All eyes, full of suspicion, immediately turned to Riley Johnson!
"It wasn't me!"
"I was the first one to bring this up!"
Hearing him say that, I let out a cold laugh:
"It's exactly because the college entrance exam was so stressful that little things like that are easy to forget."
"If it wasn't you, why do you remember it so clearly?"
"So clearly that you deliberately brought it up again ten years later?"
My words made the whole room fall silent.
Riley Johnson looked stunned, at a loss for words. He wanted to argue, but at the same time, whispers started spreading around the room:
"Could it... really be him?"
"Yeah, who else would remember something from ten years ago so clearly except someone directly involved?"
"But it's weird... If he was the victim, would he really bring it up himself?"
Riley Johnson started to panic.
Maybe to deflect attention, he suddenly pointed at someone.
It was "the bookworm" Taylor Johnson—the well-behaved student who always got teased by the boys.
"I remember now!"
"Taylor Johnson, during the days when the incident happened, didn't you take two days off? When you came back, you looked totally out of it, and your glasses were broken! We asked, but you wouldn't say anything..."
"And you missed the monthly exam that time too!"
"Could it... have been you?!"
Taylor Johnson was startled when his name was called.
He stammered:
"N-no, it wasn't!"
"I missed school because I had a high fever!"
"I missed the exam because I went to take an early entrance test, but I didn't pass..."
Hearing that, a few of his close friends stepped up to defend him:
"Give it a rest, Riley Johnson!"
"We broke Taylor Johnson's glasses by accident while we were playing!"
"He really did go for the entrance test, everyone knows that!"
But Riley Johnson still wouldn't let it go:
"If it wasn't him, then who was it?"
"Chau Cuong? Sam Tong?"
Every time he called out a name, the class erupted into arguments, even getting physical.
The room was in chaos.
In the midst of it all, Riley Carter suddenly stood up, ran out of the room, knocking over a chair without even noticing.
Someone muttered:
"What's wrong with her? No one was even suspecting her..."
I stood up too, using the excuse of going to the bathroom to secretly follow her.
At the dimly lit end of the hallway, Riley Carter was leaning against the wall, her shoulders trembling like a wounded animal.
She looked up, her eyes red:
"Thank you..."
I understood right away—she had caught my lie, and she knew I was trying to protect her.
I replied softly:
"My mom told me to do it."
"Even at the end of her life, she regretted not protecting you sooner..."
6.
I was the class president, the only son of the homeroom teacher.
At school, I never called her Mom—just like everyone else, I called her "the Old Ban."
That day after school, I was heading home with her as usual, but happened to see her in an empty classroom, leaning over to comfort a chubby figure sobbing at a desk.
Through the window, my eyes met my mother's.
Her gaze was full of complexity and heaviness.
She put a finger to her lips: "Shh."
We didn't say a word.
Years later, my mother fell seriously ill. On her deathbed, she was confused and didn't recognize anyone.
Maybe she thought I was Riley Carter. Her thin hand gripped mine tightly, her voice hoarse but every word heavy as a thousand pounds:
"Sweetheart, don't be afraid..."
"The one who is dirty is the one who did wrong, not you!"
I couldn't help but say to Riley Carter:
"Even at the very end, she still regretted not being able to protect you sooner..."
Hearing that, Riley Carter broke down in tears, all the pain of ten years pouring out.
"Just because I'm fat? Because I'm ugly? So they think I couldn't possibly be the victim?"
"Or is it... that someone as ugly as me doesn't even deserve to be a victim? Not even deserve to be a person?"
I gently helped her up and handed her a tissue:
"Your name belongs to you."
"You don't have to be anyone's story to gossip about."
"What's in the past, let it stay in the past..."
When we returned, the banquet hall was still in chaos.
I stepped forward and slammed my wine glass to the floor.
"Haven't you had enough?"
I pointed to the photo of my mother hanging on the wall, my voice choked with emotion:
"If my mother knew that the class reunion she looked forward to throughout her illness—ended up being a place for you all to reopen someone else's wounds... she wouldn't be able to rest in peace!"
"Think back—why did you come here tonight?"
"To dig up someone else's pain, or to reminisce about old times?"
After I finished, the whole room fell silent. Riley Johnson's face turned ashen, looking utterly miserable.
I looked at him—his clothes were stained and dirty, probably from getting into a scuffle with someone.
"Hunting down the victim is just a second round of harm."
"My mother once said, sometimes protecting silence takes more courage than seeking the truth."
"The meaning of a secret isn't to hide something—it's to be respected."
My words left the whole room in dead silence.
I raised my glass and said softly:
"A toast—to Mr. Ban!"
Everyone fell into deep thought. Riley Johnson also bowed his head in silence.
Just as I finished speaking, Riley Carter suddenly stepped forward, standing under the bright lights.
She stood tall, her gaze cold as steel sweeping across the room, finally landing on Riley Johnson:
"Riley Johnson, that ten thousand... does your offer still stand?"
Riley Johnson was stunned, then gave a stiff nod.
Seeing this, Riley Carter spoke up, her voice clear and unwavering:
"The victim back then—was me."
As she said it, her eyes no longer avoided anyone.
The entire room was shocked.
"It's been ten years."
"That night took away a part of my life, leaving a deep wound."
"But these scars—they're not for you to gossip about, and they're certainly not some horror story for Riley Johnson to show off his cleverness!"
Her gaze fixed on Riley Johnson, her voice even firmer:
"Riley Johnson, you never acted out of empathy. You just wanted to satisfy your craving for control and your sense of superiority!"
"And the rest of you..."
She looked toward those who had joined in the suspicion, or stayed silent:
"Silence is a form of complicity too."
"Our homeroom teacher was right—secrets aren't meant to be hidden, but to be respected!"
"She used up half a month of her vacation to keep my secret for ten years."
"Today, I'll protect myself!"
7.
After the reunion, Riley Johnson kept his word and transferred the money to Riley Carter—but it wasn't ten thousand, it was USD 138,889.
Riley Carter donated the entire sum to a women's protection organization.
When Riley Johnson found out, he was silent for a long time, then donated another USD 138,889.
On the donation forms, both of them, without consulting each other, wrote the same name: Mr. Ban—my mother.
The night I received the honorary certificate, I looked up at the night sky and saw a brilliant star.
I couldn't help but whisper:
"Mom, this lesson... I've finished it for you."
"Now, in our class, there are no more victims..."
"You were right—filth always belongs to the perpetrator, but what's clean is her life."
– The End –