Chapter 8

The once-lively café was now filled with nothing but Anna's sobbing.

"This is outrageous. We have to find whoever framed you," Jessica said, her expression turning serious as she opened her laptop.

"Jessica, don't worry. I'll tell Mom and Dad about this as soon as I get home and have them help track down whoever did this!" Anna said, wiping her tears — just enough to hide the triumphant smile flashing in her eyes.

"Besides the account information, I also happened to find the most recent login time and IP address for this account. The last login was at 9:40 last night. As for the location..."

She paused with a puzzled frown, looked up at Anna, and said, "The login came from Villa No. 3, Harmony Heights, Starlight City. Isn't that your house?"

The moment Jessica said that, the room erupted.

Most students at this school came from wealthy families with deep-rooted connections — they knew enough about each other to realize instantly that Anna was lying.

"I..." Anna's face turned beet red. She couldn't get a single complete sentence out.

"Could it be that the person who framed you is actually someone from the Whitmore family? That's definitely something the police should look into." Jessica put on a look of sudden realization, though her tone dripped with mockery.

Anna glanced around the room, watching the image she had so carefully built begin to crumble. Her body swayed, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted on the spot.

The sudden turn of events threw the room into chaos. The police were at a loss and had no choice but to wait for Anna to regain consciousness before continuing the investigation.

Jessica stood in the crowd, watching expressionlessly as Anna was lifted onto a stretcher.

One thing after another. By the time Jessica finished giving her statement and left the police station, it was late. Thin clouds veiled the moon, leaving only a faint ring of light hanging in the sky.

On her way back to school, she was turning her next move over in her mind when her phone buzzed with a message from an unknown number. She opened it to find a list of participants for the domestic qualifier of the International Youth Physics Competition — and Anna's name stood out immediately.

Jessica blinked, then couldn't help but smirk. So even without taking her spot, the Whitmore family had found another way to get Anna into the competition.

A second message quickly followed from the same unknown number.

[The Whitmore family didn't get her the spot directly. Miguel bribed the organizers using project funds from his internship company.]

Jessica stared at the words on the screen, her fingers slowly curling tight.

No wonder Miguel seemed even more anxious than the Whitmore family. He had already tied himself to Anna's ship long ago.

Thinking back to how things had ended in her past life, Jessica felt a deep pang of indignation on her own behalf.

Walking back to the dorms, she was studying the unknown number, debating whether to probe the sender's identity, when a pair of hands suddenly yanked her into the shadows.

Her heart lurched. She was just about to fight back when she found herself staring straight into Miguel's eyes, burning with resentment.

"Jessica! You've gone way too far this time!"

"This afternoon, in front of everyone, you deliberately went after Anna. You knew she wasn't well and couldn't handle that kind of stress, and you still brought the police in to back you up. She's lucky she's okay — otherwise we wouldn't be done here!"

"The whole school is talking about her now. She's been crying all afternoon and didn't even eat dinner!"

Picturing Anna waking up with tear-filled eyes and clutching his sleeve as she sobbed about being wronged, Miguel's face softened with concern — while the disgust in his eyes when he looked at Jessica only deepened.

He didn't give her a chance to speak, launching straight into an attack. "When did you become so vicious? You've really let me down!"

Jessica looked at his face, twisted with rage, and found it more pathetic than anything else. She spoke calmly. "You're absolutely right. I held Anna's hand and forced her to post those lies on the forum myself — just to get the school to punish me, even risk going to jail for filing a false report — all to set her up."

"Drop the sarcasm! You need to be taught a lesson. You're coming with me right now to get on your knees and apologize to Anna, and then you're going to post on the school forum admitting that you staged the whole thing today!"

Miguel grabbed Jessica's arm and started pulling her along. "This whole mess started because of you. You have to take responsibility and clear Anna's name."

Caught off guard, Jessica stumbled several steps as he dragged her. "I'm not going anywhere! Let go of me."

"You're going whether you want to or not!"

Miguel had no regard for her at all. His grip was iron-tight, and the pain made Jessica's brow furrow. She warned him one more time. "Miguel. I'm telling you one last time — let go. Or I won't hold back."

"You? Really?" Miguel didn't take her threat seriously for a second. He even let out a contemptuous laugh. He was just turning back to snap at her when Jessica landed a hook square on his face and sent him crashing to the ground.

Warm liquid poured from his nose. Miguel lay on the ground, too dazed with pain to get up, staring at her in disbelief. "You — you actually hit me."

"I hit you. So what? Did I need to pick a special occasion?" Jessica looked down at him, her voice cold, her eyes so detached it sent a chill straight through him.

It planted a terrifying thought in Miguel's mind — Jessica really might not love him anymore.

No. That was impossible.

"I've already explained myself. Anna and I are nothing. But since you refuse to believe me and insist on hurting people, there's nothing I can do. You brought this on yourself!"

Miguel hauled himself off the ground in a sorry state, smearing the blood from his face, and ground out each word through clenched teeth. "If you won't clear her name, I'll take you to court for assault. By then, forget the competition — you might not even keep your enrollment. Go ahead and wait to get expelled!"

Their eyes locked. Jessica couldn't help but laugh at herself for underestimating just how low Miguel could go.

As the two of them stood at a standoff, a sharp, clear sound of clapping broke the silence from nearby. A low, unhurried voice drifted closer — smooth and rich, like the warm resonance of a cello. "Looks like I arrived at just the right moment. Quite a show — the guilty one pointing the finger."

The night was deep, a light breeze stirring the branches, as a figure slowly emerged from the shadows.