Their Mistake, Her Rise - Chapter 30: Chapter 30

The air seemed to freeze. Zoe's words hung there, heavy and chilling, as if time itself had paused.
Everyone was still, stunned into silence, when Cheryl was the first to break it.
She shouted, "Zoe, are you seriously out of your mind? Poisonous? Don't be ridiculous. You're just jealous of Eunice, right? Is it because we didn't give you any fish that you're trying to spoil it for everyone else? How can you be so spiteful?"
"Exactly," someone else chimed in. "That's just ruthless."
"Saying this fish is poisonous? I've never heard of fish being poisonous and inedible. Zoe, I'd believe you more if you said fish could fly."
The students finally snapped out of their daze and erupted in anger.
Eunice stepped forward, her voice gentle but firm. "Zoe, if you're hungry and want some fish, I'll share mine with you. You don't have to do this."
Her words trailed off, the unspoken meaning clear to everyone. They all knew what she was implying—that Zoe just wanted the fish for herself.
"Eunice, don't bother with her. She's just dying to get a taste of this roasted fish. I'm going to take a bite right now and prove her wrong. Let's see if this fish is really as poisonous as she claims," Mike said.
Without a second thought, he grabbed the fish, took a bite, chewed it quickly, and swallowed. One second... two seconds... ten seconds passed, and still, nothing happened.
"See? I told you it wasn't poisonous. Only an idiot would buy what Zoe said." Mike puffed out his chest and strutted around, facing everyone present.
The crowd started murmuring among themselves. Their attitude toward Zoe became even more severe.
However, at that very moment, something unusual happened—
Mike, who had been strutting around confidently just a moment ago, suddenly found himself struggling to breathe. It was as if an invisible hand had clamped down on his throat, squeezing the life out of him.
In an instant, his eyes bulged in terror. He clutched at his neck, shaking uncontrollably like a fish thrashing on a dry shore. His face turned a sickly shade of purple; he was choking, gasping for air.
The crowd let out a collective scream.
"Is it really poisoned? This fish is actually poisonous." Realizing how close they had come to ignoring Zoe's warning and eating the fish, everyone's face drained of color.
A timid girl in the crowd, unable to bear the sight, shut her eyes tight.
"Zoe was right. This fish is really poisonous. W-What are we going to do?"
"Is he just going to die here... like this?"
Just as everyone thought Mike was done for, Zoe darted through the crowd.
In the next instant, the crowd gasped. Zoe took a few quick steps forward, pivoted, and delivered a powerful kick to Mike's stomach. The force was so strong that he collapsed to the ground.
Faces in the crowd twisted with shock.
"Are you crazy? Zoe, what are you doing? He's dying and you kicked him? This is insane!"
"Mike wouldn't have died if it weren't for you. That kick... You're the one who killed him. We'll call the police."
As the crowd scrambled to blame Zoe for the poisoning, convinced that Mike was beyond saving, something unexpected happened.
Mike spat out the poisonous fish he had swallowed and began coughing violently.
The crowd stood there, stunned into silence.
"Look! His face is turning back to normal."
"It looks like he's going to make it."
Mike coughed a few more times, his breaths ragged, before he finally looked up. His eyes were red from crying, but he didn't seem to care.