Chapter 6

That evening, Sarah messaged me saying another thread had blown up on campus social media.

Someone had posted evidence showing the thugs who trashed my cart were paid off by a third party.

The comments instantly descended into chaos, opinions splitting down the middle.

I glanced at it once and put my phone away.

The breaking point hit Wednesday afternoon.

Three students were rushed to the campus health clinic almost simultaneously, suffering from violent vomiting, bloody diarrhea, and dangerously high fevers.

The doctor quickly diagnosed acute food poisoning caused by severely rancid meat.

The news spread through the university like wildfire.

Within thirty minutes, an angry, terrified mob of students surrounded Brenda’s cart.

Brenda stood in the center, weeping hysterically, tears streaming down her wrinkled cheeks.

"How could I ever sell bad food to you lovely children?! I'm just an old woman trying to make an honest living!"

"Someone is framing me! It has to be!"

Suddenly, she whipped her head around, pointing a trembling finger straight at me.

"It was Lauren Hall! She was insanely jealous of my business! She must have poisoned my meat prep when I wasn't looking!"

Instantly, dozens of suspicious, hostile eyes locked onto me.

"Wait, she did say the turkey legs were fake before..."

"Holy shit, it was her! It's revenge!"

"That's fucking evil! Poisoning innocent students just to settle a petty score?!"

Fatty shoved his way to the front, screaming in my face, "Are you even human?! Kids are in the hospital right now, are you happy?!"

I slowly set down my potato peeler, stood up, and walked calmly over to Brenda.

"Brenda," I said evenly.

"You're claiming I tampered with your food. How about you and I walk down to the security office right now and pull the street camera footage? Do you dare?"

Every drop of color drained from Brenda’s face.

"Y-You... you monster..."

She dramatically clutched her chest, her knees buckling as she slumped backward.

"You're trying to kill an old woman... I have a heart condition! I'm sixty years old, why are you doing this to me?!"

Several panicked students rushed forward to catch her.

"Lauren, back the fuck off!"

"You're giving her a heart attack, you psycho!"

"Get the hell out of here!"

I didn't budge. I just stood there, staring coldly at her pathetic theatrical performance.

"Brenda, the surveillance camera is mounted right on that traffic pole. It takes three minutes to pull the tape."

"If you're really innocent, let's go clear your name right now."

"Or could it be..."

I paused, locking eyes with her. "You don't dare?"

Brenda’s hand clutched over her chest began to tremble uncontrollably.

Murmurs started rippling through the crowd.

"Wait... she's right. The street cam overlooks both carts."

"Yeah, checking the footage would settle it instantly..."

"Settle what?! Can't you see Brenda is literally collapsing?!" Fatty yelled back defensively.

Right at that moment, an authoritative voice cut through the noise from the edge of the crowd.

"There's no need to walk over."

Professor Vance stepped forward, flanked by two uniformed campus police officers.

He held up a black flash drive.

"I’ve already pulled and reviewed the footage from the past seventy-two hours."

The remaining color on Brenda’s face vanished into ash.

"Ms. Brenda Miller," Professor Vance said, his voice ringing with cold authority. "Would you care to step inside and watch it with us?"

I watched as her legs gave out completely.

And then, she collapsed flat onto the pavement.

Everyone froze, staring at her.

The air hung dead silent for two full seconds.

Suddenly, she snapped her head up, her bloodshot eyes glaring at me with unadulterated venom.

It was the exact same murderous glare from my past life.

"It's you!"

Her voice went completely shrill, screeching like grinding metal.

"You ruined me! You should have stayed dead in the first place!"