Chapter 2

Zoey's POV

The next morning, the second I walked through the school gates, I knew something was wrong.

As soon as people spotted me, they immediately lowered their heads to whisper to whoever was next to them. Someone even held up their phones, aiming them at me, only to yank them down the moment I lifted my gaze.

On my way to my classroom, I walked past the stairwell where two young ladies were fervently gossiping about something. The moment they saw me, they immediately lowered their voices, though their eyes kept darting toward my face.

I reached my desk and set my backpack down, only to notice the lines written in chalk on the surface of my desk.

"Ungrateful wretch."

"Hates seeing others do well."

"Jealous of her stepbrother."

Every single word had been written with a lot of pressure, as if the person who wrote them was afraid no one would see them.

I stood there and stared at them for a few seconds. Then, I pulled out a tissue from my bag, dampened it with a little water, and wiped them away. My deskmate shifted their desk aside, as if they were afraid of being dragged into trouble.

Just then, Ms. Hill appeared at the door. "Come with me to the office, Zoey," she called out. I zipped up my backpack and followed her out.

When the office door swung open, the first person I spotted was Ian. He was standing by the window, his expression even more grim than it had been yesterday.

His wife, Elena Moore, was sitting in a chair, her eyes red-rimmed as she clutched a tissue in her hand. Eugene stood right beside her with his head lowered, as though he had suffered great injustice.

Ms. Hill held her phone out in front of me. "Take a look at this."

Late last night, an anonymous post had popped up on the school forum. The title of the post was incredibly direct, and the content was even more so.

It claimed that Eugene wasn't Ian's biological son, yet he was hogging all the resources because Ian was spending money to pave the way for him. It also implied that Ian had abandoned his ex-wife and biological daughter just to turn around and raise someone else's kid.

Even though the post had been deleted almost instantly, the screenshots had already gone viral across the school.

Ian stared at me and asked, "Did you post it?"

I pushed the phone back toward Ms. Hill. "No."

Elena immediately wiped away her tears, her voice trembling. "I know you feel slighted, Zoey, but Eugene hasn't done anything wrong."

I didn't say a word.

There were two other teachers in the office. After hearing that, they couldn't help but take Elena's side as well. "She's right. If you have a problem with Mr. Smith, you should talk to him about it privately. Don't post it on the forum and air out your dirty laundry in school."

As soon as their words sank in, I only found it utterly ridiculous.

I hadn't done a thing, yet everyone had already assumed that I was the most suspicious person because, in their eyes, Ian was rich and powerful, whereas I was merely an ordinary student who was about to drop out of school.

Hence, the truth no longer mattered. Pinning the blame on me seemed like their safest bet.

I looked up and asked Ian directly, "What exactly do I stand to benefit from posting this? I'm here to finalize my withdrawal from school today. Why on earth would I waste my time watching the three of you play a happy family?"

The moment the word "withdrawal" left my mouth, everyone in the office froze.

Ms. Hill frowned. "Isn't your withdrawal application still pending approval?"

I didn't respond. I merely tightened my grip on my backpack strap.

Ian, however, looked as though he had just seized the smoking gun. He stared at me and asked lowly, "So, you did post it on purpose. Are you pretending to drop out of school to make me feel sorry for you? Your mother was always good at playing the victim, and now you're doing the same thing."

I whipped my head up to glare at him. This single sentence felt like a needle, piercing straight into my heart.

The emotions I had bottled up for a day and a night overflowed at that moment. "If she was really as good an actress as you claim, she wouldn't have been conned so brutally by you back then!"

In an instant, the office fell radio silent.

Ms. Hill's expression shifted. She parted her lips as if she wanted to intervene, but Ian raised his hand and stopped her.

His expression darkened inch by inch, his eyes boring holes into me. He turned to the teachers in the office and asked, "Could you please step out for a moment? This is a family matter."

Ms. Hill hesitated for a moment, but she ultimately left with the others.

The moment the door clicked shut, only the three of us were left in the room. My bad, Eugene was also here. He stood beside Elena with his head hung low and his hands clenched tightly.

Ian closed the distance between us and growled, "When exactly are you going to stop throwing these tantrums, Zoey?"

I almost laughed when I heard that. "I'm throwing a tantrum? What did I even do? Did I write that post, or did I beg you to acknowledge me as your daughter yesterday?

"Let's get one thing straight—I came here today to quietly pull out of school. You're the ones who cornered me in this office first thing in the morning, hellbent on pinning all the blame on me!"

Ian's brows knitted. "If you hadn't been pulling the strings behind the scenes, Eugene would never have found out about these things."

I looked up at him, questioning him. "So, in your eyes, the truth itself doesn't actually matter. What matters is who exposed it?"

Ian froze.

Realizing the situation was turning against them, Elena immediately rose to her feet and looked at me with teary eyes.

"Zoey, I've never wanted to steal anyone's place, nor did I ever want you to drop out of school. If you're really struggling financially, I can sponsor you privately. But I beg of you, please stop targeting Eugene. He doesn't know anything, and he has never harmed a soul!"

I looked at her. The way she said that sounded exactly the same as it had been five years ago.

Back then, she had also stood behind the crowd, clutching her stomach and claiming she couldn't be triggered. Ian had immediately turned around to comfort her without sparing so much as a single glance for Mom and me.

The corners of my lips tugged up. "Isn't this your favorite trick, using your child as your human shield? You used it five years ago, and you're using it again right now."