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.

"Don't tell me that you don't own a villa?" I asked with wide eyes, making sure to inject just the right amount of surprise into my voice.

The other students began to notice that something was amiss when Bianca stumbled over her words.

"Does she not have one? Was she just putting on an act all along?"

"I don't think so? She looks pretty rich to me. All her clothes are limited edition pieces."

"Maybe they're just really good counterfeits."

Bianca's face turned a ruddy red. She fixed on a haughty look and exclaimed, "Of course, I own a villa! It's just that it's undergoing some renovations recently, so you can't come over now. Give me a week. I'll give you a tour of the place in a week's time."

Her words dispelled the doubt in the students' hearts, prompting them to continue showering her with endless praises.

…

A week later, everyone dropped by Bianca's villa.

Bianca glared at me.

If it weren't for me, she wouldn't have had to resort to taking out a few high-interest loans to purchase the villa. She had even stolen the deed of her house and mortgaged it just to gather enough money.

"Oh, my God, Bianca! Your villa looks so grand! It's even more impressive than the villas that I see on the TV!" a female student exclaimed while covering her mouth.

Bianca shot a gloating look at me.

It didn't matter to her that she had spent a small fortune to purchase the villa. Once I was awarded the title of provincial top scorer and the three million dollars that came with it, not only would she be able to pay off her debts, but she would still have plenty of leftover money to buy anything she desired.

"The scores are out, everyone! Hurry and check your results!"

"Oh, no! I only scored 1,000 points. I'm done for!"

"What about you, Anna? What's your score?"

Everyone gathered around me and pinned their gazes on me.

Bianca was among them, looking as if she wanted to snatch my phone out of my hands and check my score for herself.

I slowly pulled out my phone and languidly navigated to the results site under everyone's scrutiny. I entered my details and waited for the page to load.

Bianca was momentarily stunned when she saw my score. She swiftly snapped back to her senses and grabbed my collar. "Why did you get zero points?" she roared.

"Let Anna go, Bianca," one of the female students said. "The site doesn't show the scores for the top 50 scorers in the province. That's probably why her score is zero."

Although she was a little confused over Bianca's fury, she still patiently explained the situation to her.

Bianca awkwardly let go of my collar. A wide grin broke across her face in the next second as she exclaimed, "Oh, that's right! I totally forgot about that. You must be the provincial top scorer then, Anna."

I slowly lifted my head and stared at Bianca's face that was flushed from excitement. A confused look crossed my face as I said, "But… I didn't take the exams. So, it's impossible for me to be the top scorer."