When Orion started checking the surveillance footage, Solene became worried. What if someone caught her on camera slipping thumbtacks into Aveline’s shoes?
She hadn’t slept well the entire night. In desperation, Solene came up with a plan-to use her father’s connections to get Aveline expelled from school. That way, Orion would stop investigating. Watching his daughter struggle so much, unable to surpass Aveline no matter how hard she worked, Lee felt both heartache and resentment toward Aveline.
So, when Solene proposed her idea, Lee agreed. If Aveline were gone, his daughter would finally claim the top spot in the grade. Solene wouldn’t need to push herself so hard, staying up until two or three in the morning every day just to study.
Hearing the announcement over the PA system, Solene, who had never done anything wrong her entire life, began trembling uncontrollably.
“I… I’m fine. I’m just a little tired,” she stammered.
“You don’t look well,” a classmate said. “Maybe you should go rest.”
“Yes…” Solene replied nervously, her mind in chaos as the entire school whispered about who might have planted the thumbtacks.
At that moment, her phone rang. Seeing it was her father calling, she quickly stepped aside to answer.
“Dad, what’s wrong?”
“Solene, there’s a problem. Aveline’s parents aren’t janitors or dishwashers like we thought. Even the principal treats them with the utmost respect. Now they’ve found out about Aveline’s injury, and they’re furious. You should find a place to hide.”
“Dad! Didn’t you hear what they said? If I don’t go within ten minutes, our whole family could be implicated!”
Solene was panicking now, twisting her fingers nervously, overcome with regret. Why had she done this?
“There are no cameras in the locker room. They won’t find any evidence. No one will know it was you. Going out there now will only make things worse,” Lee said firmly. The Barnet family wasn’t someone they could afford to provoke. Staying away was the safest option.
“No, Orion has already ruled out many suspects. I’m next. Dad, I can’t hide…”
“Solene, don’t do anything reckless. Don’t go over there!” Lee pleaded. Solene was his precious daughter, and he couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to her.
But just then, a classmate approached Solene.
“Orion wants you to go to the broadcast room.”
Solene knew it was over. From yesterday to today, many people around her had been called in for questioning. Unlike them, she didn’t have the courage to act calm and collected under pressure.
She hung up the phone. “Alright, I’ll go now.”
Faced with no other choice, Solene decided to head to the broadcast room. Her father had warned her about Aveline’s family, and now the only thing left to do was admit her mistake.
Inside the broadcast room, Julian’s face was filled with anger. “Three minutes left,” he said coldly.
Aurora, on the other hand, looked at Aveline with concern. “Aveline, I’ve always respected your decisions, including your choice to study at Cherrywood. Your dad and I trusted that you could take care of yourself, but clearly, you can’t. After this incident, you’ll have to transfer schools. Your dad and I will handle everything from now on.”
“Mom, no!”
Aurora rarely spoke to Aveline with such a stern tone.
“Aveline,” her father added, “we’ve always respected your choices, but you should never have allowed yourself to get hurt.”
“Mrs. Barnet, this is my fault for not protecting Aveline. If you want to blame someone, blame me. Please don’t blame her,” Orion interjected.
“This isn’t Orion’s fault,” Aveline said quickly. “I wasn’t careful enough. If I had checked my shoes before putting them on, none of this would’ve happened.” She was terrified that Orion’s standing with her parents might worsen because of this.
“Aveline, you’ve been surrounded by malice ever since you came to this school,” Aurora said. “We didn’t know about any of it until now. Orion, we trusted you to look after Aveline because we believed you were a good kid. But if you can’t protect her, we may need to reconsider your engagement.”
Unbeknownst to them, the broadcast microphone was still on. Their conversation echoed across the school.
“What? Aveline and Orion are engaged?”
“Orion transferred schools just for Aveline?”
“Who is this Aveline, anyway?”
“No wonder Orion never showed interest in anyone else. He’s been engaged to Aveline all along!”
“Childhood sweethearts? That’s so romantic!”
“Do you think the person who planted the thumbtacks will come forward? This whole thing seems way more complicated than it looks. Aveline’s family doesn’t seem ordinary at all.”
Hearing talk of their engagement being canceled, Orion grew frantic.
“Mr. and Mrs. Barnet, I know this is my fault. I promise it will never happen again. Please, give me another chance. I’ll make sure Aveline is safe and healthy from now on.”
For the first time, the usually proud Orion appeared as nothing more than a panicked boy. Meanwhile, the students listening outside were growing increasingly curious. If even someone as wealthy as Orion treated Aveline’s family so carefully, just how powerful could they be?
The students who had once mocked Aveline now felt chills down their spines. They had ridiculed her father as a janitor, only to be proven completely wrong. A family that casually traveled by helicopter couldn’t possibly be ordinary.
“Mom, Dad, please don’t blame Orion-it’s all my fault…” Aveline pleaded.
As the broadcast room descended into chaos, a voice suddenly came from the doorway.
“Um…”
Julian turned to see a petite girl, no taller than 4’11”, with long pigtails and oversized black-framed glasses. She looked so timid and unassuming that no one had even considered her as a suspect.
“Do you need something?” Julian asked, his cold gaze making the girl shiver.
Lee’s face changed the moment he saw her. “Solene! What are you doing here? This isn’t a place for you. Leave, now!”
“Dad, I told you I couldn’t avoid this. Orion has already figured it out,” Solene said softly.
“You…” Orion’s expression darkened. “You’re the one who planted the thumbtacks?”
Solene stepped hesitantly into the room, holding onto the doorframe for support. “I’m sorry, Aveline. I was the one who put the thumbtacks in your shoes.”
Everyone froze. No one could believe that this small, quiet girl was responsible.
Aveline frowned in confusion. “Who are you? Why would you do that to me?”
Solene’s face paled further. The person she had hated so deeply didn’t even know who she was.