Every student on campus noticed the stark shift in Mia's appearance almost overnight.
The designer couture gowns and matching high-end jewelry she'd paraded to every event vanished entirely.
The accessories she wore now, upon closer inspection, held a dull, muted luster with rough, uneven edges, cheap plastic lining visible along chain clasps.
Anyone with even basic familiarity with luxury goods instantly recognized them as low-quality counterfeits.
Several girls who'd once followed her every move huddled at the far end of the hallway, whispering, their frequent sideways glances towards Mia stripped of all former admiration, now filled with unmasked doubt.
No one suffered more through this collapse of her lies than Jasper.
He'd sacrificed all his pride staging that grand public confe
