Chapter 50
[ So Rowenaâs â academic genius â persona is fake ? She cheats on exams and even gets others to help her ? Guess Ridgewood Middle School isnât as prestigious as it claims .
]
Meanwhile , many Ridgewood Middle School teachers were also watching the live broadcast , including some who had taught Rowena .
One of them quickly defended their institution : [ Cheating is impossible .
Each exam has two proctors .
If Elysia were truly so brilliant , why does she fail every test ? ]
[ Fine , Iâll wait to see who gets proven wrong .
But Iâm more curious â did Elysia really memorize those buyer details ? ]
[ Rowena said she didnât see them .
Maybe Elysia just made it up to shift the blame and avoid being detained .
]
Compared to the overwhelming skepticism from before , there was slightly less this time , but most remained silent .
Very few defended Elysia .
Even if people didnât want to admit Elysia was that kind of person â a liar with poor judgment â the negative impressions she had left on the public for years were hard to shake .
The biggest fallout was for Rowena, whose carefully curated image had shattered completely .
She was losing fans in droves .
[ Why do people believe Rowena when she denies things , but doubt Elysia no matter what she says ? Those mocking the Drayton familyâs blindness -how are you any different ? ]
Rowena considered denying further but quickly realized â so what if she swapped the notebook ? That coward Elysia wouldnât dare do anything her .
And so ,
she said bluntly :
Rowena said , â Hmph , I know what youâre trying to do .
That notebook had those traffickers â details , didnât it ?
to
â You just want to play the hero , make the cops praise you , and get attention from Dad and Mom .
Keep dreaming .
Now get back here and help me with my exam .
â
Elysia froze , stunned into silence for a long moment before she finally found her voice .
â So you did swap my notebook .
Rowena , this is the police station ! Do you realize ⦠â
Rowena said , â Are you stupid ? Iâm the most important daughter in the family , not a sneaky little mouse like you .
The police station is like private garden .
â And those cops ? The moment they see me , they act like lapdogs .
Who would dare stop me ? â
Rowenaâs words , dripping with arrogance , made the nearby officerâs expression grow increasingly grim .
â Rowena Drayton , â Elysia said , her voice trembling with anger â a first for her .
my
â That notebook had nothing to do with your ridiculous schemes ! It contained all the buyer details for the trafficked children I tracked down .
It took me so much time to gather that information , â Elysia said .
Her righteous fury made even the previously skeptical officer start to believe her .
Rowena , meanwhile , dismissed her with
a
sarcastic â Oh ? â
â Not my problem .
I threw it away .
Youâve got an hour before the exam starts â if you donât come back , youâll never see your momâs grave again .
Iâll dig up her ashes and feed them to the dogs .
Believe me ? â Rowena said .
Elysiaâs face paled at the threat .
Her fists clenched tightly , and her body shook with rage .
A soft , bitter laugh escaped her lips .
Her reaction was heartbreaking â like someone on the brink of collapse , desperately holding it together .
Finally , she took a deep breath and suppressed the overwhelming tide of emotion .
Her voice was firm as she said , â Rowena , I wonât help you this
time .
â Six hundred and twenty â nine children .
Thatâs six hundred and twenty â nine families .
And my mother ⦠Rowena , canât you even leave the dead in peace ? â
Elysiaâs final words were shouted with every ounce of strength she had .
As soon as they left her lips , her knees buckled , and she collapsed to the floor .
The officer rushed forward , intending assisting Elysia into a chair .
to
help her , but the phone â still connected â blared another stream of insults .
He hung up on Rowena before
â Thank you ⦠â Elysia rasped , her voice hoarse and weary .
Since the original notebook was lost , she resolved to rewrite it all from memory .
Closing her eyes , she mentally revisited each name and phone
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10:53 AM
Chapter 50
number .
To the officer , however , it looked as though she had succumbed to despair , overwhelmed by grief .
Without realizing it , his emotions were deeply affected by Elysia .
His eyes reddened as he thought about Rowena â the girl who had once cried herself unconscious over her missing brother .
The police thought , â How has that kind , empathetic child turned into someone who threatened to desecrate graves ? â
And Elysia â another Drayton child â was treated so differently , left to endure relentless bullying .
Not even her motherâs resting place had been shared with her .
â Child , can I meet your guardians ? â the officer said gently , crouching beside Elysia .
But Elysia , lost in her memories , didnât respond immediately .
[ This is the first time Iâve seen Elysia so heartbroken .
It must have been hard to admit her momâs passing .
]
[ But ignoring the officer ? Thatâs rude .
Heâs just trying to help .
]
[ If she has time to sit here wallowing , she might as well go help Rowena cheat .
At least then she could visit her momâs grave .
Honestly , even if she does have a photographic memory , a year has passed .
The evidence is gone .
Whoâs to say whatâs real ? Six hundred kids ? Really ? ]
As this comment appeared , a soft glow began radiating from the screen .
The glow expanded until , astonishingly , a stack of blank paper materialized out of thin air .
Black text floated in the air before settling onto the pages , forming rows of names and phone numbers .
[ Holy crap â magic ? I told you Elysia wasnât normal .
Sheâs totally from another world .
]
[ Magic ? Sheâs clearly an alien .
]
[ Terrifying .
I meant the traffickers , by the way .
Not Elysia .
Six hundred ruined families in ten years ? Itâs horrifying .
]
[ Wait , are we seeing what Elysia saw back then ? This feels less like a memory playback and more like a sci â fi movie .
]
A sharp , jarring sound broke the tense silence as the glow of the moment was abruptly extinguished .
It turned out to be Fenwick , who had shot up from his seat , causing his chair to topple to the ground with a resounding thud .
â Wait .
Could Elysia actually be an alien ? â Fenwick blurted out , only to suck in a sharp breath when he felt a swift kick to his leg .
Turning , he saw it was none other than Torin , whose heavy foot made it clear he wasnât amused .
â When Mom gave birth to Elysia , we were the first ones to go see her in the hospital ! Can you think before you speak ? And donât forget , weâre on a live broadcast , â Torin hissed , his tone laced with irritation .
He had barely managed to suppress the online buzz about the absurd rumor that Elysia had been born from a botched abortion attempt .
The last thing he wanted was to waste more time and effort shutting down a new conspiracy about her being an alien .
Torin turned his attention back to the screen , and what he saw made his breath catch .
Elysia had picked up a pen and was now furiously scribbling on the blank notebook .
Her movements were swift and precise , her hand gliding effortlessly across the pages .
In no time , the entire notebook was filled with elegant handwriting .
Around her , the number of police officers had grown .
They had instinctively formed a circle , standing in silence as they watched her write .
When Elysia finally stopped , she smiled faintly and said , â Six hundred and twenty â nine .
All here , none missing .
â
Her voice was calm , yet the weight of her words hung heavily in the air .
The police , however , remained frozen , staring at the notebook now packed with pages of information .
It wasnât just random scribbles â it was a meticulously detailed list of buyers involved in child trafficking .
If the information she wrote down proved accurate , it could lead to the rescue of at least 90 % of the missing children on the list .
This meant countless broken families might finally be reunited , and an untold amount of suffering could be brought to an end .
.
Meanwhile , a viewerâs comment appeared : [ Whoa , my dadâs name is on that list ! ⦠Good thing the phone number doesnât match .
Whew , false alarm .
But seriously , Elysia â this list looks fake .
]
That sounded plausible â until someone responded .
[ Kid , did it occur to you this isnât live ? Itâs a memory playback from nine years ago .
If your dadâs name were legit , the police wouldâve arrested him already .
]
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Chapter 50
[ OMG , is this person the â Innocent Dreamer â ? Kid , go get a DNA test with your parents stat .
]
The skepticism persisted : [ Thatâs such a long list .
Can Elysia really remember it all ? If sheâs this incredible , why wasnât she all over the news nine years ago ? ]
But moments later , Stoneford Police Departmentâs verified account posted :
While editing the promotional video , someone who was used to seeing the constant notifications in their mentions suddenly froze in confusion .
And then , a follow â up .
The Police Station : [ Confirmed : The list written by Elysia was entirely accurate , except for one traffickerâs updated phone number .
Of the 629 children , 628 have been found .
The last case remains unresolved .
We thank Elysia for her invaluable contribution .
]
The Police Station : [ Innocent Dreamer , please DM us immediately .
Your account is private , and we urgently need to speak with you .
] â
[ Wait â this is the person who promised to eat their desk if Elysiaâs memory was real ! Can the cops hold off ? Let them stream the desk â eating first ! ]
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