My heart skipped a beat, and I instinctively clicked open the news.

Sure enough, Zion’s scores had been tampered with again.

I stared at the text in utter shock.

This time, his results were even more outrageous than in my previous life. It was actually zero points.

In the news report, Zion was furious beyond words, and even the teachers at school couldn’t accept it.

The principal personally drove Zion to the police station to file the report and declared that the school would use every resource to help him uncover the truth.

While I was reading, I noticed something in the corner of my eye: the number of people in my livestream room was rising rapidly.

These past few days, the viewers had always stayed in single digits, but now it had already reached thousands.

Within minutes, the count surged into the tens of thousands and was still climbing.

I watched in astonishment, then saw the comment section fill with vicious curses.

They weren’t just insulting me. They were cursing my entire family, telling me to die right then and there.

I sat there stunned, staring into the camera and stammering, “Wh-What’s going on?”

The comment section exploded with unified replies, [Stop pretending to be innocent! Die, you score-stealing scum!]

Suddenly, my heart clenched tight.

In this life, I had given up the college entrance exam, and Zion had still ended up with zero points.

Could it be that someone had swapped our scores again?

My heart pounded so hard it hurt, and my hands trembled as I moved to check my own results.

The website had already crashed.

I took several shaky breaths and kept refreshing, but I still crashed. I pressed reload again and again…

Then, the hospital room door flew open.

I jumped in fright.

A moment later, a group of police officers rushed inside.

One of them seized me, twisting my arms behind my back as the cold metal handcuffs snapped shut.

I cried out, “What are you doing? Why are you arresting me?”

The officer looked at me coldly, his voice stern.

“Heidi, you are suspected of tampering with college entrance exam scores. This is a criminal offense. Please cooperate with our investigation.”

My mind went completely blank, buzzing.

At that exact moment, the website finally refreshed.

I looked at the score report, and every subject was marked with a high score, the total exceeding 700.

In that instant, it felt as though some unseen force had drained all the strength from my body.

Meanwhile, the livestream comments kept pouring in, each one sharper than the last.

[Bad people really have nerves of steel; she stole someone’s scores and still dares to livestream. Afraid we wouldn’t find her to curse her out?]

[Apparently, she was Zion’s girlfriend. It just goes to show that you can guard against outsiders, but not the ones closest to you.]

[Probably wants to use their relationship to make Zion drop the charges? What a joke! This is the college entrance exam. It decides your entire future!]

[Why do I feel so satisfied watching her get arrested?]

I was shoved into a police car and driven straight from the hospital to the police station.

Inside, Zion was already waiting.

He looked at me, disbelief etched across his face.

“Heidi, I really didn’t expect it would be you.”

“I loved you so much. Why would you do this to me?”

“Is it because my family isn’t good enough that I don’t deserve you?”

“If you didn’t like me, you could have just broken up with me. Why destroy my life?”

I shook my head hard.

“It wasn’t me! I was in the hospital the whole time, you know that. I had an appendectomy.”

Zion froze for a moment, then turned quickly to the police.

“That’s true. Maybe this is all a misunderstanding? My girlfriend really did have surgery.”

But the officers only shook their heads.

One of them looked at Zion and spoke in a steady, cold voice.

“We have reason to believe she deliberately used the appendectomy as a cover.”

“We’ve already consulted medical experts. Even after an appendectomy, a patient can still get out of bed and move around. There may be discomfort, but it’s more than enough to commit a crime.”

By this time, I had already calmed down.

I looked straight at the police and said evenly, “You’re accusing me, then show me the evidence.”

The officers immediately pulled up the proof.

It was surveillance footage.

In the video, I was clutching my stomach, moving suspiciously into the secure room where the exam papers were kept. I was clearly seen pulling out two test papers and carefully using a small knife to scrape off the barcodes and swap them.

I stared, dumbfounded.

Then they brought out two sealed exam papers, each locked in a plastic bag, undeniable evidence.

One was completely blank, bearing Zion’s barcode.

The other was fully completed, with my barcode stuck neatly on it. Judging by the handwriting, it was clearly Zion’s exam.

One officer continued, voice flat.

“The two guards responsible for watching the exam papers have already been arrested.”

“Each of their accounts received a transfer of one million dollars.”

“They confessed that during the exam period, someone contacted them, promising one million each if they spent half an hour in the restroom while on duty.”

“We traced the account that made the transfers. It belongs to you.”

I stared at the bank records in disbelief, my mind completely blank.

Zion looked at me with deep disappointment and asked quietly, “Was it really you?”

I drew in a sharp breath and raised my voice. “I don’t know what’s going on with this so-called evidence, but I can prove it wasn’t me. I have an alibi!”

I held up my phone, my tone firm. “These past few days, I’ve been live streaming from my hospital bed, twenty-four hours a day, without a single break.”

“The entire internet watched me. Anyone can testify that I never left that room.”

But the police officer gave me a knowing smile.

Clearly experienced, he went straight to the point.

“You’ve never had a habit of livestreaming.”

“Why did you suddenly decide to stream nonstop these few days? Don’t you think that seems a little too deliberate?”

I was left speechless.

The officer said, “And you should know, the content of a livestream isn’t necessarily real.”

“There are plenty of streamers who loop old footage to pretend it’s live and trick viewers into sending money.”

“This kind of fraud has happened before.”

“We have every reason to believe your so-called livestream was pre-recorded, and you were the one who went to commit the crime.”

“Little girl, you’re clever; you even knew how to create an alibi.”

“But fake is still fake. With professional criminal investigation techniques, you won’t get away with it.”

“I advise you to confess. If you do, your sentence might be lighter.”

I stammered. “My livestream was real. You can examine it.”

The officer’s gaze was stern. “We will examine it. But in the meantime, you will be held in custody.”

Zion looked at the police with worry in his eyes. “She just had an appendectomy. If you lock her up now, she won’t be able to handle it.”

“Don’t worry,” the officer replied flatly. “We have doctors here. Her condition won’t be neglected.”

Under Zion’s anxious gaze, I was locked away.

My body had mostly recovered, but the crushing psychological pressure made it impossible to eat or sleep.

Even though I was cut off from the world, I knew the entire internet was cursing me and cursing my parents, too.

I was terrified the tragedy of my past life would happen all over again.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw my parents struggling in the river, calling for help that no one gave.

I cried until my eyes were too swollen to open.

On the third day, my mom and dad finally bailed me out.

The moment I saw them, I threw myself into their arms, choking on my sobs.

“I didn’t do it,” I cried.

My parents gently patted my back. “We believe you. Our daughter would never do such a thing.”

The police attached an electronic shackle to my ankle and warned me sternly that I was not allowed to leave the city, had to be reachable at all times, and must never remove the device.

I agreed to everything without protest. At that moment, all I wanted was to stay with my parents, never leaving their side again.

When we arrived home, I was surprised to see Zion waiting at the doorstep.

As soon as he spotted me, he hurried over, worry etched on his face.

“Heidi, are you okay?”

Before I could answer, his eyes turned red. “You’ve lost so much weight.”

“Heidi, I’m sorry. If I had known it was you, I never would have called the police.”

His words were full of affection, but hearing them, a dull ache rose in my chest.

“Zion, you didn’t believe me either?” I asked softly.

Zion looked stunned. “No, I just…”

Before he could finish, a woman walked up and shouted, her voice sharp, “Believe you? Why should Zion believe you? With all the evidence clear as day, you still want to pretend you’re innocent?”

Startled, I instinctively asked the woman, “Who are you?”

She let out a cold snort. “I’m Zion’s legal representative.”

Zion looked a little embarrassed and lowered his voice. “Heidi, don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not suing you. I just asked her to help me negotiate with the Department of Education to see if they can restore my scores.”

While we were speaking, a crowd had already gathered around us.

They clearly recognized me and started shouting angrily. “That’s Heidi! So arrogant, she actually got released?”

“Do rich people really think they can do whatever they please?”

“Spending two million to steal someone else’s future, what kind of world is this?”

Suddenly, someone screamed, “The college entrance exam is the fairest system we have. These rich people want to destroy even that. Beat them!”

In an instant, countless bottles and trash rained down on us.

Zion tried to shield me, but his lawyer grabbed his arm and pulled him back, widening the distance between us.

My parents held me protectively and tried to get us away, but more and more people crowded in, forming a tight circle.

Then, the crowd began to hit us; some even threw stones.

My dad shouted with all his strength, “Stop! My daughter just had surgery. She’s still a patient!”

But the onlookers didn’t believe a word.

Someone yelled, “Liar! This whole family is nothing but liars!”

“I don’t believe a single punctuation mark of what you say. Surgery? You probably faked those medical records, too!”

The situation grew more and more dangerous.

My mom shouted, her voice trembling, “My daughter never swapped any test papers! She had no reason at all to do it!”

She pulled out a thin piece of paper and raised it high. “I have proof. If you’d just look at it, you’d understand!”

But the crowd kept shouting, “What proof? All fake!”

My mom lifted the paper as high as she could, trying to let everyone see.

It was a university admission notice.

While shielding me, she gasped between breaths, “My daughter was already recommended for admission to Wellington University. If you don’t believe me, check the official website.”

“She only took the college entrance exam to accompany Zion.”

“When she gave it up to have her surgery, we weren’t even that upset because the exam didn’t really matter for her.”

“She already had her place secured. Why would she need to tamper with test papers?”

The crowd fell into a stunned silence.

Zion looked at me in shock. “Heidi, you were already guaranteed admission? Why didn’t you ever tell me?”