"How could you go out and party right before the college entrance exam? I knew something must’ve happened!" Dad’s voice trembled. "I ran out looking for you, but I never imagined you’d be locked inside the school!"

“Was it Ethan? I won’t let him get away with this!”

After two lifetimes, seeing my father alive and well in front of me again broke me. I threw myself into his arms and burst into tears.

Dad was startled, unsure how to comfort me. “It’s okay now. Don’t be scared. Tell Dad what happened.”

“I’m fine,” I whispered, wiping away tears and forcing myself to stay calm.

It would be far too easy to expose Ethan and ruin their celebration.

But that wouldn’t be enough.

I wanted them to regret it for the rest of their lives.

When Mom arrived and saw my bruises and scrapes, her expression changed instantly.

But I simply said, “I’m fine, Mom. I don’t want to stay here anymore. I want to go abroad to study—and settle down with you.”

In my past life, I gave up an offer from a prestigious foreign university, all for Ethan’s stupid promise: “Let’s go to college together.”

And what did I get in return? Humiliation, betrayal, and heartbreak.

This time, I wasn’t about to bet on him keeping my admission ticket.

I gave up the college entrance exam.

When we got home, I collapsed into bed and drifted in and out of sleep, haunted by the memories of my previous life.

When I woke again, my pillow was soaked with tears.

I took a deep breath, slid a SIM card into my old phone, and powered it on.

My feed was flooded with posts—classmates, Ethan, and Sophie all sharing their night.

In one photo, Sophie leaned against Ethan’s chest, face flushed, eyes twinkling with a coy smile. He looked gentle, indulgent.

But my eyes were drawn to the empty fruit wine cans stacked behind them.

They’d drunk that much? Forget exam performance—some might not even wake up in the morning.

Someone even uploaded a video.

“Give me a kiss!” a voice shouted, and the crowd erupted in cheers.

Ethan wrapped his arms around Sophie, kissing her deeply like he couldn’t get enough of her.

I felt nothing but disgust and quickly shut the video off.

Then, I saw a new notification—Sophie had posted a story, set to visible only to me.

The moment I opened it, I was greeted by a series of breathy, suggestive gasps.

My stomach turned.

Even without looking closely, I knew the man entangled with her was Ethan.

Sophie’s voice came next, mocking and breathless:

“Emma, Ethan said he loves me and that he’s going to marry me when we get into college. Why would someone like you even try to compete with me?”

Then she posted a photo.

Shreds of paper—my admission ticket, torn into pieces.

“I told him to choose,” she continued. “He ripped your ticket up without hesitation. Said it was the perfect excuse to dump you and avoid going to the same college.”

“I can’t wait to see your face tomorrow. Enjoy your extra year in school. Happy senior year in advance~”

Even though I’d expected it—half expected it—it still hit like a punch to the gut. My chest tightened.

Three years of relentless studying… reduced to a pile of trash on the floor.

Just then, I heard the phone ring in the living room.

I stepped out to see Dad answering with a stunned expression. His voice rose with urgency.

“What? A student? A senior high schooler? Alcohol poisoning? Okay, I’ll head there now.”

His face had gone pale, and his forehead was glistening with sweat.

When he looked up and saw me, he must’ve thought I was worried about my classmates.

He tried to reassure me: “Don’t worry—it might not be someone from your class. I’ll go check. And even if it is, I’ll make sure they recover in time. They won’t miss the exam tomorrow.”

I looked at his concerned face and remembered how, in my past life, I had the same worry.

That night, I even dragged Dad to wait near the school bus stop—just in case any classmates were too hungover to show up, and he could help them recover quickly.

I never expected that in my past life, those ungrateful people would claim that my father threatened my classmates on my behalf.

That lie led to a wave of crazed netizens storming our home and killing my entire family under the guise of avenging Sophie.

But this time, I will never let my father get dragged into this mess again.

...

The next morning, I ate the breakfast Dad made and took the bus to school.

As time drew closer, the shuttle bus stop for the college entrance exam remained unusually quiet.

The teachers looked more and more anxious.

“What’s going on? Is the Rocket Class skipping the college entrance exam?”

Our head teacher walked over, looking haggard and drained, followed by a few students who were pale and shaky.

When they saw me, they avoided eye contact, shame and regret written all over their faces.

The principal looked grim. He listened to the head teacher’s stumbling report, and his fury exploded:

“I warned you again and again to watch your food and stay disciplined before the exam! But you all went drinking at a bar the night before?!”

“Now only five of you are able to sit the exam. The rest? Hospitalized for gastric lavage. Some are even in the ICU?!”

“Have you lost your minds? You’re destroying your own future—and dragging my career down with you!”

His outburst drew attention from nearby parents and the media.

“Oh my God, we’re extra careful just cooking meals these days, and these kids dared to drink until they poisoned themselves?”

“They had time to party and drink at a time like this? And are these supposed to be the top students? More like a gang of punks.”

“My kid’s grades may be average, but at least he’s responsible. The parents of those so-called geniuses must be losing it.”

“I’ve worked in media for years, and I’ve never seen an entire class drink so much before the college entrance exam that they couldn’t take it.”

Cameras clicked rapidly.

The principal’s face turned ashen. “It’s over. I’m finished. The school is finished.”

The American teacher, who’d always favored Ethan and Sophie, paled. “Where are Ethan and Sophie? They were our Yale hopefuls!”

The academic director hung his head. “We still haven’t reached them. We’ve reported it to the police.”

The principal staggered, clutching his chest. Then he looked at me—and hope suddenly flickered in his eyes.

“Emma is a good student. She stayed away from them. We still have a shot at placing someone at Yale.”

I lowered my eyes and said with fake remorse, “Ethan was worried I’d report him, so he took my admission ticket. He hasn’t shown up since. I probably won’t be able to take the exam.”

Bang! The principal collapsed on the spot.

Panic broke out. Some rushed him to the hospital; others herded the remaining students to the test site.

I got on the shuttle. The atmosphere was heavy—someone had already started crying.

“My dad’s gonna kill me… I shouldn’t have gone to that bar…”

“What do we do now? I can’t get into a top school… It’s all Sophie’s fault…”

I stared out the window, listening to their sobs with a blank expression.

Didn’t you all say you were geniuses? Was the exam just a formality?

So what are you crying about now? Afraid to fail?

When I arrived at the testing center, I was indeed turned away—I had no admission ticket.

A classmate overheard and looked at me guiltily. He whispered, “I’m sorry.”

After confirming I couldn’t enter, I turned around and left.

My father’s face was pale with rage. He felt sorry for me but cursed Ethan out loud.

Before we even left the premises, the incident had already blown up.

The parents of the Rocket Class’s top students launched a live broadcast, issued a joint statement, contacted the police, and hired lawyers—

They demanded accountability from the school, Ethan, and Sophie.

A scandal like this during the college entrance exam instantly set the Internet on fire.

Netizens flooded Sophie’s social media, furiously calling her a “walking disaster.”

After disappearing for a whole day, Sophie suddenly went live—Ethan, looking worn out, sat beside her.

Tears streaked her face, and she sobbed as she spoke: “I’m really sorry. I didn’t think it would end like this. We just wanted cake. It was our classmate Emma who insisted on ordering wine, saying it was light and we could drink freely.”

“Even though everyone had a bit too much last night, we got to the hospital in time and were fine. It was Emma who wanted revenge and got her dad—the hospital director—to deliberately misdiagnose us, which led to the alcohol poisoning.”

She nudged Ethan. “Aren’t you her childhood friend? You can back me up, right?”

Ethan froze. At her urging, he looked up. His eyes flickered with hesitation before he finally gritted his teeth and spoke.

“Yes. I can confirm Emma insisted on the wine. She was jealous of Sophie and the other high achievers. Also, her father really is a doctor at that hospital.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Had they lost their minds?

And somehow, people believed these lies.

Just moments ago, they were shouting to hold Sophie and Ethan’s families accountable.

Now they turned around and demanded answers from me and my dad.

Bang!

A car window shattered, and a U-lock struck my dad’s forehead—blood burst out instantly.

The car screeched to a stop. I slammed into the windshield, everything went black.

I could barely make out the thunderous voices around us:

“Kill this heartless pair! They sent my son to the ICU just to bully his classmates—they deserve to die!”

Another parent yelled:

“They had it coming! That doctor covered for his daughter—break his hands and see how he’ll treat patients again!”

I screamed desperately: “We didn’t do it! Check the CCTV—I never went to that bar! My dad wasn’t even on duty last night!”

Dad, in pain, crawled over and shielded me with his body. “Don’t be scared. Dad’s here.”

I sobbed uncontrollably and cried out, “You’ve been tricked!”

Just then, my phone lit up with a message from Ethan:

“Sorry Emma. Sophie’s family is poor. If she gets sued, it’s over for her. Your family’s well-off—you can afford the fallout. Once it’s over, we’ll repeat the year and go to college together, okay?”

I gave a bitter laugh. That was it.

Since Sophie couldn’t pay, the parents simply redirected their outrage at me;

Because my family had money, they wanted to rip a chunk out of us.

“Ethan, you scumbag! You should rot in hell!”

The parents dragged my bleeding father and me out of the car and beat us.

One of them raised his phone and started streaming the violence.

Sophie and Ethan, watching from afar, saw it too.

Sophie exhaled in relief, leaning against him flirtatiously. “Thank you for saving me, Ethan.”

Ethan forced a smile, but guilt and fear clouded his face. “As long as you’re safe, I’ll do anything for you.”

In the chaos, my mother stormed in and drove her parents away.

Standing between us and them, she roared, “Don’t you touch my husband and daughter!”

She held up her phone, her tone cold and commanding: “The real culprits behind the students’ poisoning are Sophie and Ethan. I’ve uploaded the evidence. If you don’t believe me, go see for yourselves.”

Everyone froze. Then, in silence, they looked down at their phones.

Onscreen, bar surveillance footage from last night began to play—