I was so livid that I tried to lunge at Ella, but her sidekicks held me back, with one of the women grabbing a fistful of my hair and snarling, "You want to save Wanda, huh? You'd better take a good look at yourself, you pathetic loser! You're a nobody!"

Joseph shoved me hard, sending me sprawling to the ground. "That's enough, Yvonne Sommer! You're just stirring up trouble and being difficult at this point! You clearly don't respect my position as your drill instructor at all, Yvonne!"

I pointed to Wanda's limp, barely breathing body and shrieked at the top of my lungs, "Have you gone blind, Joseph? Do you not see how Wanda is slipping away here? She's actually going to die if you drag this on any longer!"

Ella let out a mocking snicker before yelling, "You think she's just going to die like that, huh? Give me a break! You're quite a team, aren't you? You see, one fakes a medical crisis perfectly, while the other puts on this life-or-death drama! Do you really take us for fools, Yvonne?

"If we don't put them in their place, they'll think we're pushovers! Get them, ladies! Give them something to really cry about!"

Ella gave the order, and the several women around her immediately swarmed over us. They began raining blows and kicks down on Wanda and me, while others started forcefully tearing at Wanda's clothes.

"I'm going to strip you naked! I'm going to see how long you keep faking it once you're exposed for everyone to see!"

I lunged forward like a madwoman, throwing my entire weight into the group of women to shove them off. I shielded Wanda with my own body, pinning her beneath me. "You'd better stop it this instant! You're going to end up with blood on your hands!"

"Shut up!" Ella stormed over and slapped me hard across the face, leaving it stinging with a burning heat.

"You think we're going to end up killing her, huh? I'm going to beat you guys regardless. I want to see who's going to make us pay for it!" Ella snapped as she raised her hand again, intending to take a swing at me.

"How can you just stand there and watch, Joseph? Do you have any humanity at all?" I yelled toward Joseph, who was standing a short distance away, looking on as if it were all entertainment.

Joseph sneered, his arms crossed over his chest with an air of total indifference. "You ought to know that habitual liars with no sense of discipline deserve to be put in their place, Yvonne.

"You're the one who insists on joining her in this act. I'm merely doing my job as the drill instructor and upholding the discipline of the outdoor orientation boot camp."

I trembled with fury at his callousness as my vision began to swim. I hissed through gritted teeth, "Y-You're going to regret this, Joseph!"

Joseph let out a dismissive snicker. "You think I'll regret it, huh? I've never regretted a single thing I've done in my life, Yvonne!"

It was then that Wanda gave a weak groan as her entire body began to shake with violent tremors.

"Wanda!" I cried out in alarm as I looked down at her, noting that she was deathly pale, her lips were colorless, and she wouldn't stop trembling.

Ella and the others, despite the situation, refused to stop punching and kicking us.

"That's enough!" Joseph barked, finally realizing the situation was spiraling out of control. He furrowed his brows and called an end to the assault.

It was only then that they pulled back and stopped the assault.

Ella still wasn't satisfied. She took advantage of the moment Joseph looked away and lunged forward, kicking me in the stomach with all her might.

I doubled over in agony, my lungs seizing up from the kick. I felt a sudden surge of blood hit the back of my throat before I involuntarily coughed up a mouthful of blood.

It was then that I heard a siren in the distance getting closer—the ambulance had finally arrived!

In an instant, the ambulance pulled up, and the paramedics jumped out with a stretcher. "Where's the patient? Who's the student having the heart attack?"

"It's me!" Ella cried out, her expression twisting into a mask of agony as she rushed forward while clutching her chest. She pretended to faint as she leaned into a nurse, exclaiming, "I-I can't breathe—my chest hurts so much!"

"How could you, Ella!" I tried to bolt upright, my eyes wide with fury, but a wave of agonizing pain hit me, and I collapsed back to the ground.

Ella, seizing the moment, cried out urgently. "What the hell are you waiting for? Get me on the stretcher and save me!"

Joseph hurriedly supported Ella, positioning himself to block the nurse's line of sight. "Ella's the patient here, so get her on that stretcher immediately!"

Upon seeing the paramedics preparing to lift Ella onto the stretcher, I pointed frantically at Wanda on the ground and yelled, "You shouldn't listen to him! Wanda is the one who's actually ill here! Ella is just putting on an act!"

Joseph barked, "Have you had enough, Yvonne? You already lied about being sick with Wanda, and now you're trying to delay treatment for someone who actually needs it! You're beyond redemption, Yvonne!"

"Please get Ella into the ambulance!" Joseph instructed the nurse before turning to Wanda. "Wanda will get up on her own once she's done with her performance."

It was clear that the nurse, seeing that Joseph was the drill instructor, believed him and the crowd. "Get Ella on the stretcher first!"

I grew frantic when I noticed the medical staff preparing to leave. I lunged forward and grabbed the nurse's arm tightly. "You can't leave us! Please take a look at Wanda—she's not going to make it!"

The nurse, stunned by my grip, turned her gaze toward Wanda, noting that Wanda's face was cyanotic—a deep purple—and her lips were blanched. She lay there perfectly still, evidently unconscious.

She realized the gravity of the situation and hurriedly dropped to her knees to check on Wanda. She immediately turned pale and yelled, "Get the stretcher over here—we need to save this one first! Hurry!"

Ella shrieked, bolting upright on the stretcher. "I'm the only patient here! Wanda is the one faking it! You shouldn't let her fool you!"

Joseph stepped in front of the stretcher, his voice low and threatening while asking, "Isn't there a protocol for triage? Ella is in critical condition!

"How could you just ignore a living person crying for help to tend to someone playing dead, even more so in the presence of all these witnesses? What kind of behavior is that?"

"If word gets out about this, it won't look good for your hospital's reputation! Is this something you can really afford to take responsibility for?"

"Exactly! You have to save Ella first!"

"Wanda is already in that state—saving her would be a waste of time!"

In the meantime, the other students nearby began to chime in, adding to the commotion.

The nurse, seeing the situation spiraling out of control, struggled to make a decision. "How about Ella getting into the ambulance, and since Wanda's condition is more critical, she gets into the ambulance as well?

"In that case, we only have room for one companion in the back—the others will have to wait for the next ambulance or find their own way to the hospital!"

That was about as good a compromise as Wanda was going to get.

In that instant, a flicker of hope surged within me.

Ella shrieked again, glaring at me with eyes full of malice. "I won't allow it! What right does she have to be in the same ambulance as me?"

She looked around after saying that. She suddenly thought of something and pointed at the flat luggage rack on the ambulance roof with a wicked grin. "You can just put Yvonne and Wanda on the roof. After all, one is faking it, and the other is tough as nails—neither of them is going to die!"

"Great idea!" Joseph's eyes flashed as he turned and barked at the student athletes standing nearby. "You lot! Get over here—grab Wanda and Yvonne, lift them onto the roof of the ambulance, and strap them down! You'd better hurry up, and don't let them delay Ella's medical care!"

It was then that the nurse cried out in a panic, "You can't do that! It's far too dangerous!"

Joseph retorted, "What's so dangerous about it? I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong! If someone dies because of this delay, are you prepared to answer for it? Get to work!"

In that instant, a few hulking student athletes charged toward us. They grabbed Wanda and me onto the roof of the ambulance and strapped us down.

I had no idea how much time had passed, but Wanda and I finally arrived at the hospital. In that instant, the medical staff rushed out to meet the ambulance, only to freeze when they saw us strapped to the roof.

"Get them down from there this instant!"

They scrambled to undo the ropes, finally getting Wanda and me down. They hurried Wanda into the ER immediately. I, on the other hand, collapsed onto a cold bench in the hallway while paralyzed with fear, feeling like every second was dragging on forever.

It was then that the sound of hurried, heavy footsteps echoed from the far end of the hallway, and a middle-aged man in an expensive, tailored suit—his eyes sharp as a hawk's—came charging forward, flanked by a group of bodyguards in black.

It was none other than Victor Lawson—the richest man in the country!

He immediately noted the red light above the ER doors, then turned to look at me—pale, disheveled, and trembling by the door. "Where is Wanda?"

It was then that one of the nurses replied hurriedly, "Ms. Lawson is being treated in the ER right now, Mr. Lawson!"

Victor immediately clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white from the tension. He then turned on me sharply, his eyes brimming with a murderous intensity. "What happened? Why is Wanda in this state?"

I tried to speak, but my throat felt parched and raw.

I was just about to explain when Ella spotted Victor from the crowd. She was momentarily stunned before she narrowed her eyes and rushed over.

She forced herself into a state of distress and beat me to the punch with a sob, saying, "It was Yvonne's fault—she's responsible for everything, Mr. Lawson!"

Victor immediately turned his piercing gaze toward Ella.

Ella explained, "You see, during our outdoor orientation boot camp, Wanda tried to slack off by faking an illness, and Yvonne started causing a scene just to help her. Mr. Jensen, our drill instructor, tried to intervene, but Yvonne went berserk and attacked him!

"Wanda tried to break it up, but Yvonne shoved her, causing her to hit her head—and that's when she collapsed and had a seizure. Yvonne even snatched her medicine away!

"Plenty of us struggled hard just to get Wanda to the hospital! Yvonne was the one who did this to Wanda, Mr. Lawson!"

Joseph stepped forward at once, standing at attention. "That's right, Mr. Lawson—Ella is telling the truth. Yvonne's behavior has been atrocious! She physically assaulted Wanda, which led directly to her hitting her head and having a seizure!"

In an instant, I became the sole target of everyone's accusations, which caused the doctors, nurses, and even the patients and their families to turn to look at me, their eyes burning with contempt and rage.

"Oh, my goodness! She looks so innocent—who knew she could be so cold-hearted!"

"How could she shove her own classmate and steal her medicine? That's practically attempted murder!"

"That drill instructor even testified against her! How could it be anything but the truth?"

"That kind of person belongs behind bars!"

Upon hearing that, Victor instantly turned to me, his gaze hardening from fury into a lethal resolve. He closed the distance between us in a single step, snarling with gritted teeth, "It was you who pushed Wanda and snatched her medicine, huh?"

I shook my head in denial with everything I had, but my throat felt constricted, as if gripped by an unseen force. I tried to speak, but the only sound I could manage was a faint, pathetic wheeze.

Upon seeing me remain silent, Victor took it as a confession, his eyes turning bloodshot with rage. He gave a sharp, mirthless laugh before suddenly reaching out toward one of his bodyguards. "Very well, then!"

His bodyguard instantly handed him a baseball bat while the others moved in to restrain me.

"I don't think you'll be needing this arm anymore since you had the nerve to lay a hand on Wanda!" Victor barked as he raised the baseball bat and swung it toward my arm.

I stared in utter terror as I stood rooted to the spot, completely paralyzed by fear.

It was at that exact moment that the ER doors flew open, and Wanda charged out, covered in blood.

"Stop, Dad!" Wanda cried out in desperation, her trembling hand rising to point directly at Ella and Joseph. "Yvonne isn't the one who bullied me! It was both of them!"