"I was at Ella's place that night, but she kept telling me it wasn't a big deal, that society is more open nowadays," Rosie said.

Her voice carried uncertainty.

She added, "Ella, weren't you the one who dragged me to the bar? You're the one who insisted on inviting those men to join us, right?

"Why did you set me up like that? I was worried that Carlos would cause you trouble. How could you still lie like this?

"When I was on that rooftop, I thought my life was over. But even then, I didn't blame you. We're best friends, aren't we?"

Rosie started sobbing, her voice trembling as if she were deeply hurt.

She continued, "I can't believe you would stab me in the back like this. If I've done something wrong, why didn't you just tell me? Why would you do this?

"Forget it. I don't want to talk to you anymore. Having a friend like you is unbearable."

With that, Rosie hung up.

It was masterful.

In just a few words, she made herself the innocent victim, expertly manipulating the situation.

My boyfriend, who had learned about it, turned on me instantly.

He was furious and slapped me across the face.

He yanked the engagement ring from my finger and flung it across the room.

He yelled, "You're disgusting, Ella. We're done."

He kicked me to the ground and, without hesitation, began packing his things.

As I struggled to breathe, my phone rang again. It was my boss.

He said, "Ella, your actions have brought disgrace to the company. After careful consideration, we've decided to terminate your employment. Come by tomorrow to finalize the paperwork."

Carlos was equally mad.

He began rallying others to beat me, shouting through a megaphone for the entire complex to hear.

He said, "Watch out for your so-called friends. This witch was hell-bent on destroying our family.

"Fake friends like her don't hesitate to stab you in the back."

They trashed my apartment, smashing everything in sight.

They even threatened to throw me off the balcony to make me feel what Rosie had felt.

Cornered on the balcony, I got a video call from my parents.

Rosie's parents had sent people to my hometown, where they had my parents shoved into a well.

As I watched, they fell.

The shock made me faint.

My boyfriend woke me up by dousing me in cold water.

He smashed all the gifts he had ever given me.

I stared at the wreckage of my life. The screams of my parents echoed in my mind.

As I stood at the edge of the balcony, Carlos pushed me.

No crowd gathered to witness my fall, and no firefighters came to save me. I hit the ground hard, becoming nothing more than a broken corpse.

From the afterlife, I watched Rosie rush to the scene.

The moment she saw my body, she pretended to faint in horror.

But I saw the wicked smirk on her face.

After my death, my boyfriend and the others testified that I had committed suicide out of guilt.

Even my parents' deaths were written off as them being ashamed of having raised a daughter like me.

Former classmates came to mourn me.

But angry netizens drove them away, destroying the flowers they left at my grave.

Netizens stood at my grave with red paint, wantonly scrawling graffiti. Countless vulgarities and insults echoed back and forth there daily.

After she was discharged from the hospital, Rosie showed up at my funeral.

Behind her were a dozen cameras recording. I became her best tool for driving up her viewership.

She said, "Even though Ella tried to destroy my marriage, I forgive her. She must have been in a bad place to do what she did."

The video went viral, boosting Rosie's image as a saint.

[That 'toxic friend' sure was lucky to have Rosie as a friend.]

[People these days are fickle. Rosie almost lost everything because of that snake.]

My spirit followed Rosie as she celebrated with her lover.

She bragged about how well everything had gone.

She sneered, "I only meant for her to be a shield, but she couldn't handle the pressure and jumped. Hilarious."

In the end, Rosie's affair was buried, and I became the scapegoat.

She rode the wave of attention to the top, becoming an internet sensation.

And she doled out advice on how to save marriages.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day Rosie had come crying to me.

She was sitting on my couch, looking visibly uneasy.

She said, "Ella, why would you say something so terrifying? It's almost like you've seen someone jump off a building before."

Her fingers twitched, gripping her phone.

I smiled softly, a touch of amusement in my tone.

I said, "Rosie, come on. You know me. I'm not brave enough for that. I'd probably faint if I saw something like that in real life.

"And besides, you're the famous marriage counselor, right? If people found out you jumped off a building because of your marriage, wouldn't that be the biggest joke ever?

"You're professional. Have a little faith in yourself."

He patted her on the shoulder, and she was reassured.

She slipped back into her previous state of self-pity, crying dramatically about how hard her life had become.

When I'd said enough polite, meaningless words, she cut right to the chase.

"Ella, after talking to you, I feel so much better. You'll help me cover this up, won't you?" she asked.

I nodded. "Of course.

"But just in case, why don't you give me the contact info of the two friends you were drinking with last night? I'll smooth things over with them."

She was so relieved she nearly squeezed my hand off.

She said, "Ella, you're so thoughtful. Thank you."

Tears welled up in her eyes.

She added, "You're the best friend I could ever have. I don't know what I'd do without you."

It was almost funny how good her performance was.

Before all of this, we'd barely spoken to each other since adding each other on social media two years ago.

And in my previous life, I had been gullible enough to fall for it all.

I had believed that I was doing some kind of good deed by saving her.

Once I gave her my promise, Rosie left my house, satisfied.

The moment she was gone, I picked up my phone and dialed the numbers of those two friends she'd mentioned.

In my last life, after returning home that night, Carlos quickly sensed something was off.

Rosie had then staged her dramatic rooftop scene, trying to prove her innocence.

She'd timed it perfectly, waiting until I was asleep.

But this time, I was ready. I immediately called Carlos.

I said, "Rosie got drunk last night and slept with some guy at the bar. She's not handling it well and says she wants to jump off a building."

There was a moment of stunned silence before he exploded in fury.

I could sense his anger even through the line.

"What? Didn't she spend the night with you? What the hell is going on?" he said.

Then he asked me where she was.

I replied, "I'm not sure.

"She just left my place. I tried to stop her, but she was worked up. You should find her, fast."

Before he could say anything else, I hung up.

Earlier, in her attempt to make her act look as real as possible, Rosie had given me her parents' contact info too.

She asked me to help her fabricate a call record with them from the night before.

I called her parents next.

I said, "Rosie went out drinking last night and did something stupid. Now, she's talking about killing herself."

Then, I called my boyfriend, Kristian Dale.

"Your favorite influencer is about to stage a dramatic suicide attempt. Aren't you going to swoop in and save her?" I said, my tone teasing.

I didn't stop there. I called every mutual friend we had and gave them the same update.

By the time I was done, I finally headed toward Rosie's apartment complex.

When I arrived, I could already hear the growing crowd's frantic whispers.

"Look. Someone's up there on the rooftop, about to jump."

Thanks to my not-so-subtle efforts, word spread quickly.

Nearly all of Rosie's friends and relatives had gathered at her apartment building by now.

The moment they saw her standing on the rooftop, there was a collective gasp of horror.

Her phone had been off since her wild night.

Therefore, she didn't know her family and friends had been desperately searching for her.

When she finally returned home, she hadn't found Carlos, so she immediately enacted her plan to stage her jump for attention.

But the scene she found when she got up there shocked her.

The firefighters had already arrived, laying out safety mats below.

In my previous life, she'd stood on that rooftop all night, drenched in rain.

A passerby filmed her and posted it online.

The video had gone viral, drawing even more attention and sympathy.

But this time, her audience had already arrived.

She hadn't even gotten into position yet.

The crowd was buzzing with gossip.

"Wait, isn't Rosie supposed to be a marriage counselor? Why is she trying to jump off a building?"

"You haven't heard? She got caught cheating. How's she going to keep working in her field after this?"

The building was not so tall, so their voices carried clearly in the still night air.

I saw a flicker of embarrassment cross Rosie's face.

Just then, Carlos burst through the crowd.

He yelled, "You cheating whore, get down here and explain yourself.

"You've been playing the saint, saving other people's marriages, and now you've turned mine into a joke."

Before he could hurl more insults, someone pushed him aside.

Rosie's parents had arrived.

Rosie's father glared daggers at Carlos.

He said, "It takes two to tango. And instead of fixing it, you're out here pushing my daughter to jump.

"What kind of man are you? Rosie is blind enough to marry you."

Rosie's mother collapsed onto the ground.

She sobbed, "What a sin! How could we encounter such a thing? You disgraced our entire family."

Rosie was caught in the middle.

Standing on the rooftop, she screamed hysterically, "Mom, Dad, why won't you believe me? I'm being set up.

"This is all Ella's fault. She got me drunk. She's trying to ruin me. I don't want to live anymore."

Her parents immediately turned to Carlos.

They asked, "Who the hell is Ella? She is bold enough to do this to Rosie. Go find her."

Carlos hesitated, his eyes scanning the crowd.

His gaze finally landed on me.

He quickly came over.

He called out, "Hey, you, come over here and explain what's going on."

A firefighter quickly approached me.

He whispered, "Our priority is to get her down safely. Please don't escalate the situation."

From the rooftop, Rosie caught sight of the firefighter whispering to me, a smug look flashing in her eyes.

She probably thought I would take the same saintly route as in my previous life.

After all, if I upset her and caused her to jump, I would bear a significant amount of responsibility.

As a professional marriage counselor, she had a firm grasp on the psychology of those present.

However, I did not act as she had expected.

Instead, I calmly brought two more people out from the shadows.

The moment Rosie saw who they were, her face turned pale.