Emma had exactly thirty-seven minutes to prepare for the performance of her lifetime.
She'd spent the morning doing reconnaissance—charming information out of nurses, studying her reflection, and most importantly, diving deep into Sophia's memories and phone. The device was a treasure trove of information, but not the kind she'd expected. Instead of the typical mean girl evidence, Emma found something far more interesting: draft messages never sent, deleted photos of happier times, and a hidden folder labeled "evidence" that contained screenshots of conversations that painted a very different picture of recent events.
The most recent scandal was still trending on social media platforms. Three days ago, Sophia had allegedly "viciously bullied" rising star student Melody Zhang at Imperial Arts Academy during what should have been a routine practice session. The headlines were brutal: "Starlight Heiress Turns Violent," "Sophia Chen's Jealous Rage," and Emma's personal least favorite, "When Rich Girls Attack: The Truth About Elite School Bullying."
But as Emma scrolled through Sophia's private messages and photo gallery, a different story emerged. Screenshots of conversations between Arthur Kim and various students, carefully orchestrated meetups, and most damning of all—a voice recording Sophia had secretly made during one of Arthur's "pursuit" attempts where he clearly outlined his real relationship with Melody.
Emma pieced together the real story through Sophia's fragmented memories and evidence collection. Arthur Kim, publicly pursuing Sophia while secretly dating Melody Zhang, had orchestrated an elaborate scheme. With the Rising Stars variety show audition approaching—a prestigious competition with only one spot available—Melody needed Sophia out of the picture. The rumor about Sophia being desperately in love with Arthur and jealous of his attention to Melody had been spreading for weeks, carefully planted and nurtured.
The "bullying" incident had been a setup from start to finish. Arthur had asked Sophia to meet him in Practice Room 7 under the pretense of "clearing the air" about the rumors. When she arrived, Melody was already there, and what followed was a carefully choreographed performance. Melody had provoked Sophia with increasingly personal attacks about her family, her character, and her "pathetic" feelings for Arthur, while Arthur recorded everything on his phone—but only Sophia's reactions, not Melody's instigation.
When Sophia finally snapped and grabbed Melody's wrist to stop her from leaving, Arthur had signaled his friends, who burst in at the perfect moment to witness Sophia apparently attacking a tearful, helpless Melody.
The original Sophia had tried desperately to explain what really happened to her family, but by then, the school had already called. Principal Morrison had personally spoken to David Chen about his daughter's "concerning behavior" and "unprovoked attack on a scholarship student." The optics were terrible—wealthy heiress bullying a talented girl from a modest background.
When the family refused to believe her, original Sophia had done what she always did when cornered: lashed out. She'd screamed, thrown things, called them all terrible names, and stormed out of the house in her car, straight into the path of an oncoming truck.
Emma absorbed all of this information with the detached analytical skills she'd developed from years of managing crisis situations in customer service. This wasn't just a simple misunderstanding—this was a calculated character assassination designed to eliminate competition.
The sound of expensive shoes clicking down the hospital corridor interrupted her research. Emma quickly arranged herself into what she hoped looked like an appropriately devastated pose and waited.
The door opened, and the Chen family filed in like they were attending a funeral rather than visiting their injured daughter.
David Chen entered first, his face grim with the kind of controlled anger that suggested serious consequences were coming. His usually immaculate appearance showed signs of stress—tie slightly askew, hair not perfectly styled.
Elena Chen followed, her legendary composure cracked with worry and disappointment. Her eyes were red-rimmed, suggesting she'd been crying, but her posture remained regal despite everything.
Marcus, the eldest, looked like he was ready to handle a corporate crisis, his expression coldly professional. Liam appeared quietly devastated, his musical sensitivity making him more affected by family discord than his brothers. Julian seemed torn between concern and frustration, his usual charm replaced by weary resignation.
But it was Ethan who looked the angriest. As a senior at Imperial Arts Academy, he'd been there when the scandal broke. He'd seen the video footage, heard the whispers, watched his family's reputation take another hit because of his sister's alleged behavior.
The silence stretched uncomfortably until David finally spoke.
"Sophia." His voice was carefully controlled, the tone he used in difficult board meetings. "The school called us."
Emma let her face crumple slightly, genuine emotion mixing with calculated vulnerability. "Dad, I—"
"Principal Morrison told us what happened," Elena interrupted, her voice strained. "He said you attacked Melody Zhang during practice. That there were multiple witnesses."
"It wasn't like that," Emma said softly, letting desperation creep into her voice. "Please, you have to listen to me. Arthur and Melody, they—"
"Don't." Ethan's voice cut through the room like a blade. "Don't you dare try to blame this on them. I was there, Sophia. I saw the aftermath. Melody was crying, her wrist was bruised, and you were screaming like a maniac."
Emma's heart sank as she realized how perfectly the setup had worked. Even Ethan, who should have known her better than anyone, believed the fabricated story.
"I saw the video everyone's posting," Julian added, his voice tired. "You grabbing her, her trying to get away. What were we supposed to think?"
"But that's not the whole story," Emma protested, letting her voice break slightly. "Arthur asked me to meet him. He said he wanted to clear up the rumors about me liking him, but when I got there—"
"The rumors that you've been obsessed with him for months?" Marcus asked coldly. "The ones everyone's been talking about?"
Emma could see it in their faces—they'd already made up their minds. The accumulation of past incidents, the carefully planted rumors, and the damning video evidence had created a perfect storm of disbelief.
"Sweetheart," Elena said, and despite the disappointment in her voice, the endearment made Emma's chest tight. "You've put us in an impossible position. Principal Morrison is considering expulsion. The media is having a field day. Our family's reputation—"
"I know," Emma whispered, tears gathering in her eyes—real tears, born from the crushing weight of being disbelieved when telling the truth. "I know you don't believe me. I can see it in your faces."
The family exchanged uncomfortable glances. They'd expected anger, denial, more dramatic accusations. This quiet acceptance was unsettling.
"Maybe," David said carefully, "it would be best if you took some time to think about your actions. Really consider what happened and why."
Emma nodded, not trusting her voice. She could feel them slipping away, their love and trust eroded by months of careful manipulation she'd had no part in creating.
"We'll discuss your future at Imperial Arts Academy once you're discharged," Marcus added. "Depending on the school's decision and your behavior moving forward."
"The discharge papers will be ready tomorrow morning," Elena said, standing. "We'll... we'll figure out what comes next then."
As they began to file out, Emma called softly, "I love you all. And I'm sorry you can't believe me."
The words hung in the air like a benediction and an accusation rolled into one. Elena's step faltered slightly, but she didn't turn back.
Once alone, Emma allowed herself exactly sixty seconds to feel the full weight of the situation. The original Sophia had been trapped in a web of lies, isolated from her family by people who systematically destroyed her credibility until even the truth sounded like manipulation.
But Emma Lin hadn't survived twenty-two years of impossible situations by giving up when things looked hopeless.
She pulled out Sophia's phone and got to work.
Emma's fingers flew across the keyboard as she accessed systems she hadn't touched since her part-time hacking days in her previous life. Working three jobs hadn't left much time for hobbies, but late-night coding sessions had been her escape from the grinding reality of poverty. She'd made decent money helping small businesses recover lost data and occasionally... acquiring information that wasn't strictly public.
Imperial Arts Academy's security system was impressive but not impenetrable. The school prided itself on its state-of-the-art facilities, which included comprehensive CCTV coverage of all common areas and practice rooms. Emma knew that Practice Room 7 would have been monitored—the question was whether the footage still existed and how much it would reveal.
She created a secure connection through multiple proxy servers, covering her digital tracks with muscle memory that surprised her. Sophia's memories provided the school's network details, faculty passwords that had been carelessly shared, and the layout of the digital infrastructure.
The first breakthrough came after two hours of careful infiltration. Practice Room 7's camera had indeed captured the entire incident, but more importantly, it had captured the fifteen minutes leading up to it. Emma watched with growing fury as the real story unfolded on her screen.
Arthur arriving early, setting up his phone at a specific angle. Melody entering and the two of them kissing passionately before quickly separating and staging themselves. Arthur texting someone—presumably his friends who would later serve as "witnesses." The casual way they discussed their plan, voices too low for the original recording to capture clearly but their body language telling the entire story.
Then Sophia's arrival, her confused expression as she found Melody there. The conversation Emma couldn't quite make out, but she could see Melody's aggressive posture, her finger jabbing toward Sophia, her mouth moving in what were clearly insults. Sophia backing away, hands raised defensively, until finally grabbing Melody's wrist in desperation as the girl turned to leave.
And then, like clockwork, Arthur's friends bursting in at the exact moment Sophia made contact, their phones already recording.
But the CCTV footage was just the beginning. Emma's deeper dig into the school's servers revealed something even more damning: Arthur's deleted email drafts. The boy had been careless, using the school's email system to coordinate his plan. Even deleted, the messages were recoverable with the right tools.
"Phase 1 complete - rumors spreading nicely. Time for Phase 2," read one draft to Melody. "Make sure you provoke her enough to react but don't let it look intentional. Remember, scholarship girl vs rich brat - optics are everything."
Another draft, never sent: "Got the room booked. Make sure the camera angle doesn't catch you starting anything. I'll have the guys ready to walk in on cue."
Emma felt sick reading them, but she carefully compiled everything into a comprehensive file. The CCTV footage, the recovered emails, screenshots of deleted social media conversations between Arthur and his friends, and even bank records showing payments made to several students around the time the rumors started spreading.
As the sun began to set outside her hospital window, Emma prepared her masterstroke. She uploaded the evidence to a secure cloud server, edited the CCTV footage to clearly show the timeline of events, and crafted her post for Weibo.
The message was simple, devastating, and calculated to evoke maximum sympathy:
"I know most of you won't believe me because I haven't given you reason to trust me before. But sometimes the truth is simpler than the lies that surround it. I was set up, and I have proof. I'm sharing this not for sympathy, but because Melody Zhang and Arthur Kim shouldn't be allowed to destroy other people's lives for a competition spot. The Rising Stars audition should be about talent, not manipulation. I hope this evidence speaks louder than my past mistakes."
She attached the compiled evidence, tagged only Melody Zhang, and hit post.
Within minutes, her phone exploded with notifications. The video footage was being shared, analyzed, and dissected across multiple platforms. Comments poured in as people realized they'd been manipulated into supporting a calculated lie.
"Holy shit, Arthur set this whole thing up!"
"Look at them kissing before Sophia even arrives - they planned this!"
"The emails are damning - this was about the Rising Stars audition the whole time."
"Melody provoked her first - you can see it clear as day in the footage."
"Arthur's friends were ready with their phones - this was all staged!"
Emma watched the narrative shift in real-time. The same people who had condemned Sophia Chen three days ago were now rallying to her defense, furious at being deceived. Hashtags began trending: #SophiaWasFramed #MelodyAndArthurExposed #RisingStarsScandal.
Her phone rang. David Chen's name appeared on the screen.
"Hello, Dad," Emma answered quietly.
"Sophia." His voice was strained, confused. "We... we saw your post. The evidence. Is this real?"
"Every bit of it," Emma replied, letting exhaustion color her words. "I tried to tell you, but I understand why you couldn't believe me. I haven't exactly earned your trust."
A long pause. "We're coming back to the hospital."
"You don't have to," Emma said, though her heart leaped. "I know you need time to process everything."
"Sophia," David's voice was rough with emotion, "if this is true... if we failed to believe you when you were telling the truth..."
"You're my family," Emma said simply. "I'll always love you, even when you can't trust me. I just hope someday I can earn that trust back."
As she hung up, Emma looked out at the city lights beginning to twinkle in the darkness. Phase one was complete—the truth was out, her reputation was on its way to recovery, and her family was coming back.
But this was just the beginning and we don"t know what is coming next. Melody Zhang and Arthur Kim had made the mistake of targeting Emma Lin wearing Sophia Chen's face. They'd expected a spoiled rich girl who would crumble under pressure.
Instead, they'd awakened someone who had spent her entire life turning impossible situations to her advantage.
The heart monitor beeped steadily beside her, marking the rhythm of a new life beginning. Outside her window, social media was in chaos, her family was racing back to her side, and two manipulative students were about to learn that some people were far more dangerous than they appeared.
Emma Lin had officially entered the game.