Chapter 4

Anthony frowned.

"Meddling?"

He had never been turned down by a girl like this before, and for a moment he didn't know how to react.

I ignored him and walked up to Imogen, who was glaring at me. I grabbed her hand and used it to slap my own face.

The slap landed, and my tears fell too.

I choked out:

"I'm sorry, Imogen. Hit me. And after you're done, we can still be best friends, okay?"

Imogen's pupils shrank, and she hurriedly yanked her hand back.

"Sonia Fox, I won't fall for your trick! You're doing this on purpose to hurt me, to make Anthony hate me."

The next second, my wrist was seized.

By the time I registered it, Anthony had already pulled me behind him.

"I hate you, and that has nothing to do with Sonia Fox."

The moment he said it, Imogen looked ready to cry again.

"Anthony, how can you hate me? You even helped me carry my luggage this morning, and I really look up to you, I like you."

Anthony looked at her coldly.

"I was raised strictly, and everyone in my circle is an outstanding person. If I'd known what kind of person you are, I never would have helped you."

"What kind? What kind of person do you think I am, Anthony!"

Imogen shrieked hysterically.

"I already said I'm not a trashy girl! I don't like guys with bleached hair!"

"It has nothing to do with me."

Anthony turned away indifferently and pulled me along.

Imogen dropped to the ground and burst into loud sobs.

Anthony didn't spare her a single glance back.

We were silent the whole way.

Only once we reached the base of the dorm building did Anthony speak, quietly.

"Sonia, let me be clear first—I'm not meddling."

He hesitated, then said,

"From now on, keep your distance from Imogen, whether or not those things from her past are true."

"With how relentless she is, she'll hurt you sooner or later, you understand?"

I lowered my head and pretended to be upset, pinching at my fingers.

"Anthony, please don't talk about my friend that way."

"She's just a little impulsive. How could she hurt me?"

A sigh came from above me.

Anthony ruffled the top of my hair, his tone resigned.

"Never mind. I'll just keep a closer eye on you from now on."

Back in the dorm, my roommates all came to me for details about Imogen.

That was when I learned the rumors had already blown up on the campus network.

I opened my phone and saw the post about Imogen.

The title was: Stay away from trashy girls—good for your health and peace of mind.

Whoever posted it had also uploaded a high-resolution close-up headshot of Imogen.

The view count was skyrocketing, the replies kept piling up, all of them vividly detailed.

I posted a few comments defending her, only to draw a wave of attacks.

They said my values were messed up.

I put my phone down, satisfied.

From here I didn't have to do a thing—these rumors were enough to ruin Imogen.

The next day, Anthony showed me around campus.

Just as we reached the library, Imogen came up holding her phone in the air.

"Everyone, look—this is that trashy girl Sonia Fox I told you about."

"She used to like a guy with bleached hair and was always going to the OB-GYN. Her private life is a total mess."

Then she swung the camera back toward Anthony.

"And now Sonia's set her sights on our student council president, playing the innocent to seduce him."

I'd had a bad feeling a moment ago.

Now I was sure—she was going live online, spreading rumors about me to the whole internet.

Ruining me once apparently wasn't enough. Given it all over again, she'd only grown more unhinged.

My temper flared, and I lunged forward to grab her phone.

"Imogen, have you lost your mind?"

She darted a few steps away and turned the camera back on me, covering her mouth with a soft laugh.

"I called it—she's a trashy girl, and now she's humiliated and furious. So funny, hahaha."

Anthony immediately stepped in front of me, frowning at Imogen.

"Imogen, this is a crime. Do you even get that?"

The commotion quickly drew a crowd of onlookers.

Imogen only got more worked up.

That was exactly what she wanted—an eye for an eye, to make me become just like her.

"Everything I said is true, and I have proof, unlike Sonia Fox, who just makes things up."

As she spoke, she pulled some documents out of her bag and threw them at Anthony.

"Anthony, see for yourself."

Anthony glanced at me, then picked up the documents, half in doubt.

The first was full of intimate photos of me and a guy with bleached hair.

In a shabby rented room, I was nestled in his arms in my pajamas.

There was one of me with a hand on my belly, the guy pulling me toward a hospital.

The second document was a gynecology exam report.

The patient's name was mine.

I pressed my lips together, unable to speak for a moment.

A few people nearby craned their necks to see and clapped their hands over their mouths in shock.

Imogen came over and pointed the camera at the documents.

"Everyone, look. It's clearly her dating that bleached-hair guy. To chase Anthony, she pinned all this filth on me—I'm the one being slandered, made the scapegoat."

She looked at Anthony, her face full of sincerity.

"Anthony, yesterday she heard your family is rich, and she told me she was definitely going to lock you down."

Anthony stiffly turned his head and asked me too.

"Is all of this true?"

The people around me pulled out their phones to film me, and the scene descended into chaos.

Imogen ended the live stream, arched a triumphant eyebrow at me, and lowered her voice.

"You wanted to ruin me with rumors? Well, I can ruin you with rumors too! If we're going down, we're going down together!"

I clenched my fists.

So no matter what, she was determined to ruin me?

The students around us were fired up too, taking Imogen's side.

"Apologize to Imogen! Apologize to Imogen!"

Anthony pressed me, his voice cold.

"Sonia, I'm asking you—is it true?"

I wiped the sweat from my forehead and nodded.

"It's true."

Anthony lowered his head, crestfallen.

Imogen looked startled at first, then broke into a relieved smile.

Too bad she was celebrating far too soon.

I snatched the documents out of Anthony's hand and glanced over them again—in the bottom right corner of each were the faint words "AI-generated."

I took a deep breath and raised my voice.

"What I mean is—it's true that you committed a crime."

"Imogen, are you going to call the police and turn yourself in, or should I do it for you?"