The woman held her daughterâs hand tightly and had a pained look on her face. She sighed deeply, then began to weep, âMarissa, hereâs what happened. Weâre locals from Sunshine Village. Once upon a time, my daughter Rosie and Ellinor were schoolmates at the same high school in townâ
Ellinor, sitting next to Marissa drinking coffee, looked up at the mention of this. Marissa nodded, âSo your daughter and Ellinor were high school buddies. Whatâs next? The woman went on, âBack in high school, Ellinor was a real slacker. She played hooky a lot and was always hanging around with some bad apples.â
Marissa raised an eyebrow, not quite buying it. She glanced at Ellinor, who seemed nothing like a troublemaker.
â
Ellinor remained nonchalant. She even had a slight smirk on her face as she sipped her coffee, like she didnât have a care in the world.
The woman continued, âOn the day of the entrance exams, my daughter Rosie showed up to take every single test.
Rosie was always the cream of the crop, the golden girl everyone at school had their money on. But when it came time to check the results, Rosieâs grades were nowhere to be found.
We were dumbfounded and went to the school to demand answers, but the school board just gave us the runaround and couldnât give us a straight answer As plain folks, we were left with no choice but to accept it. Since then, Rosie hasnât gone back to school. She stays at home, helping us with the farmâ¦â
At this point, the woman started to choke up, and the girl next to her whimpered.
Marissa felt sympathy for the womanâs daughter but was confused. âWhy are you telling me this? What has Ellinor got to do with your daughterâs misfortune?â
The woman looked up, glaring at Marissa. âOf course thereâs a connection! Itâs because of her! Ellinor took my daughterâs place and went to Creston University using Rosieâs exam scores. My daughter had no school to go to because of her!â
Marissa looked shocked, âWhat? How could that be possible?â
The woman wiped away her tears, âMarissa, we only found out the truth recently. On the day of the entrance exam, Ellinor never even showed up!
Turns out, her rich boyfriendâs dad pulled some strings, rigged the whole thing, and allowed her to get into one of the top universities in the country, Creston University, using my daughterâs scores!
She, a slacker, got into a prestigious university, while my hardworking daughter couldnât go to school anymore and had to come back home to work on the farm. Rosieâs bright future was ruined; her lifeâs been messed up ever sinceâ¦â
As the conversation reached its climax, the woman started to weep while holding her daughter. Their grief was palpable.
Marissa, unsure of what to say, was about to speak when Ellinor gently laid her hand on hers.
Ellinor gave Marissa a small smile, then turned to the crying mother and daughter.
âLady.â Ellinor started, âBefore we discuss whether or not what you just said is true, I want to ask you a few questions. Is that okay?â