Chapter 5

The guard blocked her immediately.

"Miss, stay back! This dog just mauled someone. It's dangerous!"

"He didn't mean to!" Becca sobbed frantically. "That guy must have threatened him! Buster is the sweetest dog!"

The injured student's friend was shaking with rage.

"He was literally just walking by! You feed these wild dogs every single day, making them lose their fear of humans! Now someone is mutilated and you're blaming us?!"

The crowd of onlookers erupted. Many of them recognized Becca.

"Yeah, that's her. She always brings cafeteria scraps to feed them."

"I told her last week to stop feeding the strays before someone got hurt, but she just called me heartless."

Becca shrieked, throwing herself toward the guard.

"No!"

"If my selfish roommate had let me keep the puppy in our room, Buster wouldn't have gotten stressed and bitten anyone!"

"If you want to blame someone, blame Chloe!"

The guard's expression hardened.

"Miss, worry about yourself first."

Becca clung to her shivering, peeing puppy.

"You can't take him away from me!"

Some bystanders handed her tissues.

Others pulled out their phones, filming the entire drama.

In the end, Mrs. Davies moved me to an adjacent dorm building for the night.

"Stay here tonight, Chloe. First thing tomorrow morning, I'll personally expedite your room transfer."

The new dorm was clean, and the roommates seemed nice.

But by that afternoon, the campus forum was on fire.

【Compassionate feeding or inviting danger? Student severely mauled by stray dog on campus!】

In the comments, someone anonymously leaked that Becca had been hoarding and feeding strays on campus for months despite multiple warnings.

But very quickly, the narrative was spun.

A new post was pinned to the top of the forum:

【Exposing the cold-blooded roommate who got a sweet girl disciplined】

The post featured a photo of Becca crying beautifully, contrasted with a candid shot of my cold, expressionless face in the housing office.

"Breaking news! The girl who feeds the strays might get suspended, all because her roommate refused to let a puppy stay in their room!"

"Oh my god, is her roommate insane? Even if feeding strays isn't perfect, her intentions were pure!"

"Ruining someone's life just for your own convenience? That's sick."

Dozens of people started tagging my account, demanding answers.

Skylar, my new roommate, handed me her phone, looking incredibly awkward.

"Chloe... do you want to post a statement or something?"

In my past life, I had tried to explain.

I had posted my emergency room records, photos of my swollen throat, and details of my asthma attacks.

Nobody believed me. They called them fake.

My phone vibrated constantly with hateful Snapchat notifications and texts from the class group chat.

"Some people really love playing the victim. Running to the administration on day one just to feel powerful."

"We have to sit in the same lectures with her. How embarrassing."

"Since when is respecting life a crime?"

I quietly took screenshots of every single message and saved them to a secure folder.

Suddenly, there was a knock at my door.

I opened it. Becca stood there, cradling the puppy, looking pitiful.

"Chloe, please talk to me. The puppy missed you. He came to ask for your forgiveness."

Before I could speak, she grabbed my arm and shoved the dog directly into my chest.

My lungs instantly seized. I gasped, trying to push her away.

But Becca had freakish strength. She held onto me tightly, her eyes red.

"Just hold him! See how cute he is!"

A violent, uncontrollable cough ripped from my throat. I couldn't breathe.

"Get... away..."

Using every ounce of my remaining strength, I shoved her off me.

The startled dog tumbled to the floor, growling, and immediately lunged.

Becca lost her balance, crashing to the ground and screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Ahhh! Help me!"