The campus "It-Girl" was caught cheating on her finals. On the verge of a mental breakdown, she came to me for a private counseling session. I spent an entire day talking her down from the ledge. She begged me to keep her suicidal thoughts a secret. I agreed. The next morning, she was standing on the roof of the library, preparing to jump in front of a crowd of hundreds. After she was "saved," the university launched an investigation to find a scapegoat. They set their sights on me—the campus psychologist. "You knew a student had suicidal ideations. Why didn't you report it to the administration immediately?" I asked the girl to explain our confidentiality agreement. Instead, she looked at the board with a face full of shattered innocence: "When did I ever ask Dr. Sterling to keep that a secret?" "If the doctor had just told my advisor or my parents about my state of mind, maybe I wouldn't have felt so hopeless." In an instant, the world branded me a negligent hack who nearly killed a star student. Even my fiancé called me cold-blooded and heartless. My reputation was destroyed. In a fit of despair, I jumped from that same building. Only after I died did I learn the truth: She never wanted to die. She used the "suicide attempt" as a PR stunt to wash away the stain of her cheating scandal. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day she came to my office. She was pleading: "Doctor, about my plan to jump... can you keep it a secret for me?" 01 "Doctor, I was caught cheating on my finals. One of the girls in the hall saw me," Madison Vance said, sitting across from me with a face of deep repentance. "Now my grade is voided. I’ve lost my graduate fellowship, and everyone is gossiping behind my back." "What am I supposed to do? I don't want to live anymore. The library building has twenty floors, right? If I jump, do you think the pain will finally end?" A normal psychologist hearing a student say this would immediately sound the alarm, using every gentle word in the book to talk them back to safety. But I, a board-certified Senior Clinical Psychologist, simply sat there and looked at her with cold eyes. I didn't offer a single word of comfort. Madison squeezed out a few tears. Seeing my silence, she looked confused. "Doctor? Why aren't you saying anything?" "The other students said you’re the best counselor at Oakridge University. That’s why I came to you to open up." "You just said you wanted to jump?" I asked. My office window looked directly at the twenty-story library she had mentioned. "Do you know what a body looks like after falling from that height?" I asked flatly. "You'd look like a crushed meatloaf." I slammed my palms together with a sharp thwack. "Bones shattered, organs collapsed, your face flattened and distorted beyond recognition by the sheer force of the impact." I leaned forward, bringing my face inches from Madison’s, staring at her with a chilling intensity. "Blood would fill your nose and mouth. Your eyes would pop from their sockets, mixing with grey matter on the concrete." "Ah!" Madison shrieked. "Doctor, what is wrong with you? How could you know what a jumper looks like?" "Because..." In my past life, that’s exactly how I died. 02 My name is Claire Sterling. I was indeed considered the best psychologist at Oakridge. In my private practice, I charge five hundred dollars an hour. But for the students at Oakridge, I provided my services for free. Because of that, many students saw me as their closest confidante. I never maintained any guard against these kids who usually looked so "bright and innocent." In my previous life, Madison Vance came to me just like this. She was the "Campus Queen" of the Drama Department. She had been caught with a cheat sheet during her theater theory final. The girl in the desk next to her reported her on the spot. The proctor confiscated the exam. Her grade was an automatic F. What made it fatal was that Madison was already a rising star, a minor celebrity with a decent following on social media. The news of her cheating spread like wildfire. Threads on Reddit and the university’s Discord were already blowing up. Faced with a career-ending scandal, Madison "collapsed" and found her way to my office. That day, I listened to her for hours. I spent the entire day de-escalating her. Only when she seemed stable and optimistic did I finally breathe a sigh of relief. Before leaving, she turned to me. "Dr. Sterling, I’ve moved past it. But about the things I said... about wanting to jump... please, keep that between us." The first duty of a therapist is to respect patient privacy. However, university counseling centers have an unwritten "Safety Protocol": If a student shows signs of severe depression or suicidal intent, the school and parents must be notified. The rule is essentially a liability waiver for the university: We did our part; if the kid dies, it's not on us. But from a clinical perspective, this rule is often counter-productive to building trust. While I was hesitating, Madison begged me. "If people find out I was here, the cheating scandal will get even bigger. I’ll be 'canceled' before I even graduate!" "Dr. Sterling, please. Don't tell my advisor. Don't tell my parents. I'm begging you!" She acted so humble and broken that I truly believed she was remorseful. I promised her. "I'll keep your secret. I just hope you move forward. We all make mistakes. It’s just one final exam; it doesn't define your entire life." Madison thanked me repeatedly. She said she was ready to face the music and would retake the class next semester. I thought the matter was settled. I didn't expect to be woken up at 5:00 AM the next morning by a frantic call from the Dean. "A student is on the roof of the library! Get down here right now!" 03 Madison had been standing on the edge of the twentieth floor all night. She was finally spotted by a janitor at dawn. Hundreds of students gathered below. Deans, board members, and campus police were all on-site. The fire department arrived with mats and ladders. Madison screamed two things from the roof: "I didn't cheat! The girl in the hall framed me!" "What do I have to do to make you believe me?!" She made a move as if to jump, but her hands were white-knuckled, gripping the safety railing with everything she had. The firefighters rushed her and brought her down safely. Almost instantly, the news of Madison Vance’s "suicide attempt" hit the trending page of TikTok and X. #JusticeForMadisonVance #MadisonCheatingScandalFramed #OakridgeRoofIncident These tags completely drowned out the original cheating discussion. Overnight, fans were heartbroken and the public was shocked. People lamented that Madison was a "tragic white lily," nearly killed by a classmate's malicious lie. The university’s official social media pages were swarmed by her fans. They demanded the expulsion of the whistleblower. They demanded the university issue a formal, stamped document clearing Madison of all cheating allegations. Under immense pressure, the university started looking for someone to blame. They found me. "Madison visited your office the day she went to the roof. Why didn't you report her mental state? Why weren't her parents notified immediately?" I was speechless. I went to Madison, asking her to tell them that she had requested confidentiality. In front of the university board, Madison looked at me with a face of shattered innocence. "When did I ever ask Dr. Sterling to keep that a secret?" 04 "I did visit Dr. Sterling, but her advice was very unprofessional. She actually encouraged me to 'confess' to the cheating I didn't do!" Madison looked me in the eye. "Doctor, why would you lie about that?" "Dr. Sterling isn't fit to be a psychologist. If she had just told my advisor or my parents about my state of mind, maybe I wouldn't have felt so alone." "The wind on that roof was so cold. If you weren't truly hopeless, who would want to stand there all night?" Madison wrapped her arms around herself, looking helpless. She truly lived up to her reputation as a "fragile" actress. With that one move, every man in the room—including the board members—felt their hearts break for her. My fiancé, Marcus Thorne, who had accompanied me to the hearing, looked at me with a look of pure disgust. He actually took off his coat and draped it over Madison’s shoulders. That day, I was found guilty of professional negligence. I was fired and my license was suspended. Madison’s parents sued me for "intentional infliction of emotional distress," demanding half a million dollars. Her fans doxxed my personal information. They sent dead animals to my doorstep. They left voicemails telling me to go kill myself. My parents were harassed into a state of physical collapse. In my most desperate hour, Marcus called me a cold-blooded monster. He turned around and texted Madison, telling her how much he "ached" for her. One month later, I stood on that same library roof. Madison was a liar. When a person is truly, fundamentally broken and ready to die, they don't feel the cold wind. The cold inside is far worse than anything the sky can offer. I was a psychologist, but I couldn't heal myself. I jumped from the twentieth floor. There was no crowd of students, no deans, and no firefighters. I hit the concrete. My body shattered. It was ugly. It was final. My spirit didn't move on immediately. I watched the university hush the whole thing up after my death. A few students I had helped in the past tried to leave flowers where I fell. The security guards rudely tossed them into the trash. Madison came by with flowers too. She made sure the local news cameras were there. "Even though Dr. Sterling wasn't a good teacher or a good person, I have forgiven her for her mistakes," she told the reporter. The tabloids ate it up, praising Madison for her "unparalleled kindness" in forgiving the "unethical doctor." After the cameras left, I heard Madison’s agent laughing with her. "Using a suicide stunt to cover the cheating was genius. The focus shifted to 'celebrity bullied by university,' and then we shifted the blame to the counselor. At this point, who cares if you cheated or not?" "The PR pressure will force the school to wipe your record clean. It’s the perfect white-wash." "I just wanted to use her to clear my name," Madison sneered dismissively. "I didn't think she was so fragile. One little scandal and she jumps? And she calls herself a counselor?" Madison threw her flowers onto the ground like trash. There was no plot twist. I never got my justice. In the end, Madison graduated with honors. Her "brand" was the smartest, most virtuous "It-Girl" in Hollywood. 05 I opened my eyes. I was back on the day Madison came for her consultation. She was looking at me uneasily. "Because... what, Dr. Sterling?" I suddenly broke into a grin. It must have looked terrifying, because Madison visibly flinched. "Nothing. Just a joke. I just want you to know that if you decide to jump, you won't look very pretty when you're dead." "You're the campus queen. You're a rising star. You have so much to live for. Don't do anything rash." My voice grew gentler and warmer. Madison quickly dropped her guard. Everything she told me was exactly the same as in my past life. As the session ended, she made her move. "Dr. Sterling, I don't want to die anymore. But about today... can you keep it between us?" "I understand," I said with a smile. "I won't report this to the administration, and I won't tell your parents. After all, we wouldn't want the cheating scandal to get any bigger, would we?" Madison nodded, looking at me with "gratitude." She was the top student in her acting class. Her "sincere" acting was top-tier. In my past life, I was completely fooled by this performance. Madison only left after I gave my "word." I checked the time. It was 8:00 PM. In the previous timeline, the bitch would appear on the roof in half an hour. She was playing the time gap so she could blame me later for not reporting it. The second Madison walked out the door, I pulled out my phone. I called her advisor, Mr. Higgins. "Your student just confessed to cheating and said she wants to kill herself. Get down here!" Mr. Higgins let out a sharp, panicked yell. I could hear him literally falling out of bed on the other end of the line. Then, I got her parents' numbers from the student directory. "Your daughter was caught cheating and says she has no face to live. She’s talking about jumping off a building right now!" Finally, I called my fiancé, Marcus Thorne. "Your 'favorite student' was caught cheating and is currently planning a suicide attempt. Better get to campus if you want to play the hero!" I made over a dozen calls. From the University President down to her class president. I notified every single person in her circle. At 9:00 PM sharp, a scream erupted outside. "Oh my god! Someone is on the roof!" 06 Thanks to my "helpful" notifications, the stairs to the roof were already packed with curious students. They were all in their pajamas, craning their necks toward the ledge. The Advisor and the University President were already there. The firefighters were on their way. Madison was indeed standing on the roof of the twenty-story building, but she was standing inside the safety railing. Her hands were behind her back, gripping the bars for dear life, terrified she might actually slip. She had been there for less than ten minutes before she was surrounded by faculty. This was not the script she had written. In the previous life, she stood there silently and alone all night. She had "happened" to be filmed by a "stray drone" as a "broken beauty" weeping under the moonlight. Even though the firefighters "saved" her, that drone footage and her line about "the wind being so cold" made millions of fans ache for her. This time, the President and the Deans had rushed in with such fanfare that Madison didn't have a single chance to play the "fragile victim." The students at the stairwell were whispering loudly: "Why is she jumping? Oh, right, she got caught cheating. Guess she couldn't face the shame!" Those words drifted into Madison’s ears, making her look incredibly embarrassed. "Madison! Please, let's talk! You're young, you have a whole life ahead of you! Don't do this!" The President pleaded. Madison was trapped. She had to keep the act going. She squeezed out some tears. "President, I didn't cheat! If you don't believe me, bring the proctor and that girl who reported me here! Let us face each other in front of everyone! Clear my name!" The President, having been briefed by the advisor, agreed instantly. "Of course! Professor Reed and Riley Higgins are on their way! We'll clear up the misunderstanding! Just don't jump!" Professor Lucas Reed from the Math Department was the proctor. Riley Higgins was Madison’s classmate, the whistleblower. They arrived on the roof moments later. "You two! Think carefully about the day of the exam. Did Madison Vance do anything against the rules?" "Details! We need details! Was it a real case of cheating or a misunderstanding? We need to settle this now!" The President’s eyes were darting around. He leaned in close to Lucas and Riley, whispering urgently, "Don't trigger her!" It was a blatant hint. I saw a tiny, triumphant smirk cross Madison's face. In this situation, Lucas and Riley—even if they knew for a fact she cheated—couldn't possibly tell the truth. If a single word from them sent Madison over the edge, they would be branded as murderers for the rest of their lives. It looked like Madison was the one in danger, but the "knife" was actually held over the heads of the witnesses. Madison was gambling on their fear. "The day of the exam..." Riley Higgins stepped forward, stuttering and hesitant. "You might have seen it wrong, right? It was just a big misunderstanding, wasn't it?" The President prompted her, his guidance obvious. The crowd at the stairs went quiet. Someone whispered, "Maybe we really did frame her?" Madison wiped a tear from her eye, straightening her posture, ready to accept Riley’s "clarification" and "apology." "The day of the exam..." the "hesitant" Riley suddenly looked up, her eyes burning as she stared Madison down. "I saw Madison Vance cheating with my own two eyes! She had a cheat sheet tucked into the side of her desk!" 07 "What are you saying?!" Madison was aghast. She never expected the usually quiet Riley to dare to accuse her so loudly again! "I'm not lying!" Riley’s voice was full of conviction, drowning out Madison’s weak protests. "Madison, you didn't just cheat on the theater theory final. You cheated on the English final that afternoon, too!" "I wasn't in the same room for the afternoon test, but my friend told me. I don't have the physical evidence for that one, but if I had been there, I would have reported you again!" "Riley, you—!" Madison tried to speak, but Riley cut her off. "You're a serial cheater! You’re already a famous star! You have everything! And yet you still use these dirty tactics to compete with us!" "Madison, I’ve had enough of you!" "I don't care if the Board of Education is here or if the police are here! I’ll say it loud: Madison, do you really think jumping off a building will erase the fact that you’re a cheater?" The crowd gasped in unison. Madison’s face turned from red to white. She looked like she wanted to tear Riley apart. The President turned pale. He didn't dare threaten Riley openly, so he turned to Lucas Reed. As the proctor, Lucas was the only one who could officially debunk Riley’s claim. Madison was now weeping, looking like she was about to collapse. The President warned him in a low voice: "Professor Reed! Student safety is the priority! Use your head!" "Don't forget, your tenure review is coming up! If a student dies on your watch, it’s over for you!" "I understand, President." Lucas Reed looked down, answering the President submissively. "President! I didn't cheat! It’s Riley! She’s framing me! She’s just jealous!" Madison wailed, gripping the bars. The President, seeing her so worked up, tried to control the scene. "Riley’s word isn't final! Professor Reed was the proctor. I trust his judgment!" Lucas Reed was pushed to the front. "Madison, calm down." Lucas had a very soothing, calm voice. Madison looked at him with teary eyes, as if he were a prince coming to save her. "Professor, you believe me, right?" "I believe you," Lucas said. Just as Madison let out a breath of relief, he pivoted. "I believe you can learn from this mistake. In future exams, I trust you won't use cheat sheets like you did during this one, right?" 08 The crowd erupted again. "So she did cheat! She tried to use a suicide stunt to bully the proctor and the whistleblower into clearing her name!" "Professor Reed has always been upright! I believe him!" "Riley is a top-three student in the department. Why would she need to frame Madison?" Now, nothing the President or the Advisor said mattered. Having been publicly humiliated and exposed, Madison broke down into real, hysterical tears. This time, the sobbing wasn't an act. Lucas and Riley didn't move. They turned simultaneously and shared a subtle smile with me. Two hours earlier— While everyone else was rushing to the library to watch the drama, I had intercepted Lucas and Riley on a side path. They were the key figures in the cheating incident. They had received the news that Madison was going to jump. In the previous life, Madison used that jump to make herself the "perfect victim." Oakridge University, fearing the PR nightmare, denied the cheating, fired Professor Reed, and put a permanent black mark on Riley’s academic record for "slander." Riley was later harassed by Madison’s fans and eventually had acid thrown on her by a crazed stalker who claimed she "hurt his goddess." The cheater won everything, while the truth-tellers were destroyed. As someone who came back from the dead, how could I let that happen again? Lucas and Riley were clearly terrified by the news of the jump. In their current state, once they got to that roof, they would have said whatever Madison wanted them to say. "Madison isn't going to kill herself." I stated this as a cold, hard fact. They looked at me in shock—as the campus counselor, my cold reaction was definitely not what they expected. "She’s using this jump to force the school to wipe her record. If you back down on that roof and say the cheating was a 'misunderstanding,' Madison will use that admission to sue you both for defamation and harassment." I patted Lucas on the shoulder. "Professor, you just started your tenure track. Don't let a moment of "soft-heartedness" ruin your entire career." "Riley, reporting a cheater is about justice and fairness. You cannot back down. If you do, you become the liar, and the university will crush you to protect its own image." "Once you have a disciplinary record, you can forget about those scholarships." I knew Riley was a brilliant student from a low-income family. She relied on those scholarships for every cent of her tuition. To other students, Madison’s cheating was just gossip. But to Riley, every point Madison stole with a cheat sheet was a point that could cost Riley her future. So, she would report her. She was protecting fairness, but she was also protecting her life. The panic in Riley’s eyes faded. She had been woken up. 09 "Is she really just acting? She won't actually jump?" Lucas asked me for confirmation one last time. I nodded and showed them Madison’s public schedule for next month. Not only was she starting a new film, but she had a major brand deal shoot with a top-tier celebrity. "A girl who is about to make millions and become a superstar doesn't kill herself over a failed theory exam." "And even if she’s expelled, a girl with her background can just go study in London or Paris. It’s a vacation for her." Madison’s family wasn't "Old Money," but her parents were obsessed with her success. They had spent their entire savings to fund her Hollywood dreams. She wasn't a "scholarship kid" like Riley. She had too many safety nets. "She just wants to use this drama to force the school’s hand." "If you back down now, you’ll be the ones branded as villains. All the mud will be thrown on you." Just then, Lucas’s phone rang. It was the President calling to pressure him. "You and Riley are the ones who reported her. Madison is about to jump! Get up here and fix this!" The President’s hint was clear: Go up there and tell whatever lie you need to tell to get her down. But his call came just a little too late. 10 "She’s been crying for ages, but she hasn't even let go of the bar once." The crowd below, now knowing the truth, started looking at Madison like she was a clown. Madison’s mind was truly breaking now. The testimony from Lucas and Riley had stripped her of every bit of dignity she had at Oakridge. But no matter how much she wailed, her hands remained clamped on that railing. People this selfish are the ones who value their own lives the most. I checked the traffic on Google Maps. It was Saturday, 9:00 PM—prime gridlock time. Madison’s parents, who lived nearby, arrived before the fire department. They had come to "protect" their daughter, but as soon as they arrived, they heard the students’ mocking comments. Madison’s father, a proud man, snapped. He pointed at Madison and yelled, "The school counselor called me and said you cheated! I didn't believe it, but it's true!" "Madison! I am a university professor! And you? You’re out here cheating at a state school?! Do you have any idea how embarrassing this is for me?" As a psychologist, I should have stopped him. There are too many tragic cases where the parents' ego is the final straw that breaks a child. Years ago, there was a girl who was about to be talked down by the police, but her parents rushed in, slapped her, and called her "dramatic." They told her if she wanted to die, she should go drink bleach and stop making a scene. In that split second, the girl sprinted to the edge and dove off without a single hesitation. I had been prepared back then. I had grabbed her hand at the last second, and with the help of a firefighter, we saved her. I tore a ligament in my right hand that day. It still aches every winter. That girl eventually got away from her parents, moved to a big city, and built a life for herself. She once wrote me a letter saying I was her savior. Every time my hand hurts, it’s a reminder that I saved a life. A physical saving, and a mental one. For a therapist, saving a soul is the ultimate mission. In my previous life, I viewed Madison Vance as someone who needed saving. But what did she give me in return? Madison Vance didn't deserve to be saved.
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