Nadia's POV

I was shaking all over, terrified, and begged Bentley to let me go.

But his eyes were ice-cold. “I heard that offering a virgin to the snake spirit can bring someone back to life. This is what you owe Ivy.”

The memory of being strangled and suffocated by that python in my past life was still fresh. I shuddered, and this time, rage took over.

As such, I immediately typed into the class group chat.

[I earned that forty grand scholarship through my own hard work. Why should I hand it over?]

But Bentley quickly replied.

[Don’t be ungrateful, Nadia. Ivy using your scholarship is her doing you a favor.]

[You’re the only one in class who can’t fit in. I’m giving you a chance to be part of something, can’t you see that?]

I let out a cold laugh and shot back.

[Did I ever say I wanted to go on this graduation trip? If I’m not joining, why should I pay for it?]

[Whoever invites, pays. I’m not gonna be the sucker footing the bill. I’m here to study, not to win popularity points.]

[Ivy is all you ever talk about. If she's so amazing, why don’t you just date her already?]

The group went silent for a few seconds after that.

Then Bentley sneered.

[Nadia, are you seriously jealous right now?]

[Quit the attitude. Transfer the money to Ivy, or you’ll mess up the whole booking, flights, hotels, everything. And I swear, I won’t let it slide!]

Ivy chimed in, too, even tagging me.

[Nadia, I think you misunderstood me and Bentley. I just wanted everyone to relax and enjoy the summer, that’s all.]

[If you don’t want to chip in, that’s fine. I can cover the costs, just come along, okay?]

Right after that, Bentley followed up with another message.

[See? That’s how generous Ivy is. Unlike some people who pinch pennies like their life depends on it.]

[No one’s against the trip, right? I’ll go ahead and give everyone’s ID info to Ivy for the visa applications.]

With that, the whole class blew up in excitement.

[Of course! Where else would we get such a great offer?]

[Some people just act all high and mighty because they’re top students, always worried someone else might steal their spotlight.]

[Totally! She’s just jealous of Ivy. Let’s ignore her.]

Watching them cheer and flatter Ivy like mindless sheep, I couldn’t help but scoff.

In my past life, I only learned after I died that this whole “graduation trip” was just a cover.

Ivy had another plan. She wanted to collect everyone’s ID cards for the visa process so she could take out massive loans in their names.

It was because her father’s company was on the verge of bankruptcy, and she needed a huge sum to cover the losses.

If I hadn’t spoken up then, they all would’ve ended up saddled with millions in high-interest debt.

But now, these same people were attacking me with the most vicious words.

Good thing, I still had my ID. If they were dead set on jumping into the fire, I wasn’t about to stop them.

Knowing all that, I quickly sent a voice message to the group.

“You want to go on a graduation trip? That’s your business. Leave me out of it. But just a friendly reminder. Keep a close eye on your personal documents. Otherwise, you might not even know you’ve been sold off.”

As soon as I hit send, Bentley exploded with anger.

[Nadia, just because you’ve got a filthy heart doesn’t mean everyone else does. Ivy is beautiful and kind. How could you say something like that about her?!]

Ivy also chimed in.

[I just wanted to do something nice for everyone. I never thought Nadia would accuse me like this. Maybe we should just cancel everything.]

A few classmates jumped in, annoyed.

[Can’t believe one rotten apple is spoiling the whole thing! Don’t listen to her, Ivy.]

Ivy responded with a pitiful emoji.

[But it’s a graduation trip. It won’t feel right if we’re not all together. And if Nadia doesn’t come, she’ll probably go online and say we excluded her.]

Nadia's POV

[I don’t want my good intentions to end up hurting everyone.]

The second I read Ivy’s message, I felt my blood boil.

[Ivy, say that again. When did I ever accuse you of anything?]

[You all want to go on this graduation trip, fine. Go! But why are you dragging me into it?]

Bentley let out a cold laugh.

[Ivy’s not making anything up. Everyone still remembers the whole entrance exam blessing fiasco.]

I froze for a second, then scoffed at the irony.

Before the college entrance exams, Ivy suddenly suggested taking everyone’s admission tickets to a temple to get them “blessed,” writing down good wishes for each of us, to supposedly help us get into top universities.

But I knew the rules. If there were any writing on an exam ticket, it would be considered cheating.

So I refused.

Worried others might get dragged into it, I even told our homeroom teacher.

He was furious and immediately put a stop to the plan before it caused real trouble.

I thought I’d helped the entire class avoid a disaster, but when the exam results came out, the same people I tried to protect started throwing shade at me.

They muttered that if I hadn’t snitched, maybe the blessings would’ve worked, and they’d all be heading to a top university.

Thinking about it now, I typed out a public message in the class group chat.

[I swear to the heavens. I have never said a single bad word about Ivy offering to pay for the graduation trip. If I have, may lightning strike me on the spot!]

In this life, I had no plans to play the hero. That message was just to cover my own back, so if anything went wrong again, they couldn’t pin it on me.

But of course, someone still had to stir the pot.

[Swearing doesn’t prove anything. What, is she gonna lose a chunk of flesh now?]

Bentley jumped in again.

[Don’t worry. I’ve got ways to shut her up for good.]

That made me pause. A strange sense of unease crept in. Just as I was about to ask what he meant, I was kicked out of the group chat by the admin.

But honestly? I didn’t care.

The entrance exams were over. I had no reason to keep in touch with any of them anyway. Even if they hadn’t kicked me, I would’ve left on my own.

Just in case something else happened, I went straight to the hospital that night and paid off all my mom’s surgery fees.

But things still didn’t go smoothly.

When I got home, I realized my ID card was missing.

My heart dropped.

Then I remembered Bentley’s last message in the chat, and the fact that he was the only one who knew the code to my front door.

Could he have snuck in while I was at the hospital and stolen it?

Furious, I stormed straight to his house and grabbed him by the collar.

“Bentley, did you take my ID? Give it back. Now!”

He frowned and looked at me with obvious disgust.

“What the hell’s wrong with you, Nadia? Why would I steal your ID? Ivy just didn’t want you to miss out on the trip and feel left out. So she figured she’d surprise you by secretly applying for your visa. She even got you sunscreen and a sun shirt. You should be grateful.”

Ivy, standing beside him, gave a fake sweet smile.

“We’re all in the same class. No need to be so formal.”

As she spoke, she tried to shove things into my hands.

If I hadn’t lived through this once already, I might’ve fallen for her little act.

I jerked back hard, and the sunscreen dropped, spilling everywhere. The sun shirt also got dirty at the edge.

“I already said I’m not going on that damn trip! Do you not understand plain language?!” I snapped.

Ivy’s eyes welled up instantly, and she started crying.

“I was just trying to do something nice. I thought it’d be meaningful for the whole class to have one last memory together.”

Then she swayed and collapsed into Bentley’s arms.

Witnessing that, his face changed in an instant.

“What’s wrong with you, Nadia?! Ivy’s trying to do something thoughtful and you treat her like this? You’re seriously out of line.”

Nadia's POV

As such, I rolled my eyes, completely out of patience.

“Keep your so-called kindness. I don’t need it. Just give me back my ID!”

Thank god I caught on in time. If I had been even a little slower, Ivy might’ve already used my ID to take out a loan.

But I glanced around the room, and my ID was nowhere in sight.

Bentley, clearly pissed, pointed at the spilled sunscreen and the now-dirty sun shirt.

“You broke Ivy’s stuff and think you can just walk away?”

I sighed, totally done with the drama. “What do you want then? Money? Fine.”

I pulled out my phone, opened the image scanner on Amazon, and scanned the brands on the sunscreen and shirt. Once I saw the total cost, I transferred the money straight to Ivy.

But Bentley wasn’t finished.

“You think just paying for it makes everything okay?”

I was about to argue with him when my phone suddenly rang. It was the hospital. They said my mom’s condition had worsened. She needed emergency surgery, and I had to come sign the consent forms immediately.

Panicked, I turned back to Bentley and shouted, “What the hell do you want from me?!”

He looked over at Ivy, who had tears welling in her eyes, and replied coldly, “Apologize to Ivy. Or forget about getting your ID back.”

I let out a laugh, cold and furious. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. You stole my ID and now you want an apology? You want me to call the cops right now?”

I raised my phone to dial.

But Bentley, completely unfazed, shrugged. “Go ahead. It’s not my mom waiting on life-saving surgery.”

Then he smugly pulled my ID out of his pocket and waved it in front of me.

I saw red at that very moment. So he had listened in on the hospital call earlier.

Fine. I wasn’t going to win by force, so I took a deep breath and pretended to give in.

“Alright. I’m sorry. It’s all my fault, okay? Now, give me back my ID.”

Yet, Ivy pouted and said in a soft voice, “If you really want my forgiveness, then drink this bottle of liquor.”

Everyone in class knew I was allergic to alcohol, especially hard liquor like this. One sip would land me in the ER.

So this was her plan. She wanted me out of the picture.

I was still trying to figure out how to handle it when Bentley suddenly twisted the bottle open and dumped the entire thing over my head.

“Ivy, you know she’s allergic. If she drinks the whole thing, she’ll die. But if I just pour it over her, we can say she’s already apologized. That okay with you?”

Ivy took one look at my soaked, miserable state and giggled. “Fine, since you’re being so sweet, I’ll let it go this time.”

They were both insane.

Absolutely done, I wiped the alcohol out of my eyes and slapped Bentley across the face hard.

He clutched his cheek, shocked and furious. “I’ve always stood up for you, Nadia. And you hit me?!”

Ivy gasped and rushed to his side like some damsel in distress. “Bentley, are you okay? This is all my fault.”

The alcohol was burning my skin. My entire body reeked. My stomach churned, and the rash from the allergic reaction had already started—itchy, red welts forming wherever the liquor had touched me.

While the two of them stood there, caught up in their little drama, I snatched my ID from the table and ran.

No time for a shower, I dove straight into the fountain outside their building and scrubbed off as much of the alcohol as I could.

Then I called a cab and rushed to the hospital.

After signing the consent form, my mom was wheeled into surgery.

The operation lasted a grueling seven hours.

When it was finally over, she was moved into the ICU. The doctor said if she remained stable for another twelve hours, she could be transferred to a regular room.

I finally let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding.

But just as I sat down to rest, a news headline popped up and shot straight to the top of the trending list.

Nadia's POV

[Top High School Class Scammed: Entire Class ID Cards Used for Massive Loan Fraud!]

The headline hit me like a punch to the gut.

Ivy’s scheme had already blown up, and way faster than I expected.

Thankfully, I’d grabbed my ID back just in time and dodged the disaster. Or so I thought.

I was still breathing a sigh of relief when, out of nowhere, a group of reporters came storming down the hospital corridor with cameras rolling and microphones in hand.

Before I could react, one shoved a mic in my face.

“You’re this year’s college entrance exam top scorer, Nadia Green, right? Your classmates are accusing you of using their IDs to take out fraudulent loans. Is it true?”

“We heard you even took out a four-hundred-grand loan using your own ID. What do you need that kind of money for?”

“There’s also an anonymous tip saying you bribed the exam officials to cheat your way to the top. Care to comment?”

At the same time, my phone blew up with dozens of messages—every single one from loan sharks demanding payment.

My brain short-circuited.

How was this happening? I had my ID back. How could I still be saddled with someone else’s debt?