The Paper Chase: A Story of Betrayal and Redemption Chapter 1

On the day of the college entrance exam, my fiancé, Liam, suddenly went crazy and tore up everyone's test papers in the exam hall.

The reason? His childhood sweetheart, Bella, was caught cheating and disqualified from the exam.

At the same time, there was an issue with the backup exam papers, leading to the cancellation of one subject's score for the entire class.

Liam faced criminal charges.

To save him, I arranged for everyone in the class to study abroad and covered all their tuition and living expenses.

Later, Liam and I successfully got into the top university in the world.

However, Bella was caught cheating again during her IELTS exam.

Her cheating was exposed online, and suffering from depression, she couldn't handle the cyberbullying and jumped off a building.

Upon hearing this, Liam locked himself in his room for days.

When he finally came out, he told me he had accepted it, that this was her fate.

Until the day we were set to go abroad, Liam drugged me and pushed me out of our private jet.

"You were always jealous of her since childhood, always trying to outdo her. You pushed her into depression."

"If you hadn't framed her for cheating, she wouldn't have died."

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day of the college entrance exam.

If Liam wants to go crazy, let him.

This time, no one is going to cover for him.

* * *

Screams echoed through the exam hall.

When I opened my eyes, Liam had already torn his way to the last row.

Several proctors rushed in and pinned him down.

As he was dragged away, Liam laughed maniacally, "If Bella can't take the test, then no one can!"

Twenty minutes later, everyone in our exam hall was ushered into the school's large conference room.

The school officials had gone to report the incident to the education bureau, hoping to activate the backup exam papers.

While waiting for the result, everyone was cursing Liam.

"Liam is a psycho. Bella can't take the exam because she cheated. What does that have to do with us?"

"Now we've all missed this subject. I wonder if we'll get a retest. Every point in the entrance exam counts. If we don't get a score for this subject, none of us will get into college."

"If we can't retest, I'm going to smash Liam and Bella's heads in."

"Shh, keep it down. Chloe is here too."

Hearing this, everyone glanced at me.

The expressions on their faces were fascinating.

Everyone knew Liam tore up the papers for Bella.

But everyone also knew Liam was my fiancé, arranged by my father.

I had been frail since childhood, prone to fevers with no identifiable medical cause.

My father consulted a fortune teller who said my life force was weak and suggested finding a fiancé with a compatible horoscope to ward off bad luck.

My father searched high and low in orphanages with the horoscope provided by the fortune teller and finally chose Liam.

Bella was the daughter of our housekeeper.

The three of us grew up together.

Liam was my fiancé, but he cared deeply for Bella.

Every time I brought this up, he would mock me:

"You're a rich young lady; how could you understand the feelings of orphans like Bella and me living under someone else's roof? We are soulmates, kindred spirits. Don't make everything sound so dirty."

In my past life, I truly believed this.

Thinking my status pressured Liam, I constantly accommodated them.

Over the years, Liam caused plenty of trouble at school.

Usually, after he made a mess, I would immediately clean it up for him.

But not this time.

I took out my phone, ready to message my lawyer not to help Liam.

Just then, the door pushed open, and the room fell silent as everyone looked towards the entrance.

Liam walked in swaggering, holding Bella's hand.

The room exploded.

"Liam, you dare show your face? Look at the mess you've caused!"

"Why are you here with Bella? Shouldn't you be waiting for detention at the police station?"

Facing these questions, Liam smiled smugly, "I'm here to take the exam, of course. The police have cleared everything up. Bella and I did nothing wrong."

With that, Liam and Bella swaggered over and sat down next to me.

No one believed their trouble had blown over so easily.

But when eyes turned to me, everyone fell silent again.

After all, my family's business empire spanned wide, covering the entire city.

Two-thirds of my classmates' parents worked for my family's group.

Facing Liam, everyone dared to be angry but dared not speak out.

After sitting down, Liam didn't say a word to me but kept asking Bella if she was okay.

"I was almost scared to death; my hands are still shaking."

Bella held out her slightly trembling hand.

Liam held it without hesitation, comforting her, "It's okay, it's okay. After the exam, I'll take you to the Maldives to relax and forget this unhappy event."

Only then did he deign to give me a look, "Chloe, did you hear that? You're responsible for arranging this."

His tone was nasty, like ordering a servant.

I ignored him and continued looking down at my phone.

My lawyer sent a message.

[Miss, Master Liam and Miss Bella's matter has been handled.]

Seeing this message, I paused.

It turned out Liam had contacted the lawyer directly and settled the matter without even telling me.

In my past life, the lawyer also bailed Liam out.

But I was the one who called the lawyer, and I never bothered with Bella.

Could it be that Liam was also reborn?