Chapter 4

I froze and asked back:

"Are you sure it was me?"

He looked at me for a long while, nodded, then shook his head.

"That night I had some drinks with other teachers at a gathering. I think I ran into you outside the hotel. You seemed like you wanted to get close to me..."

I rolled my eyes internally. At the time, I had just felt sympathetic, seeing him about to collapse and preparing to help him up.

Gasps filled the room.

"It's confirmed---she got those scores by using her body."

"If Lily didn't have some followers, this matter would probably have been swept under the rug."

"It's too hard for ordinary people to speak up."

The judge spoke.

"Sophia Smith, regarding Lily's claim that you obtained high scores through improper relationships, do you admit it?"

I shook my head.

"No."

The gallery erupted in murmurs, all telling me to stop struggling.

Lily symbolically shed two tears, her voice choking up.

"Sophia, we've known each other for three years. I don't want to see you go to prison. As long as you apologize, I'll plead for you. Although you won't be able to go to college, you can do other things, or just live off your family---you're rich anyway. Please leave us ordinary people alone..."

After listening to her finish, I slowly spoke.

"But this doesn't prove I had relations with him and made him alter my scores. Besides, the hotel has records---I stayed alone."

"Professor Miller, did I sleep with you that night and have you change my scores?"

Hearing this, Professor Miller quickly waved his hands.

"I would never have relations with a student. Although I drank that night and wasn't clear-headed, I was definitely alone!"

"The arts exam is scored jointly by several teachers. It's impossible for one teacher's score change to matter!"

But everyone present showed expressions of disbelief.

They thought he was trying to cover it up.

Finally, he was sent back to the witness seat.

Seeing this, Lily covered her face and sobbed.

"Since you're so obstinate, I can't care about our friendship anymore."

"Emma Sweet, you tell them!"

Emma Sweet walked up from the witness stand, looking at me with provocation in her eyes.

I knew her.

She was that friend who always resented my sister for being better than her despite coming from a poor family.

She even took my sister's kindness as malice and ostracized her, causing my usually sunny sister to become gloomy for a while.

Later, after my guidance, my sister came out of it and distanced herself from this toxic friend.

She addressed the judge:

"I'm her best friend. I personally saw her dance terribly in dance class. Her coordination was awful---she would always step on herself and fall flat on her face."

"Even classmates asked me if she had just started learning, and told me to ask her why she was only starting so close to the arts exam---she'd never pass."

I scoffed. My sister had danced very well in class with her before. Only after becoming mentally exhausted and not wanting to attend class with Emma, but also not wanting to waste the tuition, did she have me go instead.

That's how this scene came about.

The judge asked me:

"Do you agree?"

I nodded.

"What she said is indeed me."

"But I..."