1

"Did you do it on purpose?" Laura Scott folded her arms and stared at me, her pretty, clean shoes kicking my stomach.

Her friends joined in, saying, "Melanie Sheldon definitely did it on purpose, for sure. We warned her just before the test, but she intentionally snatched the first-place position. I'm telling you, she's only trying to take the top spot from Miss Scott."

I brushed off their comments.

They were abusing their authority and influence.

Before the exams, they confronted me and gave me a serious talk.

I didn't pay it much mind, and after the exams, I still held the first-place position.

And that's how we ended up in this situation today.

She ordered her friends to drag me into the restroom where they splashed dirty water on me and slapped my face. They tore my exam papers to bits and scattered them over my head.

"What's your problem? Unhappy about it, but do you dare to resist? Do you even have the means to defy us? Do you know where you are? It's the prestigious school in this city, and my dad is a shareholder in the school," she sneered, bending slightly to take a stack of money from her bag and lightly patting it against my face.

"Compensation, remember to behave next time."

Her friends, still unsatisfied, waited until Laura left and snatched the money from my hand, dividing it among themselves before subjecting me to more punches and kicks.

I stared at them coldly, not wanting to provoke further trouble.

I had just transferred to this school earlier this year.

For some reason, my mom insisted on sending me to this prestigious school, even though we couldn't afford it.

Luckily, the school offered subsidies for top-performing students, but only the top three students in each exam received financial rewards exempting them from tuition fees.

Without the exemption, the annual tuition here was three hundred thousand.

My mom couldn't afford that.

When I returned home, my mom didn't seem to care about my disheveled appearance.

"Where did you get all dirty like this? It annoys me just looking at you. Go clean up and don't stand here disturbing me while I'm watching TV," she said.

I clenched my fist and asked, "Don't you care at all why I ended up like this?"

She munched on chips, constantly changing the channels until she stopped on a news channel.

"Famous businessman Peter Scott is about to celebrate his daughter's birthday..."

I unplugged the power cord.

"What are you doing? Are you courting death!?"

She got so angry just because I unplugged it.

"Do you even realize that it's because of you? I was doing fine at my previous school, why did you insist on transferring me to this prestigious school? You couldn’t even afford the tuition fees, and do you know they bully me at school? I want to transfer back to my old school."

She plugged the power back in and then gave me a slap.

It was much louder than the slaps in the restroom, and I felt an instant, burning pain and shame.

"Bullied you? Why are you the only one getting bullied? Melanie Sheldon, I've taught you to find reasons within yourself, rather than blaming others. You lack tolerance, not at all like a girl should be. Now, go to your room and study. Your presence annoys me," she scolded.

Back in my room, my tears finally couldn't be held back any longer.

I come from a single-parent family, and she raised me all by herself.

But she treated me terribly, frequently scolding and hitting me, as if nothing I did was ever good enough for her.

When I got hurt, she didn't care.

When I had a cold, she didn't care.

When I was hungry or cold, she still didn't care.

But I still yearned for a mother's love and would instinctively try to please her, even if it meant enduring her insults and mockery repeatedly.

Just now, for the first time, I truly felt disappointed.

I wouldn't beg for her love anymore.

If she wanted me to remain at that prestigious school, that's fine. I wouldn't strive to be the top student anymore, it wasn't necessary.

If the school required tuition fees, she could handle it, and if it came to that, I wouldn't mind even if they expelled me.

"Come out and have dinner."

My mom habitually offered me a treat after mistreating me. In the past, I endured her disapproval just for that one treat.

But now, I wasn't willing.

Why should I keep enduring this over and over again?

"I'm not hungry."

As soon as those words left my mouth, she exploded.

"I work hard to prepare a meal for you, and you won't eat it? What do you want to eat? Street food? Or those unsanitary fast food places? Forget it! I can't afford to feed you junk like that. If you won't eat, then starve. I've been lenient with you enough. Show me which daughter dares to speak to her parents like this."

I covered my ears and hid under the blanket to read.

I locked the door, and she cursed and grumbled outside for about ten minutes before leaving, banging the dishes and cutlery as she went.

Surprisingly, I fell asleep as soon as I lay down.

The next day, the alarm clock rang, and I got up to get ready for school.

On my way to school, I always bumped into a teenager selling breakfast. He wore a faded shirt, jeans, and a pair of black canvas shoes.

"I'll have a cup of milk and a sandwich, please," I said.

The teenager moved quickly, calculated the money, and handed it to me.

"Aren't you going to school?" I asked.

I took the breakfast from him with a slight smile. He pulled out an egg from the side and offered it to me.

"Huh? I don't want the egg, I don't like to eat it," I replied.

He gestured toward my face. I had left home in a hurry and forgotten to wear a mask, and one side of my face was quite swollen.

"Are you suggesting I should put it on my face?" I asked.

He nodded, and I realized that in all the time I'd been coming here, I had never heard him speak a single word.

I didn't even know if he went to school or not.

Our only interaction was during this morning breakfast exchange.

It was unexpected to see how caring he could be.

"Thank you. I'm off to school," I said.

The classroom was empty, almost deserted.

Most of the students in the class came from wealthy or influential backgrounds.

They didn't bother with early or late study periods.

There were only one or two students who showed up for early self-study periods, and I sat at the back, quietly starting to read.

Gradually, the classroom started to fill up with students.

Laura walked in, wearing a cheerful smile, accompanied by the class monitor.

She had a crush on the class monitor for a while, but the class monitor liked me instead. He once confessed his feelings to me, but I rejected him.

That rejection seemed to have fueled her anger towards me.

Grades were one of the reasons she disliked me, but what she really hated was that the class monitor had feelings for someone like me.

"Hey, isn't this our top student? What were you doing last night? Your face is so swollen. I heard some older men have unusual tastes, don't they? Haha."

Her friends joined in the laughter, and it was all very unpleasant to hear.

The class monitor looked at me with a surprised expression, as if he couldn't believe I could do such a thing.

"Melanie is just that kind of person. Otherwise, why would she even be here? She's not well-off, dressed modestly. If it weren't for dating an older man, how could she attend our school? She's only got a pretty face."

The classroom was abuzz with conversation, all of it aimed at me, spreading rumors.

I had initially wanted to calm things down, but I hadn't expected them to become even more relentless.