The black Maybach moved smoothly through the busy streets as Shen Ruji sat quietly by the window, absentmindedly staring outside. Her fingers tapped lightly against her lap while memories surfaced one after another about her school.
At seventeen, almost every major humiliation in her life had started there. The fake rumors, bullying, addictions, betrayals. And the worst part was that nobody cared.
Because everyone attending Saint Orchid Academy belonged to the upper class of society. Children of billionaires, politicians, conglomerate heirs, celebrities, and old-money families filled the high school grounds.
The school itself was less of an academy and more of a breeding ground for elites. Scholarship students existed though, only a handful were accepted every year to maintain the school's "inclusive" image.
Ruji slowly exhaled. Just then, a silver Bentley suddenly sped past her car. It was Shen Xin. Even without seeing clearly inside, she recognized the license plate instantly. The reason they never went together was simple.
Their mothers hated each other.
Liu Meilin and Bai Xing fought constantly behind closed doors, and eventually, even the children became divided into separate camps.
The car soon entered the massive gates of Saint Orchid Academy. Students flooded the luxurious campus dressed in expensive uniforms, designer accessories hidden beneath school jackets, and watches worth more than ordinary people's yearly salaries.
Ruji stepped out of the car calmly.
She breathed in as she looked around, it had been years since she last toke in the view of the school. Her gaze swept across the enormous courtyard until it landed on a familiar group near the fountain..
Seven people, the children of the most powerful families in the country. Even in wealth, there are ranks. And she happened to be in this group. Basicly, all Shen families off spring that passed through the school has been in this group. You don't apply, status choses you even the principal avoided offending them because their families practically funded the entire academy.
Shen Xin stood among them casually laughing beside a tall handsome boy wearing black gloves.
Liang Chen, Ruji's fiancé.
The marriage had been arranged years ago between their families, though neither of them cared much for the engagement.
Beside him stood another boy lazily leaning against a pillar while scrolling through his phone.
Jun Wei. Ruji's eyes lingered on him briefly. If she remembered correctly, Ling'er had liked Jun Wei at this age.
Shen Xin suddenly noticed her arrival their eyes nearly met, but Ruji immediately looked away in fear of triggering her powers again. Without slowing down, she walked toward the senior building and entered Class A.
The classroom instantly quieted, she had always skipped classes in the past. Ignoring the stares and casually walked toward the back row, Ruji dropping into an empty seat beside the window.
Someone whispered nervously. "That's Jun Wei's seat…"
Ruji raised an eyebrow slightly as she recalled. Before she could recall properly, footsteps entered the classroom. Jun Wei himself walked in carrying a cup of iced coffee, his school tie loose around his neck.
The atmosphere immediately turned tense as everyone expected trouble. Jun Wei hated people touching his things.
His cold gaze landed directly on Ruji.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then unexpectedly Jun Wei pulled the chair beside her and sat down casually.
"You moved my books," he stated flatly.
Ruji glanced at the stack now placed neatly at the edge of the desk. "I arranged them properly."
Jun Wei stared at her strangely before letting out a faint scoff. At that moment, the classroom speakers suddenly buzzed loudly.
"All students are to report immediately to the main assembly hall. Groans echoed across the room.
Jun Wei stood lazily. "Another useless speech."
The students slowly made their way toward the hall. Ruji walked silently behind them, her gaze drifting absentmindedly toward the upper floors of the academy building.
Then she froze briefly. A strange sense of déjà vu washed over her. Something bad was going to happen today.
The massive assembly hall buzzed with noise as hundreds of students gathered. Teachers stood around pretending to maintain order while students gossiped freely.
The principal eventually climbed onto the stage, after ensuring the students were calm, he adjusted his tie nervously before speaking.
"Our academy has recently been suffering from harmful rumors regarding staff misconduct. The cases of bulling has increased to a significant level that cant be ignored. If care is not taken, we might get investigated"
Students groaned in respondence
'' on the other hand'' he continued, '' I would love to thank the outstanding….
Suddenly SCREAM!
Everyone jerked upward instinctively. A wire suddenly dropped from the ceiling, dangling from it was a pair of female underwear soaked in yellow paint and rotten egg liquid. The disgusting smell spread instantly across the hall.
The students exploded into mockery immediately.
"What the hell?"
"Whose is that?"
"That's disgusting!"
Phones appeared everywhere recording instantly, while teachers were trying to understand what was going on. As everyone was wondering what was going on, another scream echoed near the entrance. A girl wrapped only in a white towel stumbled into the hall trembling violently.
"No—no—please—"
Someone shoved her forward cruelly ignoring her please.
"Isn't this yours?" a male student shouted mockingly.
The hall erupted again, the girl's face turned ghostly pale. Ruji recognized her immediately
Lin Yue. One of the scholarship students.
Being pushed to the center, the girl desperately jumped trying to grab the hanging underwear, but it was too high. Each failed attempt only caused louder laughter from the crowd.
"Jump higher!"
"Maybe take the towel off!"
"Disgusting sight!"
Picture were taken of the moment and the staff seemed to not want to stop what was going on. Lin Yue searched frantically for something to reach the wire.
She rushed to the podium in an attempt to grab her clothes from there, however, as soon as she climed and jumped, her towel loosened.
Gasps erupted across the hall as the towel dropped completely. Lin Yue froze in horror as cameras flashed violently around her.
The principal immediately rushed down screaming at teachers to stop the students from filming, but it was already too late. Students were laughing hysterically. Some were live streaming it already. A female teacher quickly covered Lin Yue with her coat and dragged her away toward the staff room.
The assembly dissolved into chaos afterward, rumors spread wildly before classes even resumed.
"She is soo shameless."
''she just tainted my eye sight''
"I heard she got pregnant."
"She's a scholarship student. Of course she'd do anything for money."
Nobody cared whether it was true.
Ruji sat quietly by the classroom window after returning upstairs her fingers tapped lightly against the desk not listening to the teacher at all. The principal had called off the assembly and ordered teachers to handle their classrooms.
It did take a while before the students were able to calm down from the entire issue but she remembered this incident clearly now.
In her previous life, Lin Yue committed suicide shortly afterward and nobody investigated seriously. The school buried the scandal completely.
Ruji stared outside silently. If everything follows the same timeline, her eyes slowly lifted toward the rooftop.
Five… Four…. Three….
A cold breeze entered through the open window.
Two.
Ruji's breathing slowed.
One.
CRASH!
A body naked suddenly crashed onto the pavement directly outside the classroom window. Blood splashed across the concrete. The entire building erupted into screams instantly. Students rushed backward in terror while others crowded toward the window recording immediately.
Ruji remained frozen in her seat. She could see the body from where she sat. Lin Yue's broken body lay twisted unnaturally in a pool of blood. But her eyes remained wide open staring upward, directly at Ruji.
Then suddenly, it happened again.
Ruji's pupils dilated violently, the screaming around her disappeared completely.
And instantly—
She saw everything from how it all started. Paint splashing across Lin Yue's body by mistake from the painters that were renovating the building early that morning by the gate. She went into the student assigned bath room to wash it off and when she was done, she couldn't find her cloth.
Some girl thought it would be funny to prank her, took her clothes and when she came out of the bathing space, they forced her into the student hall with just a towel on.
Ruji saw everything from Lin Yue's memeory…
Her missing clothes…
Hands dragging her toward the hall...
The principal touching her shoulder afterward while whispering, "Don't make this bigger than it already is." A silent warning
Lin Yue crying alone inside the rooftop stairwell.
Group of boys obviously excited from the hall incident proceeding to have their way with her.
Her screams, her please, her begging, her pain.
It was all visible
The memories were becoming blurry and Liu yue was almost dead. But then, another memory surfaced. A shadow standing behind Lin Yue on the rooftop.
Not the principal.
Not a teacher.
Someone else.
Someone wearing the Saint Orchid elite uniform.
And just before Lin Yue fell—
A familiar female voice whispered coldly beside her ear.
"Jump."
Liu Yue cried because she didn't want to, and then someone pushed her.
The connection immediately snapped as Rujis face was filled with tears. She was killed. She was murdered. But by who.
Then Ruji recalled something she saw in the vision. It had gotten blurry so she couldn't make out much but she clearly recalled a necklace on the murderers neck
That design belonged to only one person at their school.
LIANG CHEN! Her own fiancé.