Chapter 7 — The Heiress and Her Scholarship Friend

On Wednesday morning, the entire Anh Duong school held a welcoming ceremony for the international education accreditation team to visit and evaluate the quality of training - an important event that the board of directors has been preparing for many months. The atmosphere on campus became unusually solemn, students of the whole school gathered in the large hall in their most neat uniforms.

In the middle of that solemn event, a scream rang out from the row of seats behind, completely breaking the solemn atmosphere. "My diamond hairpin is gone!"

That was the voice of Diem My, a female student in Vu Khang's close group of friends, who was always proud to brag about the real diamond hairpin her family gave her on her eighteenth birthday - a piece of jewelry of considerable value that she always carefully kept in a small handbag that she carried with her.

The whole hall was in an uproar, attention focused on the row of seats where the problem occurred, forcing the organizers to pause the program to resolve the issue. At that chaotic moment, Vu Khang stood up, his voice full of fake righteousness.

"I saw Tran Minh Dang standing near the girls' handbag area just now!" He spoke loudly, his eyes deliberately directed straight towards Minh Dang who was sitting not far away, causing the entire hall's eyes to focus on him.

Minh Dang was dumbfounded, completely not understanding what was going on. "I never went near that area," he countered, his voice shaking with surprise and indignation.

"Then why don't you check his school bag to make sure?" Another voice - Duc Toan - chimed in immediately, as if the script had been prepared in advance.

The supervising teacher, under pressure from the presence of the inspection team and not wanting the incident to drag on and cause disorder, was forced to ask Minh Dang to open his schoolbag to check on the spot in front of hundreds of students. Minh Dang, despite being extremely indignant at this public humiliation, still gritted his teeth and opened his bag - because he knew clearly that he was completely innocent.

But when the extra compartment was opened, a sparkling diamond hairpin lay neatly inside, making the whole hall admire and marvel. Minh Dang stood frozen, unable to believe what was happening before his eyes.

"I didn't take it! I don't know when it appeared in my bag!" he shouted, his voice cracking with despair, but those excuses were lost amid the suspicious whispers of the surrounding crowd.

"It's unbelievable," a student whispered to his friend next to him, "you look so gentle and yet you do something like that."

"Maybe it's because of the difficult family situation that I took the risk," another voice chimed in, the malicious comments were like thousands of needles piercing Minh Dang's self-esteem.

Khanh Vy, sitting in the front row reserved for class officials, stood up as soon as she heard Minh Dang's name being shouted, pushing through the crowd to get closer to the scene. Seeing his desperate, panicked expression, a strong feeling told her that there was something wrong with this whole thing.

"Wait," she said, her voice loud enough to cut through the surrounding whispers. "Did anyone actually witness Minh Dang take the hairpin, or is it just speculation based on Vu Khang's words?"

That straightforward question made the entire hall silent for a moment. Vu Khang was somewhat confused but quickly regained his composure. "I'm just saying what I observed, Khanh Vy. The hairpin is clearly in his bag, what more proof do you need?"

"Indirect evidence does not mean absolute truth," Khanh Vy countered, her sharp eyes looking straight at Vu Khang, making him feel guilty for a brief moment. "I know Minh Dang well enough to believe that he would never do such a thing."

The school board, under pressure from the presence of the international accreditation team, decided to temporarily put the case under internal investigation instead of handling it publicly immediately, asking Minh Dang to temporarily go to the principal's office to clarify the incident after the ceremony ended, and at the same time warned that if he was found guilty of theft, he was at risk of having his scholarship revoked and suspended from studying according to school regulations.

On the way to be led away, Minh Dang glanced at Vu Khang one last time, catching a triumphant smile that flashed across the corner of his mouth before promptly hiding it - a small detail but enough to firmly confirm in Minh Dang's heart that this was a carefully orchestrated plot, not a coincidence.

At the principal's office, Minh Dang sat across from the principal and homeroom teacher, trying to explain the whole incident as calmly as possible even though his heart was in utter chaos. "I really don't know when that hairpin appeared in my bag," he affirmed, his voice shaking but determined. "I suspect someone intentionally put it there to harm me."

"This is a serious accusation, Dang," the principal replied, his voice stern but not lacking in consideration. "If there is no specific evidence to prove the contrary, the school is forced to handle it based on what has happened in front of them."

Just when the tension reached its peak, the office door opened and Khanh Vy walked in without hesitation, holding her cell phone in her hand.

"Teacher, I think this video can clarify everything," she said, her voice filled with determination, placing the phone on the principal's desk.

The whole office turned their eyes to the small screen, where a short video recorded from the phone of another student - who happened to be recording the moment of preparation for the ceremony to post on the class's social network - accidentally entered the frame of Duc Toan secretly stuffing something into Minh Dang's extra bag compartment while he was gathering in line with his friends, just a few minutes before the noisy incident happened.

The principal frowned and asked to review the video two more times to make sure. His face gradually became more serious. "This is clearly a deliberate act of entrapment," he concluded, his voice filled with disappointment. "The school will invite the parents of Duc Toan and Vu Khang to work directly to clarify the entire motive behind this incident."

Minh Dang breathed a sigh of relief, feeling like he had just escaped from a nightmare, but his eyes still could not hide the deep hurt at what he had just experienced - the public humiliation in front of hundreds of eyes, the malicious gossip that would probably still follow him for many days afterward, regardless of whether the truth was finally clarified or not.

"Thank you," Minh Dang said to Khanh Vy as they both left the principal's office, his voice choked with emotion. "If it weren't for you..."

"Don't thank me," Khanh Vy interrupted, her eyes still shining with unrelenting anger. "I'm just doing the right thing. But I won't let this end here. Vu Khang must pay for what he did."

Looking at that determined look, Minh Dang realized that something had changed deeply in Khanh Vy's heart since that day — not just simple sympathy for a friend, but a clear awakening to the true nature of the people she once trusted, and perhaps, even to the artificial limits that her family always tried to impose on her life.

News of the video spread throughout the school that afternoon, completely reversing public opinion, which was leaning towards doubting Minh Dang. The students who once whispered maliciously were now shyly avoiding his eyes. Some even took the initiative to apologize for being so quick to judge without finding out the truth.

Duc Toan was suspended from school for three days and forced to write a report of criticism in front of the whole school, and Vu Khang, even though there was no direct evidence that he gave the order, was still invited to work by parents and received an official warning from the school board for public slander that seriously affected the honor of others.

Mr. Vu - Vu Khang's father - left the principal's office with an indescribable anger on his face, dragging his son to the parking lot in heavy silence. Only when the car door closed did he speak, his voice cold and full of disappointment.

"You embarrassed your family in front of the entire international inspection team," he said, not hiding his anger. "If this happens again, don't blame me for not keeping my engagement promise with Do Gia."

Vu Khang remained silent, clenched his hands in his lap, his dark eyes looked out the car window, where the figures of Minh Dang and Khanh Vy were walking out of the school gate together, chatting with more intimacy than ever. The humiliation and jealousy in his heart, instead of being extinguished by his father's warning, only smoldered more fiercely, turning into a cold, dark determination that next time, he would not leave any loopholes.