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The day I returned to school to collect my transcript, I saw Elva. She stood in the shadows, her posture radiating tension as she looked at me, her expression a mixture of jealousy, confusion, and anger. I knew she had just seen the video of Jason, Rita, and me being interviewed. In the video, Rita had her arm around my shoulders while Jason chatted confidently with the rector, the rector frequently praising him on being both a successful businessman and a successful educator.At the end, the three of us took a family photo, looking like a perfect family straight out of a magazine ad. This was something Elva had never experienced before. She looked at me and said in a low, bitter voice, “What tricks did you use?” I shrugged. “Just study hard and excel–believe it or not?” With that, I turned and walked away. Elva definitely didn’t believe me. But ironically, that was the only solution.
I heard Elva saying softly behind me, “Even if you have Jason and Rita’s love, it won’t matter.” “Hardy loves me.” How typical -the perfect drama heroine script, isn’t it? Being with the male lead, even if parents disapprove, even if they have to fight the whole world, they’ll stay together forever. I wished her well.
Ten minutes later, I came face to face with the drama’s male lead himself. Hardy, followed by his gang of lackeys, cornered me in the hallway. By then, teachers and students had all left, leaving the building eerily empty. Even if I screamed for help, no one would hear me. Looking up, my heart sank. Even the security cameras had been disabled beforehand. This was premeditated.
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Hardy stood before me and said quietly, “Christine, time to wake up from your carp–to–dragon fantasy.” “Today, I’ll show you what happens to hypocrites.” Before he could even finish, one of his followers lunged forward, grabbed my hair, and slammed my head against the wall. With a loud thud, plaster dust scattered in the air. Despite seeing stars from the pain, I somehow found the strength to kick the guy hard between his legs. He let out an agonized scream and collapsed to the floor, his face contorted in pain.
Hardy’s expression changed. Just as he was about to signal the others to attack, I suddenly pulled out a wine bottle from my backpack. Jason had given it to me for a dinner gathering with classmates that evening. I smashed it against the wall, red liquid and glass shards flying everywhere. Then I held up the broken bottle, pointing its jagged edge toward the dozen or so boys.
“Come on!” I shouted. My hair was a complete mess, covered in dirty wall dust. Warm liquid flowed from my nose to my chin -blood, most likely. I didn’t know how deranged I looked, but clearly, these boys were all frightened enough to hesitate.
I wiped the blood from my nose and smiled. “Hypocrite? That’s rich coming from you, Hardy.” “Fine, I’m a hypocrite and you’re righteous.” “At least this hypocrite donated money and saved lives. What about our righteous Mr. Gu? Who has ever benefited from your help?” “Oh wait, just your precious little flower, right?”
In the distance, Elva bit her lip and tried to hide. She didn’t need to–I’d spotted her long ago. Hardy was here to teach me a
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lesson for her; how could she miss the show?
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Blood continued to flow from my nose, impossible to wipe clean, so I stopped trying. Looking at Hardy and the dozen people behind him, I smiled calmly. “Hardy, since you brought so many people and made such a big scene, you’d better make sure I don’t leave here alive today.” “Because,” my smile vanished, “if you let me walk out of here breathing, I swear I’ll drag you down to hell with me.”
Hardy’s face paled. As Elva once said, Jason was an honorary board member, and the Brook family was powerful. When Hardy bullied students at school, many teachers turned a blind eye as long as nothing serious happened. But murder at school? Hardy didn’t have the guts for that. He stared at me and eventually said in a low voice, “A scheming girl like you–death would be too easy.”
I laughed loudly. “You think this is scheming? Want to know what real scheming looks like?” Looking at Hardy, a thrilling sense of satisfaction washed over me. Finally, I could tell him.
I enunciated each word clearly: “The. Reporter. Investigating. The. Bullying. Incident. Was. Brought. In. By. Me.”
In an instant, both Hardy and Elva’s pupils dilated.
“Why do you think it was such a coincidence? One casual mention of bullying, and immediately a reporter visiting the school overheard it?” I smiled, pointing at myself. “Because I was the one who brought that reporter here.”
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“I wrote anonymous letters to several newspapers, reporting serious bullying at Mistwood High. This kind of story would make front–page headlines if true, so they were bound to send someone to investigate.”
“I knew with Elva’s one–track mind, after I removed her from the dance performance, she would almost certainly run to you claiming I was bullying her.”
“It was perfect timing–she crying to you on one side, reporters conducting their undercover investigation on the other. They were naturally going to investigate me.”
“Of course, I had prepared everything I needed to prove my innocence.”
“But Hardy, think about it. After the reporters discovered it was a misunderstanding and I wasn’t the bully, would they just drop it or continue their investigation?”
Hardy’s face suddenly drained of all color. I smiled. “Get it now? The entire incident was something I orchestrated for you.”
“Even if only two of those seven or eight reporters are still investigating, that’s enough to cause you serious trouble.”
“You heard what the Education Bureau Director said–he despises bullying. If your bullying incidents come to light, even your father won’t be able to protect you.”
“See? This, Mr. Gu, is what real scheming looks like.” I finished with a sweet smile. Hardy’s face turned ashen with rage, while
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the boys around him were visibly losing their composure:
“What do we do, Gu? Are the reporters still in the school?”
“If they find us here, we’re finished.”
“If this gets on record, it’ll follow us for life.”
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These boys were mostly from ordinary families. They dared to follow Hardy’s lead in his cruelty only because they believed his powerful connections would protect them from consequences. But the scene with the reporters in the conference room that day was enough to frighten anyone–even I, at least nominally a daughter of the Brook family, had nearly had my reputation completely destroyed.Not to mention others. I orchestrated the whole thing–killing the chicken to scare the monkeys. I was investigated for fake bullying, but the real target of intimidation was Hardy.
“So, dear brother, please take good care of me, look after me, and support my work at the Brook Group.” I leaned closer to Hardy, smiling sweetly. “Otherwise, I’ll take the entire Brook Family down with me.”
My smile vanished instantly as I pressed the broken bottle against Hardy’s neck before walking away. No one tried to stop me. Only Elva’s tearful voice echoed behind me:
“Zhiyue, how could you just let her leave like that…”
Hardy’s cold, furious voice responded: “Get out.”
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