This Time, I’m the Fool Chapter 08
Chapter 8 When the Mask Finally Slipped
When I returned to the dorm, Maisie was, as expected, in the middle of a meltdown. She was screaming
like she’d lost her mind, smashing and throwing things everywhere.
The moment she saw me, she went berserk, shrieking at the top of her lungs, “Naomi Forest! You stole my
persona, and now you’ve stolen my man! Just you wait–even if it kills me, I’ll expose your true colors to
everyone!”
There was no one else in the room, so I didn’t bother playing dumb and simply smiled a little. That alone pushed her over the edge, and she flew into a full–blown rage, her screams growing sharper and more
hysterical.
From that moment on, Maisie and I were completely at war. And she began launching an aggressive pursuit of Vincent.
I heard she deliberately engineered all sorts of “coincidental” encounters around campus, repeatedly stopping Vincent to confess in increasingly dramatic ways. Every single time, she was met with the
same detached response: “Sorry. I already like someone else. Please stop bothering me.”
Later, Maisie changed tactics.
In front of him, she deliberately put on the innocent act. She “accidentally” bumped into him while eating
ice cream, “mistakenly” took his umbrella, and even “unplugged” his laptop at the library by accident. In
the end, Vincent completely lost his patience and snapped coldly, “If you have a problem, go see a doctor.
Don’t come looking for attention from me.”
Maisie’s face flushed bright red. She bit her lip and shouted back unwillingly, “But isn’t this your type?! Why does Naomi get a pass, but I don’t?! We went to the same high school, and you know that?! I’ve liked you since freshman year! I’ve liked you for five whole years!”
Vincent only responded curtly with, “You’re embarrassing yourself.”
In an instant, Maisie froze. Her entire world collapsed. And every bit of it was caught on camera by
passersby and uploaded to the campus forum.
‘Is she trying to copy Naomi? This is honestly hilarious.‘
‘This is just peak cringe.‘
‘She just looks like a knockoff.‘
‘I can’t even watch this, it’s so fake, hahaha.‘
‘I’m dying of secondhand embarrassment–this is so cringy!‘
Reading those merciless comments, I couldn’t help but laugh.
Maisie grew more and more resentful–rejected by classmates, isolated by roommates, and desperately
chasing a top student who wanted nothing to do with her–and her mind twisted further by the day. The
way she looked at me became increasingly venomous.
But after the painful lesson of my last life, I had been careful this time. Every personal item–my towel,
cup, toiletries–was locked away in my cabinet, leaving her no opening.
But one day, I deliberately “forgot” my cup on the desk.
Her eyes lit up. When no one else was around, she did exactly what she had done in my previous life and slipped sleeping pills into it. I pretended not to notice, but I didn’t drink it either.
When she realized her plan hadn’t worked, she came up with another idea–dropping toxic bacteria into
my cup. This time, I picked it up right in front of her, feigning complete ignorance.
Just as the corner of Maisie’s mouth lifted in secret satisfaction, I raised my head and stared straight at
her. My fingers loosened slowly, and the cup hit the floor, shattering as debris splashed everywhere.
I flashed her a strange smile and, under her suddenly terrified gaze, screamed at the top of my lungs,
Help!”
Maisie’s eyes flew wide open, her face contorting in sheer panic.
Roommates, classmates, even the dorm supervisor rushed in one after another.
“What happened? What’s going on?!”
I looked utterly shaken, my hands trembling as I stammered, “I–I saw Maisie put something strange into
my water!”
“Bullshit! I didn’t do anything!”
