By the time we were halfway through the meal, everyone had already added me on WhatsApp. After all, gatherings like this were never just about catching up. People came to show off and to network.

Watching them all act like their lives were perfect, I smiled.

Because soon, they were going to end up like rats in a gutter.

…

I used a phone call as an excuse to step outside for some air, and on my way back, I stopped by the restroom.

I was about to leave when I heard Melissa and Vexana's voices.

"Melissa, I seriously didn't expect that idiot to be doing this well now. But what about what happened back then—"

"Shut up!" Melissa snapped. "What happened back then? We were kids. We just wanted to befriend her. Besides, she's fine now, isn't she? Look at her. Do you really think she can afford a Rolls-Royce? She's probably just putting on a show. For all we know, she's just a driver for her boss."

"That makes sense. You're always right, Melissa."

…

I stood in the stall and listened to them laugh as they left.

They weren't going to be laughing much longer.

When I got back to the private room, Melissa immediately steered the conversation again.

"Brianna, it's been ten years. Everyone thought you weren't doing well, and that's why you didn't want to come."

She was deliberately dragging it back to high school, trying to get a reaction out of me.

Melissa came from money. She was the classic rich, pretty girl, and everyone in our class treated her like royalty. She didn't have to clean or wipe the blackboard, and her desk was always stuffed with snacks and little gifts.

After all, she had no shortage of followers.

She had been the one to approach me first, acting like she wanted to be friends.

It was only because Zachary had said he would tutor me in math.

In class, she played the role of the gentle friend who shared snacks and helped me out.

After school, she was the one who brought a gang of people with her and locked me in a small, dark room.

In the pitch-black storage room, she'd tape my mouth shut and slap used toilet paper over my eyes.

When I tried to resist, it only got worse.

When I told the teacher, Melissa was always the first to apologize. She insisted it was just friends messing around.

When I told Dad, he forgave her after seeing her face and scolded me instead, saying I wasn't being friendly with my classmates.

Later, I found out why.

Melissa's mother was the first woman Dad had ever fallen in love with and never gotten over. Mom, on the other hand, never once heard him call her his wife before she died.

After that, Melissa became even bolder.

The worst incident was when she hit me over and over with her heels and forced me to hurt myself. Then she posted about it on Instagram, packaging herself as the one who had saved me.

Dad only paid the medical bills. After that, he never cared again.

I kept telling myself to hold on. Just half a year more, and I could take the SAT and take control of my own life.

After that incident, I requested my own seat, and Melissa finally settled down.

I thought she was scared.

Only later did I learn the truth.

Zachary and Melissa had been together from the start. He chose to sit with me, tutor me, and act kind only because they had fought and wanted to make her jealous.

Years later, I heard from a friend that they broke up after graduation.

Now, Melissa had married an old, ugly, rich heir for her family's benefit. Even after getting married, she still stayed entangled with Zachary.

"I'm doing okay," I said. "But you probably haven't been doing great lately. I heard your dad's company has been short on cash and caught up in bad press, and that it's about to be acquired by Radiant Group."

"What are you talking about?"

Melissa shot to her feet, pointing at me and dropping the image she'd worked so hard to build. "When is my company getting acquired? Stop making things up!"

"Right about now."

I checked the time. It was exactly noon.

The acquisition news and the related scandals broke and shot to the top of the trending list almost immediately.

"Brianna, what do you even do? How do you know all this?" Sebastian leaned over, eager for drama.

"Because I'm the boss of Radiant Group."

My voice wasn't loud, but it was enough to make the entire room go still.

Everyone stared at me like they couldn't process what they'd just heard.

When I first entered the working world, I ran into setbacks everywhere, but compared to what I went through in high school, it felt easier.

I didn't have money, and I didn't have a good degree. As long as something wasn't illegal, I did it.

While people my age were traveling and buying stylish outfits, I was doing kitchen prep in restaurants, washing dishes, and peeling potatoes.

Back then, I wasn't thinking about getting rich. I just wanted to eat.

One day, when I was looking for another part-time job, I met a woman. She said I was tall, slim, and had the right look to be a model. She didn't know it was because I'd been hungry for too long.

With her help, I became a model and made a lot of money.

In the end, I chose to start from scratch and work behind the scenes instead, because the hardest part of modeling was that I couldn't eat much, and I couldn't stand that.

After I had money, I founded a company and became my own boss.

From that point on, I spent what I earned to make up for everything I'd been denied. I bought expensive skincare, expensive clothes, and I didn't hold back when it came to food, drinks, or going out.

After I paid in full for a house and a car and opened a store while I was still young, I stopped caring about looking polished. I dressed however I wanted, and I leaned into a casual, messy style.

My assistant used to joke that if I disappeared into a crowd, I'd look like someone scraping by on a tiny paycheck. I kept it that way on purpose.

"Brianna, what is this?"

Vexana was the first to jump up and accuse me.

"You made it, and you didn't think to help any of us, but you're going after Melissa's family business. And you're smearing her with bullying accusations. What kind of person does that?

"Melissa was always kind. She saw how timid you were and tried to be your friend. Zachary even helped you with math. You should be thanking them, not turning around and slandering them."

Rebecca let out a small laugh, her tone contemptuous, while Sebastian kept eating his chicken without a care for his image.

"You disgust me."

I set my wine down and stood up.

"Vexana, are you pretending you don't remember, or do you really think nobody does?" I asked.

"When I hurt myself in that storage room at school, you weren't just standing around. You helped. And just to be clear, I didn't go after their company. Her dad begged for my help. Besides, aren't you involved with Mr. Cooper? If you're that close to him, you should already know how this happened."

Vexana truly lived up to her name. She was a vixen.

Melissa probably never would've imagined that the lackey who always kept her head down around her was aiming to become her stepmother.

The moment it sank in, Melissa's expression changed. She stopped acting upset and stared at Vexana, as if she wanted to tear her apart.

"And you, Rebecca," I continued. "I should thank you, too. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have made it to where I am today."

"What are you talking about?"

"In sophomore year, we went to the same summer math tutoring class. You skipped a lot and missed important material.

"When I scored well after we went back to school, you didn't like that the teacher praised me, so you told Melissa I only did well because I spent the whole summer hanging around Zachary, and you accused me of cheating.

"That's what got everything started, and you stayed on the side, acting innocent while I took the hit."

Back then, when their little clique decided on a story, nothing I said could clear my name.

"That's not true!" Rebecca said through gritted teeth, staring at me.

"That expression looks familiar," I said. "Wasn't that the same one you had last month when you found out your husband was seeing a college student?"

"Alright, let's take it down a notch," Sebastian said, wiping his mouth after finishing his food and stepping in as the peacemaker.

"We're all classmates. Brianna, accusations like bullying aren't something you can just throw around. Back then, everyone saw how Melissa treated you. You can't just say things like that without evidence."

"There weren't any cameras in the storage room. What evidence could she even—"

Vexana stopped short, realizing too late that she had let something slip, and instinctively glanced at Melissa.

Melissa, on the other hand, turned on Sebastian with a furious glare.

Sebastian immediately put on an innocent expression.

Everyone at the table understood what that unfinished sentence implied. Murmurs spread almost immediately.

"So it really happened? I didn't expect her to be that kind of person."

"Bullying can land you in jail. Doing something like that at such a young age is frightening. It's a good thing I never crossed her."

The discussion was still building when Zachary slammed his hand down on the table. The sudden sound made the glass in front of me shake, and the wine nearly spilled.

"Brianna, that's enough!" he said. "We're all classmates. There's no need to keep pressing people over trivial matters from the past."

Melissa looked at him with obvious gratitude, her expression soft and shy.

He was trying to play the hero. How ridiculous.

"I was too busy dealing with those bitches that I forgot about you for a moment."

I pulled out the injury assessment, medical records, and therapy notes from my bag and slammed the thick stack down in front of him.

"Being bullied, falsely accused, used like a tool, driven to self-harm, and nearly ending my own life—were they all trivial matters?"

"I…"

Zachary's face flushed red, and he couldn't say anything else.

Those who had been whispering moments earlier all fell silent, covering their mouths as they exchanged looks.

"Zachary, every single one of these things was a nightmare I can never forget," I said.

"Hey, Brianna, can you get this straight?" someone said impatiently. "This is a class reunion, not some kind of public trial. Can't we just eat in peace?"

I turned to look at the speaker. It was Jackson Wright, the class secretary.

Back in high school, he'd never held back when it came to verbally abusing me. He used to say my bob haircut hurt his eyes, that I walked around all day with a blank expression and a sickly yellow face, like something not quite human.

The insecurity that haunted me for years had his name written all over it.

Now, looking at him again, he had slicked-back hair, a bloated face, and a protruding beer belly that even his oversized suit couldn't hide.

Years had passed, but he was just as unpleasant as ever.

"Fine," I said. "Anyone who'd rather not hear old stories is welcome to leave. Just tell the front desk my name, and they'll set you up with a complimentary bottle of premium red wine on me. Consider it my apology."

"Can I pick it up after this is over?" Sebastian asked, raising his hand and clearly enjoying the chaos.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Of course."

That only made everyone even less willing to leave. After all, who didn't want to hear gossip about the former stars of the class?

"Mention your name? Who do you think you are?" Jackson sneered. "This is one of the top restaurants in Nadoria. A bottle of wine here costs at least a few thousand, if not tens of thousands. You run a small company and think you can just give it away? You really think you're capable of that?"

Having been embarrassed earlier, he refused to let it go.

I glanced around and saw that the others were watching eagerly and waiting for my reaction.

Noticing the server who had been standing nearby for a while, I waved him over. "You tell him. Am I capable of doing that or not?"

"Of course, you are, Ms. Shore."