Sophia didn’t raise her voice.

She didn’t need to.

The entire field had gone silent.

Vanessa stared at her.

“Your… sister-in-law?”

Sophia walked straight toward us.

My father followed behind her, his expression so dark that even Ryan instinctively straightened his posture.

Sophia stopped beside me.

Then she took my hand.

“Yes. My sister-in-law.”

Vanessa’s lips parted.

Sophia looked at the giant screen.

At the photographs.

At the accusations Vanessa had publicly presented as evidence.

Then she looked back at her.

“Ryan Lin is my boyfriend. Emma Walker is his biological sister.”

Vanessa recovered quickly.

“But they have different surnames.”

My father finally spoke.

“So do my children.”

Everyone turned toward him.

He took the microphone from Professor Walsh.

“My name is Jonathan Lin.”

Then he pointed toward me.

“Emma uses her mother’s surname, Walker.”

He pointed toward Ryan.

“Ryan uses mine.”

The laughter disappeared.

Completely.

My father opened the folder Sophia had carried inside.

“Birth certificates.”

He placed two documents beneath the camera.

The giant screen showed them clearly.

Ryan Lin.

Father: Jonathan Lin.

Emma Walker.

Father: Jonathan Lin.

Mother: Catherine Walker.

Someone in the crowd gasped.

Vanessa’s face went white.

But I knew her.

In my previous life, I’d learned exactly what happened when Vanessa was cornered.

She never apologized.

She found another victim.

“I…”

Her eyes immediately filled with tears.

“I didn’t know.”

I almost laughed.

There it was.

The escape route.

“I only wanted fairness.”

She looked around desperately.

“Anyone would have misunderstood those photographs.”

Several students who had been shouting insults minutes earlier suddenly became very interested in the ground.

Vanessa continued.

“Emma never told us Instructor Lin was her brother.”

I lifted the microphone.

“You never asked me.”

She froze.

“You accused me.”

“That isn’t—”

“You said I had an improper relationship with him.”

“I said the situation looked suspicious.”

“You implied I seduced him.”

“I never used that word!”

“Exactly.”

I smiled.

“You made everyone else say it for you.”

Her expression cracked.

I pointed toward the recording camera beside the field.

“That’s why I asked you to keep talking.”

Vanessa looked at the camera.

For the first time, real fear appeared in her eyes.

Everything had been recorded.

Every insinuation.

Every photograph.

Every time she’d refused to accept my explanation.

Every time she’d encouraged the crowd while pretending she was only asking innocent questions.

Professor Walsh stood.

“This matter will be formally investigated.”

Vanessa immediately began crying.

“Professor, please. I really thought I was exposing favoritism.”

Ryan spoke for the first time since Sophia arrived.

“Then let’s discuss favoritism.”

Vanessa stopped crying.

Ryan turned toward the training staff.

“Bring the evaluation sheets.”

One of the instructors handed him a clipboard.

Ryan didn’t take it.

“Professor Walsh should read them.”

The professor adjusted his glasses.

“Emma Walker. Physical assessment: ninety-four.”

He continued.

“Formation discipline: ninety-six. Tactical movement: ninety-two. Endurance: ninety-five.”

Then another score.

“Overall ranking: second.”

The students began whispering.

Second?

Vanessa’s expression changed.

Professor Walsh looked at Ryan.

“If Miss Walker was receiving favoritism, why isn’t she ranked first?”

Ryan’s voice was flat.

“Because she made two mistakes during the final tactical assessment.”

Then he looked at me.

“And I deducted the points.”

I remembered those mistakes.

I had been furious with him.

For three nights, I had complained to Sophia that my brother was a tyrant.

Sophia had laughed at me.

Professor Walsh continued.

“There is also an instructor’s note.”

He read it aloud.

“Cadet Walker should not receive preferential consideration based on demonstration participation. Final award must depend exclusively on aggregate score.”

The signature underneath:

Ryan Lin.

Now the whispers changed direction.

“He actually made sure she didn’t get special treatment.”

“So Vanessa didn’t check anything before accusing her?”

“She had photos but no evidence.”

Vanessa looked around.

The crowd that had supported her minutes earlier was pulling away.

Then Sophia said quietly:

“We aren’t finished.”

She took out her phone.

My heart jumped.

Because I knew what was coming.

This was why I had contacted Sophia before military training even began.

In my previous life, Vanessa’s rumor hadn’t begun on the field.

The field had only been where she gave it a face.

Days earlier, anonymous posts had already appeared on the university forum.

Posts implying that a female freshman was “very close” to an instructor.

Posts asking whether “sleeping with an instructor” could improve training scores.

Posts containing photographs of Ryan and me.

In my previous life, I hadn’t known who had written them.

This time, I did.

Sophia projected several screenshots.

Vanessa stopped breathing.

Anonymous account.

Anonymous posts.

But Sophia had included something else.

Payment records.

“I work in cybersecurity compliance,” Sophia said calmly. “When Emma told me someone had been repeatedly photographing her and Ryan, I helped her preserve the relevant evidence and report it through the proper channels.”

Vanessa backed away.

“You investigated me?”

“No.”

Sophia’s smile disappeared.

“The university investigated the accounts after Emma reported harassment.”

Professor Walsh nodded.

“We received the preliminary findings this morning.”

Now even I was surprised.

I hadn’t known they had finished already.

He looked directly at Vanessa.

“The anonymous account used to publish several allegations was repeatedly accessed from devices associated with your student credentials.”

The field exploded.

Vanessa shook her head violently.

“No!”

Professor Walsh continued.

“Additionally, several photographs uploaded anonymously match the original files found in a class group you administered.”

“Someone used my account!”

“Perhaps.”

The professor remained calm.

“That will be investigated.”

Vanessa suddenly pointed at me.

“She planned this!”

I didn’t move.

“You all see it, don’t you?”

Her voice became shrill.

“She deliberately waited until today! She could have said from the beginning that Ryan was her brother!”

I looked at her.

“I did.”

Vanessa froze.

“I said it clearly.”

Someone near the front muttered:

“She did.”

Another student nodded.

“She literally said blood brother.”

Vanessa’s mouth opened.

No sound came out.

I stepped toward her.

“In my previous—”

I stopped myself.

Wrong life.

Wrong sentence.

I corrected it.

“From the moment you accused me today, I told you the truth.”

I looked at the screen behind us.

“You were simply more interested in humiliating me than verifying it.”

Her face twisted.

Then she turned toward Ryan.

“Instructor Lin, I was only defending the integrity of the training!”

Ryan’s expression remained cold.

“You photographed my sister outside scheduled training hours.”

“I saw you together accidentally.”

“Fourteen times?”

Vanessa went silent.

My skin prickled.

Fourteen?

Ryan lifted his phone.

“The original images contain timestamps.”

He displayed them.

Different days.

Different locations.

A café.

The dormitory.

A convenience store.

The training field.

Even the hospital entrance where Ryan had accompanied me after I twisted my ankle.

This wasn’t someone accidentally witnessing suspicious behavior.

Vanessa had been following us.

Sophia squeezed my hand.

My father looked furious.

Professor Walsh immediately called campus security.

That was when Vanessa finally broke.

She turned toward me.

“Why?”

Her tears were real now.

“Why did you do this to me?”

I stared at her.

For a second, I saw another field.

Another lifetime.

Students laughing.

Messages calling me shameless.

My mother crying.

Ryan desperately trying to prove we were siblings after everyone had already decided that any evidence he produced was fabricated.

And myself, becoming smaller every day until there was almost nothing left.

This time, I didn’t need revenge.

I only needed the truth to arrive before the lie swallowed me.

“I didn’t do anything to you, Vanessa.”

My voice was quiet.

“You made an accusation.”

“You collected the photographs.”

“You published the rumors.”

“You demanded proof in front of everyone.”

I pointed toward the documents still displayed on the screen.

“So I gave you proof.”

Security officers entered the field.

Vanessa’s knees seemed to weaken.

And then, just before they reached her, her phone rang.

She looked at the screen.

Her expression suddenly changed.

Not fear.

Confusion.

Then horror.

I couldn’t see the caller’s name.

But Sophia could.

Her grip on my hand tightened.

“What?” I whispered.

Sophia leaned closer.

“That number.”

“What about it?”

Her eyes remained fixed on Vanessa’s phone.

“I know it.”

My father heard her.

“Whose is it?”

Sophia’s face became strangely serious.

“The person who sent me the first anonymous warning about Emma.”

I went cold.

Vanessa answered the call.

She didn’t even manage to say hello.

A man’s distorted voice came through loudly enough for those nearest to her to hear.

“You idiot.”

Vanessa turned white.

“I did exactly what you told me!”

The entire field froze.

Her eyes widened.

She realized what she’d just said.

Too late.

The voice continued:

“You were supposed to ruin Emma Walker’s reputation.”

Vanessa looked at me.

And for the first time that day, I understood something terrifying.

Vanessa hadn’t started this.

She had only been the person willing to carry it out.

The voice on the phone gave a low laugh.

“Now you’ve exposed both of us.”