Moreover, not all impoverished students are chosen by them; the perpetrators deliberately select those who appear unable to resist, after constant observation, to torment.

At first, the victimized girls naively believed it was just an accident, with only one person involved. But then a second, a third, and even more appeared. By the time they were filled with regret, their courage had already been devoured by fear.

So they chose to compromise.

Yvonne Thornton was among the more unfortunate ones. Not only was her family poor, but her family relationships were also terrible. She had parents who favored sons over daughters, as well as a younger brother and a younger sister. Her parents showed no concern for her life, even withholding her subsidies to support her brother.

Because Yvonne Thornton did not comply with the school’s arrangements, she was subjected to various forms of pressure from the school. The overwhelming mental stress, with no outlet, led to a decline in her grades, a bleak future, and ultimately, she teetered on the edge of collapse.

At this point, Yvonne Thornton discovered that another impoverished student in the class also could not bear the school’s harassment. She had a good relationship with that girl, so she persuaded her to resist together.

She invited the man who had always wanted to harass her to a hotel, and after drugging and knocking him out, she stole information from his phone.

Her original intention was only to find some evidence to threaten him, but unexpectedly, she found direct evidence of his years of crimes.

The photos she found were extremely explicit and involved many people; once exposed, they would undoubtedly cause a huge uproar. The girl with her was frightened and tried to persuade her to give up.

That day, Yvonne Thornton left together with that girl and never returned. Before leaving, she gave the original photos to Nathan Sanders, asking her to keep them safe.

Later, news spread that Yvonne Thornton had jumped to her death. The surveillance footage provided by the school had obvious time tampering. Nathan Sanders knew something was wrong, but didn’t know how to handle it.

Those involved included her good friends, her classmates, and many other innocent and pitiful people. Some had already graduated and started new lives; this storm would undoubtedly drag them back into the whirlpool.

Those people pleaded with her humbly, crying to her, and Nathan Sanders fell into despair.

She didn’t want to hurt those people any further, but she couldn’t ignore Yvonne Thornton’s death either. In the end, her depression worsened, and she left the world in the cruelest way.

Before her suicide, she buried the photos left by Yvonne Thornton in the open space behind the school dormitory.

In her heart, she still hoped those criminals would receive the punishment they deserved.

After finishing the notebook, The Vault took a deep breath. She exited the interface and told Julian Grant the result.

The Vault: [File] I found the notebook that Nathan Sanders lost.

Julian Grant: ...I just left the courier company.

Julian Grant: Wait, you managed to find that too? [Unbelievable]

The Vault told Julian Grant about her search process.

Julian Grant began to question his life.

The Vault feigned modesty: It’s nothing, just lucky. Didn’t I say I’d carry you to victory?

Julian Grant: "..." But he really was just saying that.

The Vault: [Image] The address of that girl. She lives in the neighboring province; a round trip by car only takes six hours. After she packs and mails it to the police station, it’ll take one to two days.

Julian Grant: Okay, I’ll drive over to get the notebook now. [Smile] Give me a contact number. I’ll show up in front of her in three hours. Tell her to keep the item with her.

The Vault: Okay. I’ll go dig up the photos.

Julian Grant: Your suicide progress.

The Vault didn’t expect him to still be concerned about that at this point. She glanced at the character info and found that it had graciously dropped by 1%.

The Vault: 95%.

Julian Grant: Alright, I’ll be back as soon as possible. Be careful.

Julian Grant decided to drive to get the notebook, while The Vault slung on her backpack, preparing to return to school to collect evidence.

She had just stepped out of her room when she heard the sound of a key turning in the front door.

The Vault slowed her steps and soon saw an unfamiliar woman walk in.

A simple line of introduction floated beside her, with the system prompt: this was Wendy Ward’s mother.

~

Chapter 14, Second Update

The Vault’s eyebrows furrowed almost imperceptibly. Her instinct told her that a new character appearing at this time wouldn’t be a good thing, and she wasn’t used to dealing with family matters.

"Wendy Ward." Mrs. Wang roughly tossed her handbag onto the sofa, strode over barefoot, her voice filled with unconcealed anger. "What exactly are you trying to do!"

Her outburst was so direct that The Vault actually felt more at ease. Being yelled at, even the muscles in her shoulders relaxed.

Mrs. Wang rushed up to her, her face showing a kind of crazed agitation. The scent of cosmetics wafted over with her movements, along with her storm-like accusations.

"Today the school called me several times in a row. You’re really something, Wendy Ward—skipping class, fighting, even confronting the school leaders in public, and accusing the school of causing panic. What are you trying to do? Are you trying to make everyone’s life miserable?" Mrs. Wang ran her fingers through her bangs. "I work so hard to make money and support you. What do I ask of you? I just want you to attend classes quietly at school—is that so hard? Huh? Is it?! Can’t you be a little considerate of me?"

The Vault subtly took a step back, maintaining a certain social distance, and said, "What I said wasn’t slander, it was the truth. They couldn’t refute me, so they came to you."

"You still think you’re not wrong? Since starting senior year, how much trouble have you caused? Will you ever stop? Can’t you restrain yourself a little?" Mrs. Wang screamed hysterically. "Do you know what kind of looks I have to endure at work because of your classmate’s incident? And you’re still making trouble—do you want to give people more reasons to talk about you?"

The Vault: "Nathan Sanders didn’t die because of me. I just want to prove this. From beginning to end, it was all the school’s deliberate manipulation."

Mrs. Wang: "What are you trying to prove? You don’t need to prove anything, just study! You can’t convince everyone. The more you make a fuss, the more they’ll think you lack empathy, that you’re shirking responsibility. Can’t you just let things go?"

The Vault looked at her, a bit lost in thought. After a brief silence, she lowered her head, pursed her lips, and carefully chose her words: "Why? There’s a serious scandal at school. Nathan Sanders died because she knew the truth. If I ignore it, it won’t just go away. If no one stops them, those people will continue."

Mrs. Wang let out two hoarse cries, half laughing, half crying, then said, "So what if it’s true? Do you have evidence? Without evidence, it’s just slander! All the school leaders are old hands. If you go up against them, do you think you’ll get anything out of it?"

The Vault: "What I want is the truth, not benefits."

"How are you going to get the truth? Sue them? Are you still planning to go to school?" Mrs. Wang’s chest heaved violently, her arm pointing to the side. "Go out and ask around, see those people on the street—do you think they’ll believe those seemingly respectable intellectuals, or someone like you with a record of violence!"

The Vault tried her best to calm her down, speaking clearly: "I’m not violent. You should believe me."

"Does it matter if I believe you? I’m exhausted!" Mrs. Wang couldn’t listen at all, cutting her off before she finished. She raised a finger and waved it in front of The Vault: "You have one month, one month! If the school wants to ruin you, forget a month, even a day is enough to destroy your whole life! What other school would take you after that? Can’t you stop being so naive!"

"Naive?" The Vault laughed as well. "Even someone who isn’t naive, upon learning about the abuse of power and sexual assault against impoverished students at school, wouldn’t be able to stay calm."

Mrs. Wang’s explosive emotions were abruptly cut off. Her eyelids fluttered rapidly as she stared at The Vault in disbelief. After confirming she wasn’t joking, she instinctively swallowed.

"Not just one." The Vault enunciated each word. "There are multiple victims, long-term, group sexual assault incidents of extreme severity."

Mrs. Wang seemed to lose most of her strength, exhaustion washing over her in an instant. She turned around in confusion, then raised her hand to mess up her hair even more.

Her time spent thinking wasn’t actually long. Or rather, her years of life experience had already given her the best answer at the first moment. It was just her inner sense of social morality that made her hesitate a little.

Mrs. Wang faced Wendy Ward again, speaking seriously: "With so many people involved, why don’t they come forward themselves? Because they don’t want this exposed either. Do you think, by doing this, they’ll thank you? They’ll hate you! You’re just being self-righteous, don’t you get it!"

The Vault: "I don’t know if they’ll thank me, but those who haven’t been hurt yet definitely don’t want to face this in the future."

Their conversation slowed. Mrs. Wang needed to think before she could say the next sentence.

After a moment, Mrs. Wang asked, "How do you know?"

The Vault seemed not to have heard: "What did you say?"