My parents gently patted my back. “We believe you. Our daughter would never do such a thing.”
The police attached an electronic shackle to my ankle and warned me sternly that I was not allowed to leave the city, had to be reachable at all times, and must never remove the device.
I agreed to everything without protest. At that moment, all I wanted was to stay with my parents, never leaving their side again.
When we arrived home, I was surprised to see Zion waiting at the doorstep.
As soon as he spotted me, he hurried over, worry etched on his face.
“Heidi, are you okay?”
Before I could answer, his eyes turned red. “You’ve lost so much weight.”
“Heidi, I’m sorry. If I had known it was you, I never would have called the police.”
His words were full of affection, but hearing them, a dull ache rose in my chest.
“Zion, you didn’t believe me either?” I asked softly.
Zion looked stunned. “No, I just…”
Before he could finish, a woman walked up and shouted, her voice sharp, “Believe you? Why should Zion believe you? With all the evidence clear as day, you still want to pretend you’re innocent?”
Startled, I instinctively asked the woman, “Who are you?”
She let out a cold snort. “I’m Zion’s legal representative.”
Zion looked a little embarrassed and lowered his voice. “Heidi, don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not suing you. I just asked her to help me negotiate with the Department of Education to see if they can restore my scores.”
While we were speaking, a crowd had already gathered around us.
They clearly recognized me and started shouting angrily. “That’s Heidi! So arrogant, she actually got released?”
“Do rich people really think they can do whatever they please?”
“Spending two million to steal someone else’s future, what kind of world is this?”
Suddenly, someone screamed, “The college entrance exam is the fairest system we have. These rich people want to destroy even that. Beat them!”
In an instant, countless bottles and trash rained down on us.
Zion tried to shield me, but his lawyer grabbed his arm and pulled him back, widening the distance between us.
My parents held me protectively and tried to get us away, but more and more people crowded in, forming a tight circle.
Then, the crowd began to hit us; some even threw stones.
My dad shouted with all his strength, “Stop! My daughter just had surgery. She’s still a patient!”
But the onlookers didn’t believe a word.
Someone yelled, “Liar! This whole family is nothing but liars!”
“I don’t believe a single punctuation mark of what you say. Surgery? You probably faked those medical records, too!”
The situation grew more and more dangerous.
My mom shouted, her voice trembling, “My daughter never swapped any test papers! She had no reason at all to do it!”
She pulled out a thin piece of paper and raised it high. “I have proof. If you’d just look at it, you’d understand!”
But the crowd kept shouting, “What proof? All fake!”
My mom lifted the paper as high as she could, trying to let everyone see.
It was a university admission notice.
While shielding me, she gasped between breaths, “My daughter was already recommended for admission to Wellington University. If you don’t believe me, check the official website.”
“She only took the college entrance exam to accompany Zion.”
“When she gave it up to have her surgery, we weren’t even that upset because the exam didn’t really matter for her.”
“She already had her place secured. Why would she need to tamper with test papers?”
The crowd fell into a stunned silence.
Zion looked at me in shock. “Heidi, you were already guaranteed admission? Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
