A Reborn Bride Pearl Emerging from Dust

Calliope's gaze settled on Lisette, who turned as pale as a ghost. Could Calliope really clear up those old rumors?

No way!

What evidence could she possibly have? How could she prove anything after all these years?

"Back then, the wildest rumor was probably that I got expelled, right?" Calliope began, her voice calm and measured. "Supposedly, I was kicked out for doing all sorts of terrible things?"

"Let me clarify," she continued, a small smile playing on her lips. "I wasn't expelled, nor did I drop out. I just transferred to another school. Doesn't anyone remember I disappeared for a while? I went abroad and attended one of the world's top universities."

As soon as she said this, Valerian's brows furrowed in skepticism. "Calliope, can you be serious for a moment?"

"Yeah, you went abroad," he retorted, "but weren't you expelled? We all know you didn't go to college since you hadn't even finished high school! And now you're claiming you went to a top university? Who's gonna buy that?"

"I almost believed for a second she did go to some elite school!"

"Even her family's calling her bluff, what's left for her to say?"

"This is too much, honestly."

"Calliope, do you have any proof you went to this school?"

"Where's your diploma?"

The crowd erupted in laughter, all eyes fixated on Calliope.

Portia, fuming, was about to speak up when Calliope calmly tapped her phone a few times. Suddenly, the big screen lit up with a slideshow of photos.

There were pictures of her on campus, snapshots with classmates, shots of her attending classes, and even one of her engrossed in a lab experiment.

As the photos played, the room fell silent.

"No way!"

"Did she really study there?"

"Wait, this university... it's actually number one globally!"

"How could she have gotten into that school?"

"I thought she flunked all her high school tests, didn't she always score zeros?"

The crowd gawked at the screen in disbelief.

"Scoring zeros takes skill, you know?

To av the right answers, you y what they are!".

mustnoveldrama

interjected, rolling her eyes at the crowd.

"This has to be Photoshop!" someone scoffed.

"Yeah, tech's advanced these days. Calliope, are you trying to fool us with doctored images?"

Calliope met their eyes steadily. "Sure, photos can be altered. But the schoolitself is real, the principal is real, and my records are there. Feel free to verify."

Realizing the challenge, some

people whipped out their phones,

making calls and frantically

searching online. Others tweeted the university's official account, asking if

Calliope had indeed been a student there. .

Lisette watched Calliope nervously. Could Calliope really have attended that university?

Valerian and Horatio exchanged uneasy glances and quickly started making their own inquiries.

Before long, the ballroom quieted down, a shift palpable. Some of the looks directed at Calliope were already changing.