Thanks for Pushing Me Off the Roof Chapter 05
Maren’s POV
Declan’s mom is right behind her, still shouting. “I knew it from the start
you pay for it.”
I don’t move. I don’t even blink.
–
you’ve always been calculating. And today I’m going to make
Before either of them can get anywhere near the stage, two of my dad’s security guards step out from the side and block them.
‘I dare anyone in this room to lay a hand on my daughter.”
My dad walks up to the stage and puts himself between me and the crowd. My mom follows right behind him, expression cold, eyes sweeping the room.
The security guard shoves Nash’s mom back and she nearly loses her footing. She wheels on my dad. “Your daughter messed with my son’s application. You need to answer for that. Right now.”
“An explanation. Absolutely. Let’s do that.” My dad glances at me and nods.
I pull a flash drive out of my pocket and hand it to the nearest staff member, still standing there looking stunned. ‘Can you plug this in and pull up the video?”
The screen flickers.
Then the computer lab appears.
Across the room, Fern goes white. Her whole body shakes.
The audio comes through loud and clear.
“Maren, stop fighting it. We’re doing this for you.” Nash’s voice fills the room, loud and smug.
On screen, Nash has both hands on my shoulders, holding me down. Fern sits at my computer, smiling like she’s won something, fingers flying across the keyboard.
“Done.” On-screen Fern looks up, wearing that same innocent expression. “You only get one submission, remember? Guess we’re going to
the same school after all.”
The video ends.
The room is completely silent. Just the hum of the AC.
Every lie, every act. Gone.
The two women who were just screaming at me stand there with their mouths open, all the fight drained out of them.
They get it now. It wasn’t me who ruined their sons. It was their sons. And the girl they’d been feeling sorry for all night.
“No… that’s not… just let me explain…” Fern reaches for Nash’s mom’s arm, voice already dropping into that soft, pleading tone.
Nash’s mom turns around and slaps her across the face. Full force. Fern hits the floor.
“You manipulative little – you dragged my son down with you. You ruined him!”
She lunges at her, gets on top of her, and goes for her hair. Fern is on the ground, shrieking, trying to cover her head. Declan’s mom comes in from the other side, red-faced, grabbing at her hair.
“Give back every cent you took from my son. Every single cent.”
Nash and Declan stand a few feet away and watch. Neither of them says a word.
Security breaks it up. The police show up not long after. Both moms get escorted out for assault, and Fern gets taken to the hospital, face swollen beyond recognition.
I think that’s the end of it.
I’m wrong.
Three days later, a video starts making the rounds on social media. The title reads: “EXPOSED: Wealthy girl uses family connections to ruin my life and bury the truth.”
Fern is in a hospital gown, bandages on her head, crying so hard she can barely get the words out. She talks about years of bullying, claims my family paid someone to fake the security footage, the whole thing just a setup to cover up what I really did.
“I’m just a regular girl,” she says at the end, staring into the camera. “I don’t have money. I don’t have connections. This is the only way I
know how to fight back.”
