Having secured a guaranteed university admission spot at the top university in the country, Tina Johnson started handing out expensive gifts to everyone at school, earning her praise from the others for her generosity.

I, on the other hand, couldn’t even bring myself to join in or lift my head to take in the scene before me. I had just turned in my application for the guaranteed university admission spot yesterday, but that day it was suddenly switched to Tina.

I wrapped myself tightly in my damp, foul-smelling clothes—the only ones I had—which were soaked because Tina had dumped dirty mop water on me yesterday. I then wiped the corner of my eyes, only to realize that I had been crying.

Those around me noticed my expression. Their faces then twisted into malicious grins as they started to ridicule me.

“It seems that Kiara is getting her just deserts!”

“It’s a good thing Tina found the evidence of her cheating in the competition. Otherwise, that guaranteed university admission spot would have fallen into that cheater’s hands.”

“I bet she cheated before this, too. She deserves to be relegated to the trash can!”

I merely listened in silence as their venomous insults rained down on me. I didn’t utter a single word. I had long grown accustomed to it, yet I could still feel a profound pain settling in my heart.

I desperately wanted to flee the classroom and avoid Tina, but then I was pushed down the stairs. In the end, blood started spreading across the floor, and through the haze of my fading consciousness, I noticed my mother, Karen Moore, rushing toward me in a panic.

I then noticed that she was looking at me as if she were looking at something utterly worthless before she turned to hug Tina. It looked as if she were grateful that Tina wasn’t the one who had fallen down the stairs.