Chapter 6
Thanksgiving break was peaceful and comfortable being home almost made me forget all the drama.
Sophia’s Instagram went completely silent.
This girl who used to post seven or eight stories a day suddenly vanished.
Aaron hadn’t texted me once either, which was seriously weird for him.
When break ended, I had the family driver take me back to campus.
The second I walked through the gates, I could tell something was off.
A group of girls who’d been whispering together saw me and immediately went dead silent, exchanging meaningful looks before scattering in different directions.
I could still hear muffled giggles and hushed comments as I walked by.
“That’s her…” “Never would’ve guessed…” “Always acted so innocent…”
I frowned but didn’t think much of it and went straight to my dorm.
I’d barely dropped my bags and connected to the campus WiFi when my phone started going crazy.
Opening a few group chats, I was hit with a wall of disgusting speculation and vicious headlines.
“SCANDAL: Campus Queen’s Secret Private Jet Vacation – Sugar Daddy Revealed as Real Estate Mogul”
“Saint by Day, Sugar Baby by Night? The Double Life of America’s College Elite”
“CORRUPTION EXPOSED: Dean’s List Darling Allegedly Kept by Wealthy Benefactor – Is She Worthy?”
Each headline was more vicious than the last.
They didn’t use my name directly, but keywords like “honor student frontrunner” and “private jet” basically painted a target on my back.
The comment threads had hundreds of replies with various “insiders” sharing details – some claiming they saw me getting into cars with older men, others saying I’d been kept by this real estate mogul for ages.
Complete bullshit, but told like they had the inside scoop.
There were even some blurry long-distance photos. One showed our family’s pretty low-key BMW parked outside campus with me getting in.
The other was from before the semester started – me talking to Dad at the campus gates.
The angle was deliberately misleading.
You could only make out Dad’s age and expensive suit from that distance, while I was smiling and talking to him, which definitely looked “intimate” if you didn’t know the context.
Just then my dorm room door opened and my two roommates walked in.
They clearly didn’t expect to see me at my desk and exchanged a weird look.
“Oh wow, you’re back?”
One of them smirked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“You really can’t judge a book by its cover, huh? Miss Innocent over here had us all fooled.”
The other one jumped right in with exaggerated sympathy: “Right? Poor Sophia was so worried about someone not having a ticket home, even offered to let her crash at that apartment. But turns out some people have… other options. Must be nice!”
They burst into giggles without waiting for me to respond, like they were in on some big secret.
My heart sank, not from fear but from disgust at how low they were.
I didn’t need to wonder who orchestrated this. This had Sophia and Aaron written all over it.
Unable to hit me head-on, they resorted to this filthy trick, trying to destroy my reputation completely.
My phone rang – it was our teacher, sounding really uncomfortable:
“Hey Rachel… so, um, Student Services got an anonymous tip about your… well… personal life possibly creating a bad image, and regarding the Dean’s List, they might need you to… provide some kind of explanation…”
I listened calmly and just replied: “Got it. The truth will come out.”
After hanging up, I actually smiled.
Pathetic. That’s the best they can do.
