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"Chloe,you didn't really steal Claire's necklace,did you?"
"How could you?We're classmates."
"Come on,apologize to Claire."
Chloe couldn't keep up the act.Her face flushed and paled,eyes venomous,but she played dumb.
"Oh,my mistake.I found it,yeah,found it.If it's yours,here you go.I just remembered I have that thing..."
She shoved the necklace at me and tried to bolt.
"Stop right there!"
Chloe collapsed,sobbing."What more do you want?You want me dead?My family's poor,my parents had to scrape by to send me to school.I took a necklace by mistake—didn't know it was yours.Do you have to hound me?"
Her wails drew a crowd from the hall.
Someone started recording.
No one had heard Chloe talking about her family before, they only knew that she applied for aid.Her family was that poor?
She had always seemed decent,so some felt pity for her.
People are soft on the weak.
Girls urged me."Claire,let it go.Chloe's life’s already hard enough and usually she treated us kind."
"Yeah,forgive and forget."
"Your family's loaded,but she's on aid.We’re all classmates,come on."
What a twist of truth!
Stealing and slandering me was fine,but fighting back was wrong?
I sneered."When she sold you fake makeup,she didn't care about classmates!"
Amid their shock and Chloe's panic,I crouched slolwly,flashing her a flawless smile.
"Do your parents know you're dragging them down?"
As chatter exploded among the crowd and online,Chloe and I were called to the office.
Chloe's parents stormed in,her mom slapping her.
"You brat!We bust our butts for you and your brother,and you pull this?"
Chloe's acts of slander and theft spread like wildfire.Someone,tipped by my words,uncovered that the products they had brought from her were all fake!
She and her aunt,a saleswoman,scammed people,pocketing big bucks.
Selling low-price"authentics"—she had made a lot money that way!
The office was flooded with complaints.
I had investigated:Chloe's parents ran a grocery store.They weren't poor—actually had quite a cozy life.
I stopped her mom's hand in the air.
"Ma'am,don't hit Chloe.She always told me how great you are to her.She goes to concerts,travels,brags you gave her the money."
"She's my roommate,but my necklace worth nearly a million dollars ended up on her neck.Is there a misunderstanding?"
Her mom froze."Nearly a million?Trips?Concerts?"
Chloe,frantic,lunged to hit me."Liar!Shut up,you bitch!"
Her mom slapped her again.
"You spent all that money we gave you?We gave you money so that you can focus on your study, not for you to ‘enjoy life’ or become a thief!"
"I deserve to enjoy it!It's my money!"
She screamed,hysterical.
"Your money?It's our hard-earned money!You little rebel!"
I knew Chloe well.
Her parents favored her brother,making her,though from an ordinary family,extremely vain.
Once,my video call with my parents"disturbed"her,so she targeted me,rallying roommates against me.
Jealous of my parents'love,she stole my necklace.
Hating my sunny confidence,she tried to drag me down.
Step by step,she had gone too far.
I said innocently,"Right,I meant to ask—Chloe's on financial aid.Where's all this money from?"
