Part 1 There were only two low-income students in our class: Lily and me. My family was struggling financially, but my grades were excellent, which qualified me for a significant scholarship. Because of this, I gave up my spot for the need-based grant, letting Lily have it. I never imagined that at the financial aid assembly, she would publicly accuse me of discriminating against her, claiming I used the grant to insult her dignity. Almost immediately, a post attacking me went viral on the school forum. Everyone was calling me a bully who picked on poor students. She demanded compensation for "emotional distress." The school revoked my scholarship eligibility, and my family was forced to drain all our savings to pay her off. To make up for the lost money, my mother had to take on grueling shifts at a construction site day and night. She eventually collapsed from sheer exhaustion and passed out. After falling into a deep depression, I dropped out of school. Desperate to make ends meet, I worked night shifts. One rainy night, I was cornered and killed by a group of street thugs. When I opened my eyes again, I had been reborn. My teacher's voice snapped me back to reality: "Class President, this application form..." I didn't wait for her to finish. I snatched the form from her hand and quickly signed my name. ... Ms. Lee froze for a second, clearly not expecting this reaction. "Chloe, what are you doing...?" I looked up. The suffocating despair from my past life had crystallized into absolute, cold clarity. "Ms. Lee, my family's financial situation meets the criteria for this grant. I'm submitting this application." The classroom instantly fell silent. Several pairs of surprised eyes turned toward me. I could distinctly feel a piercing gaze burning into the back of my head from the left. It was Lily. The same girl I had yielded the grant to in my past life, the one who eventually pushed me into the abyss. Her eyes flashed with a barely concealed irritation, as if I had just stolen something that rightfully belonged to her. Ms. Lee gave a relieved nod. "Alright, Chloe. I'm glad you decided to step up and apply. Get your documentation together and bring it to me." In my past life, Ms. Lee had urged me to sign this exact form. But back then, I thought my scholarship was enough. Overflowing with misplaced empathy, I stepped aside for Lily. That decision ultimately left me drowning in debt and cost me my entire family. When the bell rang, Lily walked over to my desk. Her eyes were red-rimmed, playing the part of someone who had suffered a massive injustice but was bravely holding back tears. "But Class President, you promised you were going to let me have the grant this time..." She spoke with such pathetic fragility, perfectly positioning herself as the helpless victim. I cut her off immediately. "Lily, I did ask you privately if you wanted me to help you apply for the grant." I paused deliberately. "But when I asked you, didn't you shake your head and firmly reject my offer?" "I respected your choice at the time. I assumed you genuinely didn't need it. It was only after you explicitly turned it down that I decided to apply for it myself." Lily clearly hadn't anticipated that I would so accurately recall her moment of "fake pride." "No, that's not true! You knew I was just too embarrassed to accept it directly. How can you back out now and make me look bad?" I stared at her frantic, crumbling facade. "Lily, let me reiterate. I simply asked if you needed help, and you explicitly said no." But almost immediately, Lily's tears began to fall. As expected, a few classmates who were friendly with her couldn't stand by and watch. "Chloe, that's kind of messed up, don't you think?" one girl spoke up first. "We all know a bit about Lily's situation. She has a younger brother, and her family is really struggling. Didn't you say you were going to let her have it?" "Yeah," a guy chimed in, shooting me a condemning look. "Besides, you're the Class President. You're supposed to look out for your classmates. Snatching the spot and then cornering her like this... that's really uncalled for." "Exactly. Chloe, you're in the wrong here. Lily just cares about her pride, that's why she wears knockoff brands. We all know her family is broke." A chorus of agreement echoed around the room. Suddenly, all the arrows were pointing at me. Lily stood to the side, her head bowed, looking even more small and defenseless. Facing these accusations, I didn't panic and scramble to defend myself like I did in my past life. I just watched them quietly. I waited until the chatter died down slightly before speaking again: "To be honest, I don't even recognize the brands Lily wears. Growing up, I've never had the opportunity to be around authentic designer items." My voice was calm. I was merely stating a fact. "You all know her family is struggling. You all know she might be wearing knockoffs. But I didn't. To me, the things she uses look expensive, and I don't even understand the topics she talks about." The classmates who had just been defending Lily were suddenly speechless. Lily was rendered completely mute by my response. Suddenly, she jerked up from her seat and wildly swept her arm across her desk. Crash! Her textbooks and pencil case scattered all over the floor. The next second, she threw herself onto her desk and began sobbing loudly, acting as if she had suffered the greatest injustice in the world. "Lily, please don't cry." "Quick, help her pick her stuff up." The group that had been defending her immediately swarmed her, crouching down in a flurry to gather her scattered belongings. And naturally, I became the villain in their eyes. The bell rang for the next class. Just as the math teacher stepped through the door, Lily abruptly stood up. Without a word, she covered her face and bolted out of the classroom without looking back. "Hey, what's going on with Lily?" The math teacher was taken aback by the sudden drama, looking confusedly at the class. A few students shot me subtle, accusatory glances. "What do you think? The Class President stole her financial aid spot, so she ran off crying..." The math teacher's gaze immediately fell on me. I stood up. "Mr. Harris, I didn't steal anything from anyone. If she wants the grant, she can go to the homeroom teacher and apply for it herself. Does being the Class President mean I lose my right to apply for financial aid?" Mr. Harris paused, clearly not wanting to get dragged into classroom drama. He waved his hand dismissively. "Alright, alright, settle down. Your homeroom teacher will handle this. If you want the grant, apply through her. Now, let's start the lesson!" However, halfway through the class, Ms. Lee, our homeroom teacher, appeared at the door and signaled me. "Chloe, come to my office." I knew exactly what this was about. Lily was pulling another stunt. As soon as I walked into the office, the atmosphere was suffocating. Lily was there, as expected, her eyes red and swollen from crying. But her carefully applied "no-makeup" makeup was gone, and the delicate necklaces and bracelets she constantly swapped out were nowhere to be seen. She was shrinking behind her parents, looking utterly victimized. Her parents—a middle-aged couple wearing plain clothes who genuinely looked worn down by life—exploded the second they saw me. Her mother, in particular, lunged forward: "So you're the Class President? You vicious little bitch, what gives you the right to steal our Lily's grant? Do you have any idea how hard our lives are?" Ms. Lee quickly stood up and blocked her path, her voice stern: "Mrs. Smith, please watch your language! This is a school office!" Facing the barrage of insults, I didn't back down. Instead, I met the woman's furious glare and let out a soft laugh. "Ma'am, my family is poor too." My voice was quiet but firm. "This money doesn't go to whoever yells the loudest or cries the hardest. If your family wants the grant, you need to submit the proper paperwork to the school. What's the point of yelling at me?" I paused, then deliberately raised my voice in feigned surprise: "Oh, wow, Lily, what happened to those pretty necklaces and bracelets you usually wear every day?" At my words, Lily's head snapped up, a flash of panic in her eyes. Her parents clearly froze as well. Ms. Lee took the opportunity to speak up again, her tone serious: "Mr. and Mrs. Smith, I hope you heard that. The grant requires verifiable documentation. It's not awarded just because someone throws a fit." "Chloe met all the requirements to apply. There is absolutely no issue with her application." Seeing Ms. Lee try so hard to protect me, my heart felt warm, but also ached with a bittersweet pang. In my past life, she had tried just as hard to defend me. But eventually, the relentless pressure from the school administration and the online mob forced her to resign from the teaching career she loved. The moment Ms. Lee finished speaking, Lily's mother's face contorted in anger. "Don't give us that bureaucratic garbage. We don't understand your 'paperwork.' All we know is that this money belongs to our Lily, and now you've stolen it!" "If you don't cough up that grant money today, then you can keep it! Keep it to buy your own medicine! With a heart as rotten as yours, karma will catch up to you!" Ms. Lee turned pale with fury. She slammed her hand on her desk. "You... how dare you speak to a student like that!" And me? Hearing that specific curse, my body gave an almost imperceptible flinch. It wasn't fear. It was the sickening overlap of my past trauma bleeding into the present. The bitter taste of the medication my mother needed after working herself to the bone, the pills I swallowed when the depression consumed me... those memories flooded back, choking me. But I quickly steadied myself. "Ma'am, you're cursing me to need medicine? How ironic. My mother worked herself into a hospital bed precisely because we couldn't afford medicine." "You keep screaming about how poor you are and how you need to fight for this money. Yet you can afford to let your daughter wear expensive-looking jewelry and full makeup to school every day?" My gaze shifted back to her parents. For the first time, I saw genuine hesitation on their faces. Lily jerked her head up, staring at me in terror, then looked frantically at her parents. Her lips trembled, but no words came out. Her mother's aggressive posture finally deflated. Seizing the moment, Ms. Lee stepped forward. "I think you've heard enough. This isn't about the grant anymore; this is about how you are raising your daughter." "Now, please leave my office immediately. The grant applications will be processed according to school policy. If you continue this unreasonable behavior, or if you ever insult one of my students again, I will report this directly to campus security!" This time, the parents didn't try to charge forward. As Lily's mother shot me a final, resentful glare, a desperate, frantic voice rang out from the office door: "Chloe!" I whipped around and saw my mother's slightly hunched figure standing in the doorway. She had clearly rushed over the second she got the call from Ms. Lee. "Mom," I called out instinctively. My mother hurried into the room, not even pausing to greet the teacher. She immediately stepped in front of me, shielding me with her body. "We are not giving up that money. My daughter applied based on our actual financial situation. Why should she give it up?" Her gaze swept over the furious couple opposite us. "Buying medicine? We poor folks have tough skin. If we need it, we take it. But you two? Two grown adults ganging up to bully my daughter? Have you no shame?" Lily's parents might have been able to throw a tantrum in front of a student, but faced with a mother fiercely protecting her cub, their bullying tactics seemed to vanish. Ms. Lee stepped forward again. "Mr. and Mrs. Smith, please leave immediately, or I will call security right now!" Lily's father, losing face, grabbed his wife's arm and pulled her toward the door, muttering curses under his breath. "Fine. You play dirty. We'll see who karma hits first!" Finally, in a deeply uncomfortable silence, Ms. Lee escorted them out of the office. My mother immediately turned to me, looking me up and down anxiously. "Chloe, did they hit you? Did they say anything mean? Are you scared?" I looked at my mother's worried face, at those eyes that had grown cloudy too early from years of grueling labor. I forced a reassuring smile. "Mom, I'm fine." Ms. Lee walked over as well. "Mrs. Evans, please don't worry. Chloe is an incredibly mature girl. She's the best student in my class." Hearing the teacher's praise, my mother's tense expression finally relaxed a bit. "Thank you, Ms. Lee. Thank you for protecting my Chloe..." Watching my mother and Ms. Lee talking quietly, a rush of bittersweet warmth completely overwhelmed me. Thank God. Thank God I was reborn. This time, I swear I won't let anyone hurt her again. When the final list of grant recipients was posted, there were no surprises. My name was right there on it. That afternoon, the entire school gathered on the football field for a brief assembly to announce the financial aid awards. I stood in line with my class, waiting to be called up to the podium. I could clearly hear the whispering from a group of girls just behind me—Lily's clique. "Ugh, I bet some people are feeling pretty smug right now. Stepping on others to get ahead, and she actually has the nerve to go up there." "I know, right? Acting all high and mighty, who knows what kind of dirty tricks she pulled behind the scenes." "Lily, you're just too nice. That's why she walks all over you..."
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