Chapter 3

My calmness obviously made a few people even more annoyed.

The next day, my desk was covered in all sorts of insulting words, scrawled everywhere with a paint marker.

My books were torn to shreds and strewn across the floor.

Even worse, someone had spat in my cup.

When I walked into the classroom and saw the mess, the whole class went dead silent.

Everyone was staring at me, with all kinds of looks on their faces.

Some with sympathy, some gloating, some afraid.

Vivian sat at her desk, head down, shoulders shaking a bit, looking terrified.

Ethan stood beside her, frowning at me, his gaze unreadable.

I didn't say anything. I quietly walked over and started cleaning up the mess.

Ryan had had enough. He slammed his hand on the desk and stood up. "Who did this? If you've got the guts, show yourself!"

No one said a word.

A shy girl sitting behind me nervously tugged at my sleeve. "Emma, when I came in this morning, I saw... I saw Vivian by your desk..."

Before she could finish, Vivian suddenly burst into tears. "It wasn't me, I swear! I just wanted to help you pick up your books. I saw them on the floor..."

She was sobbing so hard that she could barely breathe, like she'd been wronged by the whole world.

Ethan gently wrapped his arms around her, murmuring comfort.

Then Ethan looked up at me, disappointment written all over his face. "Emma, I get that you're still mad, but you can't take it out on Vivian, and you definitely shouldn't go as far as hurting yourself to set her up."

My hand paused.

Hurting myself to set her up?

I looked up at Ethan, and for a second, the guy I'd known for twenty years felt like a total stranger.

What kind of logic was that? How did he even come up with this kind of nonsense?

"Ethan," I said calmly, "is that really how you see me? Am I just some despicable person in your eyes?"

He was caught off guard by my question. His lips moved, but he couldn't get a word out.

Right, what could he possibly say?

If he said yes, he'd have to admit he'd been blind for twenty years, trusting someone so cruel.

If he said no, he'd be slapping himself in the face, admitting everything he just said was bullshit.

Looking at his embarrassed face, I suddenly felt like this whole thing was pointless.

Why bother arguing with someone who had lost his brain and conscience?

I tossed the rag aside, pulled out my phone, and called our homeroom teacher. "Hello, Mr. Ward. It's Emma. Someone deliberately vandalized my desk. My books are shredded, and there are insults scrawled all over my desk.

"This is malicious, and it's definitely bullying. Yes, I'm in the classroom right now. I think we need to call the police and check the security cameras."

My voice wasn't loud, but in the dead silence of the classroom, every word rang out clear as day.

Vivian suddenly paused, her crying coming to an abrupt halt.

She snapped her head up, wide-eyed and terrified, her face white as a sheet.

Ethan froze as well, clearly caught off guard. He didn't expect me to call the cops and demand the footage right away.

I hung up and looked at them, totally at ease. "Don't worry. The cops and Mr. Ward will be here any minute. Once we check the security footage, it'll be obvious who did this.

"And when that happens, it won't be as simple as just saying sorry."

I flashed a dazzling smile at Vivian, whose face was ghostly pale. "Isn't that right, Vivian?"

Our homeroom teacher, William Ward, showed up in no time, with Jack Jones, the dean, right behind him.

When they saw the disaster at my desk, their expressions turned grim.

"What the hell is going on here?" Jack, a bald guy in his fifties with a short fuse, roared, making the whole class flinch.

I calmly recounted what happened, making sure to stress that this was "bullying" and that it was "malicious".

William pushed up his glasses and scanned the class. "Did anyone see who did this?"

The classroom was dead silent.

The girl behind me kept her head down, not daring to say a word.

I understood. Nobody wanted to stir up trouble.

Jack snorted. "No one's talking, huh? Fine. Let's go to the security office and check the footage."

At those words, Vivian visibly shivered.

Ethan's expression soured.

He rushed over, speaking in a low voice. "Emma, let's not make a big deal out of this. If things get out of hand, it'll be bad for everyone. Just let her say sorry and we'll call it even, alright?"

Ethan was doing it again, trying to sweep everything under the rug.

I looked at him, any warmth in my eyes gone. "Ethan, are you begging me?"

He looked caught off guard, like he never expected that question. "I... I just don't want things to get out of hand."

"So, is it that you don't want things to blow up, or are you just scared your sweetheart will get caught, get punished, and end up embarrassed?" I called him out, no holding back.

His face flushed bright red. "What nonsense are you saying? Vivian and I are just friends."

"Oh, just friends, huh?" I nodded. "So, such a friend is worth you guilt-tripping me again and again? Ethan, do you really think we're all blind?"

"I..."

"Move away," I said, not wasting another breath on him. "Get out of my way. I'm getting to the bottom of this."

Ethan's fists were clenched tight, but after a moment, he unwillingly moved out of my way.