Susan Sun nearly screamed as she spoke: "What do you mean by that? Are you accusing one of our roommates of stealing your money?"
Rona Muir looked at Susan Sun with a blank expression: "If you didn't steal it, why are you so nervous?"
"Me... Of course I didn't steal! Why would I do something like that?" Susan Sun shrieked. "But you want to search us—that's a violation of our rights!"
Julia Zhou gave Susan Sun a strange look. "She didn't say search, just investigate. We should cooperate. That money is for the workers—it's only right for us to help the police, isn't it?"
Fiona Liu seemed to have guessed something. She folded her arms and said, "Exactly. It's just a few questions, but you're so defensive. Maybe you're the one who took the money?"
"Fiona Liu, stop making things up!" Susan Sun's voice grew even sharper, making everyone's eardrums ache.
Just then, the head of campus security spoke up: "Incidents like this can't be tolerated at our school. Not only your dorm, but the surrounding ones must cooperate with the police. We can't allow bad apples here!"
Susan Sun's eyes grew even more panicked.
She began to regret—why did she steal so many cosmetics? If it were just one or two, she could have hidden them in her bag and thrown them away.
But she’d stolen dozens!
No, she couldn't let herself be discovered. She couldn't be expelled from this school!
She was the golden girl—this university was supposed to be her launchpad to her dreams!
She absolutely couldn't let Rona Muir defeat her!
Susan Sun suddenly stood up and said, "Anyway, I didn't steal anything. Stop bothering me!"
With that, Susan Sun shoved Julia Zhou aside and hurriedly fled the room.
Fiona Liu snorted and opened her own cabinet. "Start with me! If you’re innocent, what’s there to be afraid of?"
Julia Zhou stood up too. "Me too, I’ve got nothing to hide."
The police searched carefully, then looked at the last cabinet and asked, "Whose is this?"
"It's Susan Sun's," Julia Zhou said. "It's strange—Susan Sun never used to lock her cabinet. She only started locking it mysteriously about a month ago!"
Fiona Liu scoffed, "Probably hiding something shameful. Out of the four of us, who isn’t better off than her? Who would even care about her stuff?"
The head of campus security frowned and said, "Since we've decided to investigate, we'll see it through. Everyone bear witness—this is about recovering the missing public funds, not about violating Susan Sun's privacy. Unlock it!"
Someone came over and easily twisted open the small lock on the cabinet.
As soon as the cabinet door opened, everyone present was stunned!
Inside were dozens of high-end skincare products, packed tightly together.
Next to the skincare products, there was a small handbag.
Rona Muir immediately cried out, "Ah, that's my missing bag! There was fifty thousand yuan in it—brand new bills I just got from accounting. The serial numbers are consecutive; I can provide them!"
Fiona Liu saw the pile of skincare products and shouted, "Hey, Rona, aren't these all the ones you lost?"
Julia Zhou came over too. "That's right, that's right! This Helena Rubinstein Black Bandage Cream—Rona and I bought it together at the mall. There's no way Susan Sun could afford something this luxurious!"
After they finished, Rona Muir turned to the others and said, "If they find someone else's fingerprints on these, that should be enough to prove what happened, right?"
The police officer in charge of collecting evidence had arrived and sealed everything in bags. He replied to Rona Muir, "Once we get the results, we'll have a solid case. Susan Sun is the main suspect. Please notify her to come back for questioning. If she refuses, it could seriously affect her future."
The head of campus security understood immediately and nodded. "Our school will fully cooperate with the investigation."
After the police left, the head of security hesitated and looked at Rona Muir. "Is there anything else you'd like to add about this incident?"
Rona Muir replied slowly, "I just hope everything is handled according to the law."
The head of security sighed, realizing Rona Muir didn't want a private settlement.
But thinking about it, a settlement was impossible anyway.
The amount involved this time was just too large.
Once everyone else left, the whole dorm area was buzzing with gossip.
"Hey, I was wondering why Susan Sun's skin got so much better lately. Turns out she was stealing Rona Muir's cosmetics! Wow, she really knows what to steal—Helena Rubinstein and La Mer! I only dare to look at those brands, never even think about buying them!"
"That's old news. You haven't seen Susan Sun lately, have you? Her face is ruined now. I heard Rona Muir was working with chemistry majors to develop new skincare products. Since she couldn't carry them around, she left the samples in her cabinet for the next experiment. But when she went to the lab, the samples were gone. At first, Rona thought she remembered wrong, but today she found the stolen samples in Susan Sun's cabinet. Seriously, is Susan Sun blind? She even dared to use untested products!"
"You think that's bad? I heard Susan Sun didn't just steal a pile of cosmetics—she also took Rona Muir's fifty thousand yuan! With her family so poor, of course she couldn't resist the money."
"Hey, I just got some inside info." Someone rushed back in, lowering their voice in excitement. "Susan Sun got caught not far from the dorm and was taken straight to the police station. Guess what? Not only are her fingerprints and usage marks on all the cosmetics, but her prints are also on the fifty thousand yuan. She can't get away now."
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"Wow! Really? I never would've guessed Susan Sun was like that! I thought she was a good person!"
"Good? How could a good person steal cosmetics? How could a good person steal money?"
"I heard something else too. Apparently, that post smearing Rona Muir on the campus forum was made by Susan Sun! Someone posted a video about it online. Have you seen it?"
"No, let’s go to the computer lab." A group of students hurried off, the rich ones just used their phones to check out the latest post.
In no time, the post was trending and pinned to the top.
A surveillance video clearly showed Susan Sun sneaking into the computer lab, making up a slanderous post, and uploading it to the campus network.
Coincidentally, every computer in the lab had its own browsing history, and Susan Sun wasn't a computer major. After posting, she forgot to delete the browsing and reply records.
With all that, every piece of evidence pointed straight to Susan Sun.
After everything was done, Rona Muir faced the comforting words from Fiona Liu and Julia Zhou. She sighed helplessly, "I really didn't expect Susan Sun to have such a problem with me, let alone do something like this."
Fiona Liu chuckled. "There are plenty of poor people, but it's rare to find someone as poor in spirit as her."
Julia Zhou said, "I'm afraid Susan Sun won't be able to keep studying after this."
It's more than just losing her chance to study.
According to Article 264 of the Criminal Law, anyone who steals public or private property in large amounts or repeatedly can be sentenced to up to three years in prison, detention, or control, and fined.
If Susan Sun is convicted, her criminal record will never be cleared.
Not only that, but the school will expel her, and her future will be ruined.
That evening, Sean Kerr came to pick up Rona Muir. "I've already released the video. Now you can sue Susan Sun for slander and theft. With both charges, there's no way she'll get off easy."
Rona Muir rubbed her forehead and asked, "Sean, do you think I'm being too harsh?"
"Harsh?" Sean Kerr chuckled. "Not at all. She's not a child anymore. As an adult, she has to take responsibility for her actions. If she came from a rich family, I'd make them all pay. Since she's poor, I'll spare her family. But she can't escape punishment. Rona, as someone directly involved, you can't afford to be soft. If you don't put an end to her now, she'll just come back to cause trouble for you later."
"I understand." Rona Muir nodded. "The moment she decided to smear me, I already knew what I would do. I'm not that easy to bully!"
Sean Kerr smiled.
His Rona, whether in her past life or this one, was always strong-willed.
He liked her just the way she was.
Rona Muir's lawyer immediately filed a lawsuit against Susan Sun. Susan couldn't prove she hadn't stolen the fifty thousand yuan, and the evidence showed she'd used Rona's cosmetics. The products could be tested for ingredients, and the ones Susan used could be matched to her DNA.
Susan Sun had no defense.
In the end, Susan Sun was sentenced to three years in prison and expelled from school.
Susan Sun was finished.
On the day of sentencing, Susan Sun's face completely broke out.
From then on, unless she got a full face transplant, no amount of luxury cosmetics could restore her looks.
After this incident, it was as if the whole school saw Rona Muir in a new light.
Those who used to gossip behind her back didn't dare mess with Rona Muir anymore.
Who knows who the next unlucky person will be?
Still, rumors quietly spread, with many questioning Rona Muir's true identity.
Everyone wanted to know how an ordinary college girl could afford such expensive, luxury cosmetics.
Finally, the day the secret was revealed arrived.