Reborn at the Olympic Trials

At the final round of the Olympic trials, I held my breath, preparing to execute the most difficult move.

My best friend, who was also my biggest competitor, inadvertently revealed during a sideline interview: Sophia has been taking banned substances to maintain her weight. I've tried to warn her...

The camera flashes went crazy, all pointing at me.

The head judge raised his hand in a timeout gesture.

The whole world thought my athletic career would end today in the most disgraceful way possible.

The meaning of my rebirth was to wait for this exact moment.

I ignored the head judge and walked straight to the sideline, pulling out two urine test vials from my bag.

"One for her, one for me. Let's go. Head judge, please take us both for testing right now."

A flash of panic crossed Lily's eyes, quickly replaced by innocence and hurt.

"Sophia, what are you doing?"

"Didn't you say I was using drugs?" I held up the two perfectly sealed official urine test vials.

"Then let's both get tested. Now. Immediately. Right this second."

The media cameras shifted from my face to Lily's, then to the stern-faced head judge and several officials from the anti-doping center.

"Sophia! Stop this nonsense!" Coach Harrison rushed over.

He grabbed my arm and hissed in a low, angry voice: "Do you know what you're doing? This is the Olympic trials! Do you want the entire national team to be humiliated because of you?"

I shook off his hand.

In my past life, he was the first person to stand up and righteously condemn me after I was caught using banned drugs, saying I was a disgrace to the team and a stain on his coaching career.

I looked at him and asked back: "Coach Harrison, if I haven't used drugs, who should be ashamed?"

"If I've been framed, who should be kicked off the national team?"

Harrison was left speechless by my questions.

Lily pitifully tugged at Harrison's sleeve.

"Coach, I didn't... I was just so worried about Sophia. She's been off lately, and I was afraid she'd take the wrong path..."

She cried like a delicate flower in the rain, as if I were the villain bullying her.

The murmurs around us began to change tone.

"Look at how Lily's crying. She's probably genuinely worried about her friend, right?"

"Sophia is being way too aggressive. Even if she hasn't used drugs, she shouldn't treat her friend like this."

"Exactly. Lily was just trying to help."

Trying to help?

In my past life, she used this kind of "help" to personally push me into hell.

I died in that dark, damp basement, covered in wounds, with no one caring.

And she stepped over my corpse, took the Olympic gold medal that should have been mine, and became the celebrated gymnastics queen.

Reborn in this life, how could I possibly let her have her way again?

I stopped paying attention to them and looked directly at the anti-doping officials on the sideline.

"According to regulations, athletes have the right to request drug testing at any time, correct?"

The official nodded.

"Yes."

"Good." I handed one of the urine test vials toward Lily. "Please, my biggest competitor, my best friend."

"Let's both go prove our innocence together."

Lily looked pleadingly at Harrison, whose expression was extremely unpleasant.

He knew Lily's family background, and he knew how many connections her father had pulled to get her selected this time.

"Sophia, stop this! Apologize to Lily right now!" He was still trying to order me around.

"Apologize?" I laughed as if I'd heard the world's biggest joke. "Coach Harrison, did you also drink one of Lily's special juice drinks? Has your brain stopped working?"

"You!" Harrison trembled with anger.

Just then, the head judge spoke up, his voice authoritative and fair.

"Since athlete Sophia has made this request, and since it's an accusation made against another athlete in front of a national live broadcast, for the sake of fairness in the competition and for the reputation of both athletes, I agree to conduct on-site testing right now."

"Someone, take them to the testing room."

In the testing room, Lily kept her head down, her shoulders trembling slightly, as if she'd suffered a terrible injustice.

We were arranged in adjacent cubicles for sample collection. I could hear intermittent sobbing coming from her side.

Harrison and several officials were waiting right outside.

I quickly completed my sample collection and handed it to the staff.

When I came out, Lily was also just coming out. Her eyes were red and swollen, and she looked at me like I was her mortal enemy.

"Sophia, are you satisfied?" she said in a voice only the two of us could hear. "You want to destroy me, don't you?"

"You were the one who tried to destroy me first."

"I was just worried about you!" She was still being stubborn.

"Really? So you secretly taking those sleeping pills every night was also for my benefit?"

Lily looked at me in horror, her lips trembling.

She'd done this extremely secretively. Even her parents didn't know.

This was something from my past lifeafter she'd achieved fame and success, during a drunken slip of the tongue, she'd proudly bragged to others about it.

She'd talked about how she used drugs to maintain peak performance while using another drug to gradually destroy me.

"How... how do you know?" Her voice shook.

"I know a lot more than that."

I stopped paying attention to her and turned to leave.

The test results would take some time. We were led to a temporary lounge.

As soon as Harrison came in, he pointed at my nose and started yelling.

"Sophia! You've disappointed me so much! Even if Lily said something wrong, you can't destroy her like this! You're teammates!"

"When she publicly accused me of using banned drugs, why didn't you tell her we were teammates?"

"She just spoke without thinking!"

"Coach Harrison, you're being way too obviously biased. Is it because her dad paid you off?"

"What nonsense are you spouting!" Harrison flew into a rage and raised his hand to hit me.

A figure blocked in front of me. It was Dr. Smith, the team doctor.

"Coach Harrison, talk nicely. Don't use violence."

Harrison's hand froze in mid-air and reluctantly lowered.

Dr. Smith pulled me aside and asked quietly: "Sophia, what's really going on? I believe you're not that kind of person."

In my past life, only Dr. Smith came to see me after my incident. She didn't believe I would use drugs, but had no evidence.

Looking at her concerned eyes, I felt warmth in my heart.

"Dr. Smith, don't worry. I definitely haven't."

"Then Lily..."

"Whether she has or not, we'll know the results soon."

Dr. Smith nodded and patted the back of my hand.

"Okay, I believe you."

Just then, the lounge door was pushed open.

Director Morgan from the national team walked in. As soon as he entered, he cheerfully tried to smooth things over.

"Oh, what's the big deal? Two girls having a little spat."

He walked up to me with a paternalistic expression.

"Sophia, I know you're upset. How about thisI'll have Lily apologize to you, and we'll consider this matter closed, okay? Don't let it affect the rest of the competition or damage our country's image."

Lily immediately got the hint, walked up to me, and squeezed out a few tears.

"Sophia, I'm sorry. It's my fault. I shouldn't have said those things to the reporters. I was just too worried about you. I apologize."

She was about to bow to me.

If I accepted her apology, this would really become just a small misunderstanding between friends.

She'd get away scot-free, while I, even if I hadn't used drugs, would still be saddled with a reputation for making a big deal out of nothing and forcing my teammate.

Nice try.

I stepped aside to avoid her bow.

"I don't need your apology. I just want the truth."

Director Morgan's smile froze.

"Sophia, don't be ungrateful. For the sake of team harmony and national honor, this matter must end here."

"Letting a drug-using athlete represent the country in competitionis that your so-called national honor?"

"You!" Director Morgan was left speechless.

He hadn't expected that I, who had always been docile and obedient in front of him, would become so sharp-tongued today.

"Sophia!" Harrison started yelling. "How dare you speak to Director Morgan like that! So disrespectful!"

I was too lazy to deal with them anymore. Birds of a feather, these people had banded together to crush me in my past life.

Director Morgan was an old friend of Lily's father. Harrison had received substantial benefits from Lily's family. They were grasshoppers tied to the same string.

Today, I was going to burn that string in front of the entire nation's audience.

Time passed minute by minute. Outside the lounge, media reporters waited anxiously with various speculations.

Inside the lounge, Lily sat restlessly, her face growing worse and worse.

Harrison and Director Morgan were quietly discussing something in the corner.

I knew what they were thinking. They were wondering, if Lily really tested positive, how to suppress the matter, how to throw all the dirt onto me.

Too bad I wouldn't give them that chance again.

After about an hour, the testing room door finally opened.

The head judge and officials from the anti-doping center walked in, holding two freshly printed reports.

Everyone's eyes focused on those two thin sheets of paper.

The head judge's expression was serious. He first looked at me, then at Lily.

"The preliminary test results for the A samples are out."

"Athlete Sophia, test result: negative."

As his words fell, I saw Harrison and Director Morgan visibly relax.

They thought that as long as I was clear, Lily would probably be fine too, and this matter could be minimized.

A stiff smile appeared on Lily's face: "That's great, Sophia. I knew you were innocent..."

Before she could finish, the head judge's next sentence cut her off.

"Athlete Lily tested positive for two banned substances. First, furosemide, a diuretic, S5 class prohibited drug. Second, propranolol, a beta-blocker, P1 class prohibited drug."

The entire lounge fell silent.

In an instant, all color drained from Lily's face.

"No... impossible..."

She murmured, her body swaying, almost unable to stand.

Harrison and Director Morgan's expressions looked worse than if they'd eaten excrement.

Dr. Smith covered her mouth, her eyes showing shock but also understanding.

"No! This isn't true! You must have made a mistake!"

Lily suddenly screamed, looking deranged.

"It's her! It's Sophia framing me! She switched my sample!"

Like a mad dog, she lunged at me. Dr. Smith quickly blocked her.

"Lily! Calm down!"

"How can I calm down!" Lily struggled, her face twisted. "I didn't use drugs! I never did! It's her! She's jealous of me! She wants to destroy me!"

Everyone watched this spectacle.

Director Morgan and Harrison finally snapped out of it and rushed forward to hold her down.

"Lily, don't get excited. There must be a misunderstanding!" Director Morgan tried to calm her while giving the head judge meaningful looks. "Head judge, could there be a problem with the equipment? Or maybe the samples got mixed up?"

The head judge looked at him.

"Our procedures and equipment are world-class. There's absolutely no possibility of error. From extraction to testing, the samples were under surveillance the entire time. There's no possibility of switching."

His words blocked all escape routes.

Lily completely despaired. She collapsed on the floor, wailing.

"I didn't... I really didn't..."

Her performance was enough to make anyone who didn't know the truth feel sympathy, but unfortunately, everyone present was shrewd.

Who was right and who was wrongthe results made it crystal clear.

Harrison's expression kept changing. He looked at Lily, then at me, his eyes extremely complex.

He was probably regretting why he'd chosen to believe Lily instead of me.

I walked up to Lily and looked down at her.

"Now, do you have anything else to say?"

Lily raised her head to look at me, her eyes full of venomous hatred.

"Sophia, you'll die a horrible death!"

"That's what I should be saying to you."

I took out my phone and pressed play. A clear conversation came from the phone.

"...Mom, don't worry. The stuff I'm giving Sophia is the latest type. It metabolizes really fastcan't be detected. Once she's finished, the Olympic spot will be mine."

"...For double insurance, I also took a tiny bit of diuretic myself. If anything unexpected happens, I'll just say she secretly put it in my water. Anyway, she'll already be disgracedno one will believe her."

"...That idiot really thinks I'm her best friend. She'll eat whatever I feed her."

The recording was short, but the information was explosive.

Everyone looked at Lily like she was a monster.

She looked at the phone in my hand in disbelief, as if seeing a ghost.

"You... when did you..."

"Last night, when you were calling your mom." I put away my phone, my tone flat. "I guessed you'd make your move today, so I planted something in your room in advance."

In my past life, this was exactly how she'd set me up step by step.

First, she'd given me a drug long-term that made people mentally exhausted and weakened muscle strength, causing my performance to plummet.

Then before the crucial competition, she'd added banned drugs to my water.

A two-pronged approach that left me unable to defend myself.

Reborn in this life, how could I possibly stumble in the same place twice?

I'd turned the tables on her. Yesterday, I hadn't drunk that special juice she'd handed me at all. Instead, when she wasn't paying attention, I'd poured it into her water cup.

And that tiny bit of diuretic she'd taken herself to frame me became the final straw that broke her.

"No... this isn't real... it's synthesized! The recording is synthesized!" Lily was still making a last-ditch struggle.

I looked at the anti-doping center officials.

"I'll submit this recording as evidence to the police and the sports bureau. False accusation and framing, administering dangerous substancesI believe this is no longer just a matter of violating competition ethics. This is a crime."

Lily completely despaired. Director Morgan and Harrison's faces also became extremely ugly.

Although the recording didn't mention them, once Lily was criminally investigated, she might reveal all the benefits they'd given her to reduce her sentence.

Pull up the radish and the mud comes with itnone of them could escape.

The head judge took a deep breath. He looked at Lily with nothing but disgust.

"Effective immediately, all of athlete Lily's results in this competition are annulled. A comprehensive investigation into athlete Lily, her coach, and related personnel is being launched."

"Until the final investigation results are out, Coach Harrison's coaching duties are suspended."

"Now, will all irrelevant personnel please leave. We need to take athlete Lily for B sample retesting and follow-up questioning."

Several uniformed staff members walked in and supported the limp Lily on both sides.

As Lily was dragged away, she was still screaming hysterically.

"Sophia! I won't let you go even as a ghost!!"