Chapter 69
Layla took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. Her eyes were teary, but there was a growing strength from within, pushing her to speak.
"I," she started with a trembling voice, "never asked for this kind of life. Everyone at school sees me as trash, all because of one big lie spread by someone I thought was a friend."
Karl and Valencia listened attentively. Valencia crossed her arms, her eyes sharp as usual, but this time there was a hint of hidden sympathy behind her smile.
"When I was still in high school," Layla continued, "I was just a regular girl. I wasn’t smart, wasn’t outstanding, but I had dreams. I wanted to be a journalist. I liked writing, and I liked telling other people’s stories. But all of that was destroyed because of one vile rumor."
She paused for a moment, bowing her head, as if trying to gather strength to continue.
"They said I slept with my teacher. And even my own uncle."
Karl looked shocked, while Valencia just raised an eyebrow, seemingly trying to digest this information.
"At first, I didn’t believe the rumor would spread. I didn’t even know where it came from. But before I knew it, the whole school was talking about it. They said I spent time in the teacher’s room not to study, but for... other things. And my uncle? Just because he often picked me up from school, they assumed I had an illicit relationship with him."
Layla laughed bitterly, her eyes starting to turn red. "None of it was true! But who would believe me? My teacher even got fired because of those accusations, and my uncle... my uncle committed suicide because he couldn’t handle the stress of being falsely accused, he was a good man, he just loved me as his family. Our family was torn apart. My parents were ashamed, they even kicked me out of the house because they thought I really did it."