Chapter 30__The Crack Within The Storm (3)
At the De'ora mansion.
After the earlier conversation—
Kingsley soon left and went to the company while Lily sat quietly on the couch, her phone resting in her palm.
Ever since the rumors broke out, her heart knew no peace.
She hadn't been able to see Violet.
Hadn't been able to hold her. Hadn't even heard her voice.
The thought alone made her chest tighten.
After hesitating for a brief moment, Lily finally pressed the call button.
The phone rang once.
Twice.
Three times.
Just when she was about to lower it, thinking the call wouldn't go through—
"Hello, Mother."
Lily froze.
For a second, she couldn't even speak.
Then relief flooded her so suddenly her eyes burned.
"Violet…" Lily whispered. "Violet, dear."
She clutched the phone tighter. "How are you? I saw the rumors online—are you okay?"
"I'm okay, Mother," Violet replied softly. "Don't worry."
Lily's heart clenched.
"Violet," she said gently, her voice trembling, "you don't have to pretend to be strong with me, with us. You have me and your father. How can you be okay when something like this is happening?"
Her voice cracked.
"We tried calling you since the day before yesterday—when they asked us to leave. Your phone was off. The people at Migan City College even told your father we couldn't see you yet…"
Mother… don't worry," Violet said quickly, her tone earnest.
"It's for my sake. Because of everything going on online, I was advised to turn my phone off for a few days."
She paused, then added, "And about the rumors… don't worry. We already provided evidence that I didn't do it."
When Lily heard that, her breath hitched.
"You did?" she asked, stunned. "Really?"
"Yes," Violet replied. "We were able to gather some. It's just not enough yet—that's why it hasn't been released."
"But soon," she continued calmly, "both schools will release an official statement. So please, don't worry, Mother."
For a moment, Lily couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Thank God…" she murmured as tears streamed down her face, relief finally breaking through the fear she'd been holding back.
While Lily was crying,vira who was also feeling teary eyed couldn't help saying"host why are your parents so emotional,now she's making me want to cry too"
Violet smiled over viras antics,then tried to comfort Lily.
"Mom don't cry", said Violet
"I'm not crying", answered Lily trying to reassure Violet
After calming herself a little, she wiped her tears and asked softly,
"How… how were you able to gather the evidence?"
"Well," Violet said, "Principal Aiden, Miss Irena, my classmates… and others helped."
"Others?" Lily repeated gently.
Inside Violet's mind, Vira spoke up immediately.
Host, don't be shy. Go on—tell her.
"…Well," Violet hesitated, "Andrea helped too. And his friends."
"Andrea?" Lily asked, sounding momentarily confused—then realization dawned.
"Oh—do you mean the Mist family's son? The boy who gave you that whip you take around a few years back?"
She smiled faintly.
"It's been a long time since I last saw him."
Her tone turned playful.
"How is he?"
Violet stiffened.
"I… I don't know, Mother," she replied quickly. "Why are you asking?"
Lily chuckled.
"What do you mean you don't know? You just said he helped you. Yet you don't know how he's doing?"
She teased gently, "Did you even say thank you?"
"Mom…" Violet whined softly.
Inside her head, Vira burst out laughing.
Lily laughed too, the sound light and warm.
"Alright, alright," Lily said, trying to hold back her amusement.
"I won't tease you."
After a brief pause, her tone softened again.
"So… tell me," she said gently. "How did you gather the evidence?"
And Violet told her everything.
From the CCTV footage. To the west gate. To the people who stood by her.
As Lily listened, her heart slowly eased, knowing her daughter wasn't alone.
.
.
.
.
.
Meanwhile…
A few days later
Somewhere in Migan City—
Clara sat on the edge of her bed in the hotel room she was still staying in, her brows slightly furrowed.
It had been days.
Several days.
5 days to be exact.
And yet—nothing had happened.
No official statement. No downfall. No public condemnation beyond the usual noise.
"That's strange…" she murmured to herself.
Then she scoffed lightly.
"Maybe they are thinking of proofing violet innocent but they couldn't find any evidence, they wish," she thought, forcing herself to calm down.
As usual, she picked up her phone and went online—her daily ritual.
To watch people curse Violet.
The screen was filled with posts.
Anonymous Post:
Why are Migan City College and Imperial High still silent?
Are they trying to cover something up?
User_234:
Did Violet really steal the exam? Or are they hiding the truth?
Almost immediately, replies flooded in.
ClaraFan_01:
Are you blind? If it's not Violet in the video, then who is it?
ClaraFan_07:
Imperial High has always been shady. This just proves it.
ClaraFan_15:
She cheated. They're just buying time.
Clara laughed out loud.
Satisfied.
She scrolled a bit more, enjoying the chaos, before tossing the phone aside.
She took a shower. Ate. Went through her routine.
Then she picked up her phone again.
It was time to call her henchman.
Mr. Hales, The man who made all this possible.
She dialed.
No answer.
She frowned slightly and tried again.
Still nothing.
Once more.
Silence.
That was odd.
Clara slowly lowered the phone.
The strange feeling returned—
But this time, it was heavier.
Deeper.
Her chest tightened.
Something was wrong.
And for the first time since everything began—
Clara felt uneasy.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
On that very day.
At Migan City college.
Mr. Hales finally broke.
After hours of questioning, the truth was slowly dragged out of him, piece by piece.
It turned out that he had been in contact with Julia (Clara) as far back as three months before the competition.
He was a devoted fan of hers.
Every single day, Clara posted videos online in her inner fan club Whatsapp—crying, injured, claiming she was being bullied. Bruises. Scratches. Tearful captions. Stories about how cruel Violet is to her and her friends, and then tell her inner fans to keep it a secret.
What people didn't know was the truth.
Whenever Violet was bullied by those girls, Clara would turn around and claim she was the victim instead.
When April and Victoria fought back, those same girls ran straight into Clara's inner fanbase—of course, under Clara's instruction—pretending to be her "friends." Together, they twisted every story, turning the real victims into villains and the culprits into pitiful martyrs.
That was how Julia's inner fans came to believe that Violet had been bullying Julia for months.
And so, in the name of "justice," revenge began to take shape.
When Clara openly said she wanted revenge in the group, Mr. Hales was the one who offered his help.
After all, he worked at Migan City College.
And to make the lie believable… they didn't need much.
The two girls already looked alike.
All Clara had to do was act.
She entered the teachers' office, deliberately looked around, moved cautiously, made sure to appear suspicious—and then took photos of the exam questions.
After she left, Mr. Hales erased every CCTV recording that could expose her.
Every single one—
Except the footage inside the teachers' lounge.
The perfect trap.
On the day Imperial High won, it was Mr. Hales who anonymously sent the video to the principal, ensuring the scandal exploded at the worst possible moment, if even imperial high didn't win, he still would have done the same.
As for the microphone—
That had been planted to reassure Clara.
To let her know exactly what decisions were being made.
To hear Violet's fate with her own ears.
Once everything was recorded, Mr. Hales planned to listen to it first—
Then send it to Julia.
As a birthday present.
Since her birthday is a few weeks later, her real birthday.
Only the inner fans knows that.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
When the information was finally extracted from Mr. Hales, the atmosphere in Rowans office changed completely.
Rowan sat still for a long moment after hearing everything.
The collaboration.
The manipulation.
The claim of being bullied.
His expression darkened.
"This…" Rowan said slowly, rubbing his temple, "this was planned far earlier than I imagined."
He turned toward Aiden and explained everything they had pulled out of Mr. Hales—
his contact with Clara,
the staged footage,
the cleared CCTV,
the planted microphone.
Aiden listened without interrupting, his face growing colder with every word.
When Rowan finished, Aiden turned toward Miss Irena.
"Miss Irena," he asked calmly, "about the bullying Julia claimed—what do you know?"
Miss Irena who felt agitated about the lies hesitated for only a second before answering honestly.
"All the bullying incidents Julia posted online," she said, "were all done from the student in her own classroom to Violet. Violet and her friends just retaliated."
She lowered her gaze slightly.
"In fact… most of the time, Violet was the one being targeted. Julia's class simply twisted the narrative."
Aiden exhaled slowly.
Then he turned back to Rowan.
"She framed Violet long before this competition," he said firmly. "This wasn't revenge. It was preparation."
Rowan's fists clenched.
"I'll make sure this doesn't stay buried," he said. "Migan City College will release a statement."
When Andrea learned everything later that night—
Mr. Hales' confession,
Melissa's recording which Principal Aiden already retrieved,
and Julia's deliberate framing—
Something dark stirred in his chest.
For a brief moment, the urge to destroy her rose sharply.
His fingers curled.
Then—
He closed his eyes.
Not yet, he told himself.
Be patient.
Calm down.
After a while, he reached for his phone and called Violet.
.
.
.
.
.
The phone rang a few times before she picked up.
"Hello?" her voice came softly.
Andrea's shoulders relaxed the moment he heard her.
"Wife," he said quietly.
"What do you want?" she replied rolling her eyes ,annoyed, but a faint smile was already forming in her voice.
"I just wanted you to hear this from me," he said. "The evidence is complete."
There was a pause.
Then—
"Complete, what do you mean?" Violet whispered.
"Yes," Andrea answered gently. "We've gathered the evidence and the statement will be released tomorrow."
For a moment, she didn't speak.
He could hear her breathing on the other end.
"…Really?" she asked softly,suprised, as if afraid the word might break.
"Really," he replied. "You're safe now."
Her voice trembled slightly.
"Thank you," she said. "For everything."
Andrea smiled faintly, leaning back in his chair.
"I told you," he said softly. "You belong to me, I won't let anyone touch you."
Violet's heart stopped,then skipped fast,her face turning red.
Vira couldn't help but tease: "oooohhhh, love is in the air".
Violet flustered wanting to escape quickly said
"…Good night, Andrea."
"Good night," he replied. "Sleep well."
The call ended.
And for the first time that night—
Violet couldn't deny or downplay what she was feeling.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
That night, Violet sat alone by the dorm window.
The campus lights below were quiet, almost peaceful.
She reminisced about all that happened this few days until now, about her talk with Andrea .
About the way both the principals, miss irena, Andrea,Emery, Her friends,vJeff and Melissa (even though they were unexpected),and her parents stood by her.
She feels so grateful.
She feels so happy,so thankful about how her name will be cleared tomorrow.
And yet… her chest still felt heavy.
She hugged her knees, resting her chin on them.
She couldn't help but think about her so called twin
"So this is how it happened…" she murmured softly.
Not just jealousy.
Not just hatred.
But lies—layered carefully, patiently, until they almost became the truth.
She couldn't deny, that was smart.
She couldn't deny, Julia almost won.
if it wasn't for the others, she's not sure she would be able to clear herself.
Vira was quiet for once.
Then, softly:
Host… you didn't break, although it was unexpected, you did well,you didn't break.
Violet blinked, surprised.
"Indeed Clara tried to crush you, She could have crushed you" Vira continued, but you're still here.
Violet smiled faintly.
"I didn't do it alone," she whispered.
"Yes you didn't".vira paused, "but that doesn't mean you did nothing".
The burnden just got lighter since you've them with you.
Hearing that
Andrea's face crossed her mind.
Miss Irena.
Emery.
Jeff.
Both the principals
Her parents.
Even Vira.
Slowly, she exhaled then whispered "Thank you".
"You're welcome host", replied Vira.
Tomorrow finally marks the end of this facade.