Jiang Yue's steps faltered, her grip tightening around the phone until her knuckles turned white.
A cold, uneasy weight settled in her stomach.
Her voice cut through the roar of the gymnasium, sharp and unyielding. "What did you do, Yan Meixiu?"
Silence.
Only the sound of unsteady breathing on the other end of the line.
Then—a choked, barely audible sound, like someone struggling to hold back tears.
"I… I didn't mean to—" Yan Meixiu's voice wavered, raw with guilt.
Jiang Yue's patience snapped. "Yan Meixiu."
A pause.
Then, barely above a whisper—
"I put something in Jiang Xiu's water."
Jiang Yue stopped breathing.
For a second, the world around her blurred.
The deafening cheers, the echo of the emcee's voice, the bright stage lights—everything faded into a dull hum, distant and unimportant.
Her heartbeat pounded in her ears.
"…What?" Her voice was dangerously low.
