Three Years Too Late Chapter 06
I was shaking with rage.
Completely losing it, I grabbed a handful of her hair, slapped her hard across the face, and screamed every insult I could think of.
“You bitch! You cunt!
“I want you dead!”
A second later, Kellen burst into the room.
A second later, Kellen burst into the room.
He shoved me back hard, shielding Denise behind him, and yelled, “Jazlynn, what are you doing?”
Through my tears, I immediately repeated everything Denise had just confessed to me.
Kellen scowled.
“That’s enough,” he snapped. “Stanford’s grad school admissions process is strictly regulated, and Prof. Stapleton is known for being completely impartial. Why would he deliberately sabotage you?
“Even if you’re upset and hate Deny, you can’t just make up lies to ruin someone’s reputation out of spite.”
Denise cupped her swelling cheek.
All of her earlier arrogance was totally gone. She looked up at me timidly, her voice fragile.
“Jazlynn, you didn’t get in because you simply weren’t qualified. It has nothing to do with me.
“Please don’t falsely accuse my uncle.
“He’s been teaching for decades, and his reputation shouldn’t suffer just because you’re jealous.”
Kellen looked at me with pure disgust.
He wrapped an arm around Denise and walked away.
I collapsed onto the floor, watching them leave, shivering from the shock of it all.
After that day, Kellen froze me out completely—probably trying to teach me a lesson.
I just went through the motions, pouring all my focus into my upcoming graduation, and stopped trying to reach out to him.
I kept catching myself thinking that our relationship was already over anyway, and that being with him just wasn’t worth it anymore.
Then, on the day I got my degree, Dad suddenly collapsed from a severe illness.
I called Kellen to ask for help, but he flatly turned me down.
Shortly after, Dad passed away.
Right before he died, he squeezed my hand and said, “Don’t tell Kel about this yet. He has a very bright future ahead of him, and I don’t want to distract him.”
I closed my eyes and sobbed.
I desperately wanted to tell Dad that Kellen already knew—and that he’d refused to lend us the money for the surgery.
I wanted to tell him that Kellen was an incredibly ungrateful, selfish person.
But looking down into Dad’s hopeful eyes, I swallowed my words and just nodded.
After arranging the funeral, I texted Kellen to officially break up with him. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t reply.
Before I could even begin to process my grief, an audio recording leaked online.
It was a clip of me screaming insults at Denise and hurling accusations at Marcus.
Denise chopped up a video clip and posted it online, playing the ultimate victim as she begged the internet to clear her name.
It didn’t take long for people to dox me.
Out of nowhere, thousands of vicious comments flooded my feeds.
“She’s disgusting. She failed her entrance exams because she’s incompetent, and now she’s spreading lies about a perfectly good professor.”
“I took Prof. Stapleton’s class. He’s a genuinely good guy. Definitely not the type to cheat for his own gain.”
“Denise is way too nice. I would’ve called the cops and pressed charges by now.”
“Her name’s Jazlynn, and she goes to some no-name college. We need to make sure she gets blacklisted from everywhere else.”
“Wait, I heard she used an old favor to blackmail some guy. She wanted another girl’s boyfriend and forced her way in as the side piece.”
“The absolute audacity. She needs a serious reality check; she’s way out of her league.”
For months, I was too terrified to leave the house or even look at my phone.
I locked myself in my bedroom.
At my absolute lowest, I couldn’t even handle having the blinds open.
I still didn’t really know how I survived it.
The stress broke me to the point where I had to get into therapy and go on meds for a few months.
But since I was practically broke, the treatment didn’t last long.
My mental health was all over the place for the next two years.
It wasn’t until six months ago that a friend hooked me up with a job at this cat cafe.
The pay is garbage, but it finally gave me a normal routine again.
I didn’t dare hope for much else.