearing Bianca's words.

"You're much too generous, Bianca! I love you to death!"

"Now this is how a true heiress should behave! She should be an extremely generous spender!"

All the students flocked around Bianca and fawned over her while I was forced into a corner.

I couldn't help but scoff at how shameless Bianca was for using my money to foot the bill. But it was fine. The higher she flew, the harder the fall.

Just then, Bianca noticed me huddled in the corner. She grabbed my arm and said, "You've been working so hard recently, Anna. What did you think about the exams?

I knew that Bianca was testing me, trying to see if I was confident I would win the title of provincial top scorer and the three-million-dollar reward that came with it.

I narrowed my eyes and said languidly, "I think I did really well. It shouldn't be a problem at all for me to be awarded the title of provincial top scorer. What about you?"

Bianca tightened her grip around my arm. She forced on a smile and replied, "It doesn't matter how I did. I'll be inheriting my family's company soon."

She paused before continuing, "Oh, that's right. Your mother's really sick, right? Do you have enough money to pay her medical bills? I hope that Mrs. Lawson won't pass away with any regrets."

At the mention of "regret", I recalled how Mom had spent the last moments of her life wallowing in resentment in my past life.

My entire body shook from anger as I knocked Bianca's hand away.

James immediately delivered a powerful kick to my stomach when he noticed what was going on.

Caught off guard, I crumpled to the floor. Sweat cruised down my back from the unbearable pain.

James looked down at me from the tip of his nose. "How dare you hurt Bianca when she was just concerned for your mom? I hope that kick will serve as a lesson to you. I won't let you off the hook that easily if you hurt Bianca again."

Powering through the pain, I looked up at James and retorted, "I'm your actual girlfriend, James! Why do you keep taking Bianca's side time and time again?"

The Tipps family was extremely wealthy. There was nothing that James could gain by currying favor with Bianca. On top of that, an actual rich person would easily be able to see through Bianca's flimsy persona of an heiress.

James burst into mocking laughter as if he had just heard a hilarious joke. "My girlfriend? Stop being delusional, Anna. You're nothing more than a rebound who refuses to leave me alone. Do you really believe that you're on the same level as Bianca?"

The other students began to chime in with their own opinions.

"He's right. You need to take a good, hard look at yourself in the mirror. Bianca's so kind while you're the epitome of evil!"

"I can't believe you're delusional enough to believe that you can win James' heart. You heard what he said, right? He wouldn't even consider accepting you as a rebound."

James moved closer to me and whispered into my ear, "You were always outdoing me in everything, Anna. You always win first prize in competitions, and you're slated to become the next provincial top scorer.

"But things are different now. Bianca has the ability to use the tenfold transfer system. You're never going to make a name for yourself for the rest of your life."

My mind went blank when I heard James' words. There was a loud buzzing in my ears.

It turned out that James had known the truth all along. He and Bianca were accomplices!

Fortunately, I still had my trump card up my sleeve.

I looked at Bianca timidly and mumbled, "I shouldn't have been jealous of you, Bianca. Why don't I drop by your villa during break to work as one of your maids? I still need to pay Mom's expensive medical bills. You're such a kind person. You'll definitely forgive me, right?"

The students immediately grew excited at the mention of a villa.

"We want to visit your villa too, Bianca! We've never seen your villa in person before. Please let us come over!"

Bianca's expression twisted. She didn't own a villa. Her current residence was an old and rundown apartment that didn't even have an elevator.