Karma Wears DesignerChapter 3

Bella blinked her watery, doe-like eyes, speaking in a soft, trembling voice.

"I gave my best friend a Louis Vuitton bag. She didn't want it, which is fine, but she tried to give it away to humiliate me. I couldn't stop her..."

Bella choked back a sob. Seeing her act so righteously, the rest of the class jumped in to defend their queen:

"Yeah! It’s Harper Vance! She’s trying to start drama. Bella was just being nice!"

"That fat loser’s backpack is literally falling apart, and she still acted stuck up. I think she’s trying to frame us!"

"Harper’s just jealous because she’s ugly and broke. She’s always sabotaging Bella."

"She’s a sociopath! She bullies people all the time behind the teachers' backs!"

"Bella fainted from the stress! Please, President, put all the penalty points on Harper Vance!"

They piled on, throwing every insult they could think of, dumping all the blame squarely on my shoulders.

No one noticed that Bella had inched closer to Chase.

She reached out, her fingers lightly grazing the hem of his blazer—a calculated move of vulnerability.

"President, please," she whispered. "Don't punish the class. Our homeroom teacher will kill us."

Chase looked down at her. His cold, indifferent gaze seemed to soften. The tips of his ears turned a faint shade of pink.

"Where is this Harper Vance?"

"Right there!"

Without warning, someone shoved me hard from behind.

I stumbled, unable to catch my balance, and face-planted right at Chase Montgomery’s feet in a pathetic sprawl.

Cruel, sharp laughter erupted around the room. I gasped in pain, feeling the skin on my palms scrape raw against the floor.

"Oops! Wow, Harper, so clumsy. Why are you crawling on the floor? You’re embarrassing the whole class."

I gritted my teeth and scrambled up, ready to defend myself.

But Chase had already made his judgment. He lifted his pen, writing as he spoke, his voice dripping with disdain.

"Harper Vance. Bullying classmates. Disruption of order. Twenty points deducted from your personal record. You are barred from all merit awards until graduation."

He didn't even look at me.

"If you have an objection," he added coldly, "bring the security footage to the Dean's office."