A Sharp Tongue for My Sister’s JusticeChapter 1
Veronica's POV
I’ve always had a sharp tongue. I love poking at people’s weak spots and spreading rumors.
When Laura Holt insulted my mom, saying she only gives birth to “losers,” I grabbed a megaphone and went straight to the village square, shouting, “Laura’s two sons: one looks like that butcher over in the east, the other like that carpenter in the west.”
That night, her husband took the night train home, dragged her to file for a divorce.
Another incident. Thomas Clark thought he was untouchable because he was the village secretary, so he grabbed half of our homestead.
In retaliation, I started whispering rumors about him everywhere. “Thomas sneaks into widows’ houses late at night. But he got cornered by the old woman’s mother-in-law in the woodshed and only got away after giving ten bucks.”
Within two weeks, he was removed from his post and avoided me every time.
But because of my big mouth, the village held grudges against me, so they slipped pesticides into our well every so often. Once, our wheat, which had just begun to sprout, burned up because of it.
Terrified I’d get us more trouble, my parents borrowed fifteen grand and sent me abroad. That trip lasted ten years.
Until one day, my mom called me, crying. “Your sister got into Horizon University, but those kids at school made up nasty rumors about her. They took nude photos of her and even pushed her down the stairs, causing her to hit her head. Until now, she’s still unconscious.”
Right after that call, I immediately bought a ticket and flew home.
With my twin sister’s student ID tucked in my pocket, I walked through the gates of Horizon University.
If the small-town test-prep kids had tormented the town nerds, they weren’t about to come after me, the town gossip queen.
——
But no sooner had I entered the classroom than someone dumped a bucket of red paint over me.
“Oh look, our famous ‘jumped-off-the-building’ influencer is back! I thought you were dead.” Renee Whitmore pushed forward with a cluster of friends, dipping a fingertip in the red paint on my sleeve and mocking, “So tell me, which is redder, this paint, or the blood from that night when a few big guys took her virginity?”
The crude comment set the boys laughing.
One of them even slunk over with a leering grin. “Elodie, your video was pretty hot. Wanna do something more… private with me?"