When She Sabotaged Me, She Ruined Herself

Chapter 3

I swept a glance at Grace and Hugo standing off to the side.

Grace's eyes were clear, almost unbearably clear. Hugo's face was so pale he looked like he might shatter at any second.

I said, "The materials are not falsified, and the ghostwritten recommendation letter is pure fiction."

Crawford tossed a file over. Someone had marked my sophomore spring exchange grades with a red question mark.

I didn't even pick it up. I gave Wallace a phone number directly.

"Call this number. They can pull my exchange student records. Transcripts, credit transfers, advisor evaluations, it's all on file. As for the recommendation letter being ghostwritten and then maliciously deleted, how exactly does that hold up?"

Hugo's sobbing kicked in right on cue.

Grace stepped forward and blocked the gap between Hugo and me completely.

"Leo, you clearly deleted that recommendation letter yourself by accident and then turned around and threw the blame on Hugo. Do you have any idea he had a breakdown last night and nearly swallowed a bottle of pills?"

She turned to Crawford. "Gentlemen, I saw an early draft of Leo's recommendation letter. The quality was genuinely strong, but during that entire period he was with me the whole time, and I never once saw him actually sit down and write it."

Crawford chimed in from the side.

"Grace is the class president. She's always been reliable. We trust what she's saying."

"Yeah, Leo's always been one to hog the spotlight in class. He's used underhanded tactics more than once to push Grace out of scholarship spots. Definitely worth looking into."

Watching the three of them trading lines like that, it almost felt too absurd to be real.

I let out a short laugh and turned to Wallace. "Grace and I were in a relationship, yes. But that doesn't mean we were together every single minute of the day."

Grace froze. She tugged at my sleeve. "What do you mean, 'were'?"

I ignored her and kept going.

"Grace routinely turns in group projects at the last possible moment. Just because she happens to be the academic advisor's niece doesn't mean the scholarships automatically belong to her."

I turned and faced Hugo.

"Would you swear on your depression, right here, that you did not delete that recommendation letter?"

Crawford slammed his thermos down on the desk. Coffee splashed everywhere.

"You're standing here in front of all of us, and you still have the nerve to provoke someone who's ill? This is beyond vicious. This needs to be escalated. A student with this kind of character is a liability to this school."

Grace let out a cold laugh, her chin lifted slightly, her voice carrying the relaxed confidence of someone who already knew she'd won.

"Leo, how can you be this cruel? Grilling a depressed person to swear on his life, all for your own little future. Are you not embarrassed by how that looks? Apologize to Hugo right now, in front of everyone, and I'll let this go. And you don't need to worry too much. Even if you really do have to wait a year, I'm not going to break up with you over it."

Hugo shrank behind her, looking like some small frightened animal, but there was a faint curve at the corner of his mouth.

I pulled out my phone and looked at Wallace.

"Mr. Thornton, since we've got two completely different stories here, I'd like to request formal procedure. Let's just call the police."

The air got sucked right out of the room.

Grace's face visibly went ashen. The color drained from Hugo's face all the way down to his neck. His fingers clutched the hem of Grace's clothes in a death grip.

Grace patted the back of his hand to steady him. Her voice came out tight.

"The police? Leo, are you afraid the whole school won't find out we've got a poster boy for falsified materials who bites back?" She turned to Wallace. "Gentlemen, our school has always valued its reputation for international exchange. Something like this shouldn't be rushed to the authorities."

Wallace's gaze traveled back and forth between us a couple of times.

"Everyone, go back for now. The center will investigate this matter thoroughly. Leo, we'll talk once the investigation reaches its conclusion."

I was the first one out the door.

I had barely stepped outside the building when Grace came chasing after me and grabbed my arm.

"What did you mean back there when you said 'were'?"

"Exactly what it sounds like."

Her expression faltered. Before she could get another word out, I lifted her hand off my arm.

"Grace, let me ask you something. You and I applied to completely different schools. There's no competition between us for a spot. You were aware of that, right?"

That face of hers, always so composed, went blank for just a moment.

Her gaze flickered away. Her voice came out noticeably lower than before. "I knew... but what does that have to do with anything?"

I nodded. 'There it is. Everything lined up. She has no idea.'