Chapter 1

I took first place in the intercollegiate stock-trading contest, and the moment I got back to the dorm, the class president was waiting to block my way.

"You know better than I do how you got that title."

"Hand over your graduate-recommendation slot, and I'll keep quiet about all of it."

When my face stayed blank with confusion, he sneered again and again.

"If I didn't know the truth, I'd almost be fooled by that innocent little act of yours."

"But use your head. With a dirt-poor background like yours, how could you possibly win a stock-trading contest?"

The crowd around us kept growing, and his voice climbed right along with it.

"Behold, the number-one prodigy of our finance department. She got some stranger she picked up outside to win the contest for her."

The onlookers erupted, the jeers rolling in one after another, and a line of text drifted across my vision.

【Do not argue with him. He's already forged the evidence!】

【This is a trap. He wants to ruin your name and take your graduate-recommendation slot!】

That only made it stranger to me, because I didn't need the slot.

1

"Look how clean and pretty she is, and yet her methods are this filthy!"

"Never shows up to class, but somehow wins the stock contest? Nobody would buy that there's nothing shady going on."

"People like this are what's dragging the whole school down. She has to be punished, and hard!"

The class president, Francis Pruitt, turned to face everyone, his expression full of grief.

"Honestly, I didn't want to bring this up, since it concerns someone's reputation. But she stole the only graduate-recommendation slot our department has."

"We've all buried ourselves in books for over a decade. Are you really willing to lose it to dirty tricks like this?"

The crowd answered as one.

"No, we're not!"

"Expel her! Give the school back some clean air."

Francis raised a hand, and the crowd fell silent. He fixed a stern look on me.

"Annabel Henson, what do you have to say for yourself now?"

【Call the police right away. Get law enforcement involved, or he's got a whole string of moves lined up after this!】

【The second you start explaining, he'll throw the evidence out, pull in the Office of Student Affairs, and get the Registrar's Office to expel you!】

【Don't forget, he's a Student Council officer too. A lot of these people are his lackeys.】

I didn't know Francis well, but the floating messages had told me plenty.

Day to day, my life ran along three points: dorm, dining hall, library.

As for showing up to class, that happened maybe once a year.

"This graduate-recommendation slot, I'm not fighting for it for myself. I'm fighting for the students from poor families who keep climbing anyway."

Francis carried himself like a righteous man, without a trace of anything self-serving showing through.

"If someone like you gets that recommendation, then as a Student Council officer and the class president, I'd rather drop out of school on the spot!"

The words were barely out before everyone around him roared in agreement.

I looked at them and shook my head with a bitter smile.

"Since you've all gone this far, I suppose I have no choice but to admit it, is that it?"

Francis blinked, then quickly worked himself back into a fury.

"What kind of talk is that? Are you saying I'm framing you?"

He pulled out his phone and held it up high.

"Everyone, take a look. This is the evidence I gathered through some private channels……"

I was standing right in front of him, so I could see it even more clearly than the rest.

In the video, I sat at a table with several men in their fifties and sixties.

"Annabel, are you confident about the contest this time?"

"Professor Donaldson, do you even need to ask? For Annabel, a stock-trading contest is child's play."

"That may be, but if Annabel doesn't take first place, I'll start doubting the fairness of the whole contest."

"Rest assured, Professor Donaldson. Annabel will be just fine."

The video ended there. Francis put his phone away and pressed on with a cold snort.

"Annabel Henson, am I framing you?"

"Or maybe you'd like to explain to everyone why several executives from finance firms are going to bat for you."