Veronica's POV
Fuming with rage, Renee grabbed a pencil case from the desk and hurled it straight at the head of the girl gossiping nearby.
Everyone knew she could do whatever she wanted, since being from a rich family made her untouchable at school. So, when the attack happened, the crowd fell silent, exchanging helpless looks before pretending to mind their own business.
I, on the other hand, quickly lowered my head, feigning fear.
“Y-you’re right,” I stammered. “I must’ve seen wrong. That person probably just looks like you.”
My nervous denial only made things worse, as it looked like I was trying to cover something up after being threatened.
Watching me act like that, her expression darkened. She then raised her hand and slapped me hard across the forehead.
“You really must have a death wish,” she sneered. “Daring to mess with me?” She tilted her chin arrogantly and added, “I was going to let you keep a shred of dignity, but forget it. You don’t deserve it.”
Still glaring, she unlocked her phone and opened a few photos.
The pictures showed a naked girl, her face twisted in resistance and shame. It was obvious she had been forced.
Renee gave me a once-over, clicking her tongue mockingly. “How pathetic. Sleeping with old men for money and taking nudes for a loan? Is your family really that poor?” she scoffed.
Her careless words made the others exchange disgusted glances in my direction.
I looked down at the photo, at my sister’s expression full of despair, and rage burned in my chest. I could only imagine how much she must’ve suffered.
Seeing my silence, Renee’s smile deepened with cruel satisfaction.
But then I suddenly laughed.
“What’s so shocking about these?” I said coolly. “I’ve got plenty more like them.”
Before anyone could react, I tapped a few nearby phones and used Airdrop to send out a folder full of pictures.
The notification sounds then began chiming one after another around the classroom.
Renee and her little sidekick burst into shrill laughter.
“Elodie, you’re so desperate,” she mocked. “What, trying to get people to notice you? Looking for a job, maybe?”
But one of the boys nearby frowned and tapped her shoulder uncertainly. “Uh… Renee, the photos Elodie sent, those are of you.”
“What?!” Renee quickly snatched his phone, and the moment she saw the images, she screamed, “These are edited! That’s not me!”
The photos were the same ones she’d shown before, except the faces had been swapped for hers and her friend’s.
Meeting her furious eyes, I shrugged, unbothered.
“It’s the twenty-first century. Are you really still ashamed of a little nudity?” I said lightly. “When you Photoshopped my nudes, I didn’t take it so seriously. I just appreciated them as an art.”
The students began to murmur among themselves.
“So, the pictures of Elodie were fake, too?”
“Honestly, those face swaps look so realistic, it’s hard to tell what’s real anymore.”
I interrupted, smiling faintly. “The faces were AI-generated. But the body, that’s the real deal. Renee’s, to be exact.”
“Elodie, shut your filthy mouth or I’ll tear it off!” she screamed, charging at me.
Her movements were so frantic that her blouse slipped off one shoulder, revealing a small red mole, exactly like the one in the photos.
I almost laughed. My sister once had that same mole, but she’d burned it off with a curling iron to hide the resemblance. Now, karma had come full circle.
The boys’ eyes darted between her shoulder and the pictures. One of them even swallowed hard.
“So, it was her all along. No wonder she kept showing us those ‘nudes of Elodie.’ She just wanted us to comment on her own body.”
“Yeah,” another said with a leering grin. “Could’ve just stripped instead of going through all that trouble.”
Their crude laughter filled the air.
But instead of turning on them, Renee stormed up to me, eyes blazing, and grabbed my collar.
“Bitch!” she spat and slapped me across the face hard.
