Chapter 37
“I
Ignoring Aurelia’s pale and stricken face, Valerie leaned close and whispered in her ear, promise the trending post about you will trend so hard that no amount of paid cleanup will bury it.”
Aurelia had never feared anything, but Valerie’s words sent a chill down her spine.
“How do I ensure you won’t double–cross me after that?” she asked, feigning courage.
Valerie sneered. “You’re in no position to negotiate.”
And after checking the time on her phone, she added, “Starting now, you have 50 minutes left.
“I
Aurelia’s mind blanked. She was indeed the one who’d posted the viral photo anonymously on the campus forum. A classmate who knew she disliked Valerie had run into the latter near Azure Bay last night and taken the photo.
When Aurelia asked for details about who Valerie had been with, the classmate said it was a man who looked polished and professional, though his face wasn’t clear in the dark.
Inspired, she wrote a scandalous story, shaming Valerie for being the mistress of some tycoon. The photo was enough to turn it into the truth, and soon, Valerie was trending for all the wrong reasons.
Although Aurelia wanted Valerie ruined, the former hadn’t expected the truth to be exposed and the plan to backfire so quickly.
To appease Valerie, Aurelia posted an apology video at lightning speed.
In the video, she tearfully admitted she’d fabricated the rumor out of jealousy. She said that she’d been driven by anger after Valerie was crowned the campus queen this year, and in a rash moment, crossed the line.
The reason she’d been so quick to clarify for Valerie was that guilt had hit her. Now, she realized it was wrong to have picked on a classmate like that.
Her repentance seemed sincere, as she repeatedly praised Valerie for being a kind and beautiful student inside and out.
The apology video instantly caused a sensation on the campus forum. One moment, everyone had been privately debating if Valerie was a kept mistress. In the next, the very person who started the rumor had cleared her name.
Aurelia’s close friends secretly asked if she’d been threatened into posting an apology video.
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Terrified that the situation might escalate, she earnestly explained to everyone who asked in concern, “No one threatened me. Valerie’s the victim here. My jealousy got the best of me and drove me into doing something so foolish in a moment of impulse.”
She was far more afraid of the video of her partying with drugs getting leaked than of being shunned by her peers. A scandal on campus was survivable, but legal trouble was not.
As Aurelia’s apology video went viral, the narrative shifted. Soon, Valerie was labeled as a
victim of slander.
Aurelia texted her afterward. “Happy now?”
After glancing at the message, Valerie deleted it without replying.
The rumor storm blew over almost as quickly as it’d begun. Both Owen and Yvette reached out with sympathetic words, but Valerie brushed them off with curt replies.
She’d barely slept the night before, and by afternoon, she was slumped at her desk in the back
row, dozing off. When she finally woke up, most of the students had left.
Rubbing her eyes, she stretched into a yawn and noticed something in her peripheral vision. On the corner of her desk was a Lone Wolf badge with a note tucked underneath.
When she opened it, there was a line written in sharp handwriting. “Meet me at the school’s back gate now.”
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Chapter 38
