The large gap between social classes often led people from the lower class to resent the wealthy.
Alina Hart felt the same way. Her resentment only grew after entering the academy.
She loathed the way they looked down on her, hated how their heads were so high in the clouds they forgot basic human decency.
There was only one person she genuinely liked.
Severine Vale.
When Severine endured the bullying and didn't betray Alina, her status rose instantly from casual friend to best friend.
After all, in Alina's eyes, they had gone through so much together—how could they not be considered best friends?
And that brought her to her greatest worry. The lunatic twins.
The screen in her hand illuminated the comment section.
[Someone accidentally bumped into the young master on the first day of initiation. Within a day, that student vanished from the academy. Later, he was found with a broken arm and sent abroad by his parents.]
As for who the said young master was, Alina didn't need to think twice.
Only Damien was capable of something like that.
After Severine left, she continued scrolling through the academy forum. The more she read, the stronger that same uneasy feeling grew.
Although no one dared say it outright, it was obvious: both twins were tyrants, and the entire school feared them.
Well, Rhodes had stakes in the academy. It wasn't that surprising that teachers would close their eyes when it came to them.
Severine's words echoed in her mind all over again.
"If you try to stand against someone like him, it will only make him more interested in you. The best way is to play docile and let his interest vanish. Of course, if you can bear it, Damien might treat you better in the future."
When Alina hadn't replied, Severine added the last sentence before leaving. "Maybe you might even fall for him afterward? Then you can be the rich madam."
She shuddered. "Sure enough, these second-generation kids are all sick in their heads."
It made no sense to her why anyone would fall for their bully. Only a masochist or a nutjob would.
Just then, the dorm door beeped, indicating someone was entering the password.
Alina was a sports student, so her schedule differed from Severine's.
She was free from her training, but Severine still had to attend her last class.
When the young miss entered, Alina couldn't help but stare at her.
A fair, gorgeously sculpted face, deep eyes that seemed to hold a thousand thoughts, and soft pink lips always pressed into a thin line.
A cold aura wrapped around her delicate frame, silently warning others to stay away.
Yet it was these beautiful features that made her appear mysterious. Like a fairy fallen into the mortal world and burdened by the atrocities humans committed.
Alina, a sucker for good looks, couldn't help but ogle.
That world-weary look hit all her aesthetic weaknesses.
"Severine," she called out. "How do I look like you?"
"Huh?" Severine asked as she changed into her slippers. "Meaning?"
"I mean, I want to appear as mysterious and aloof as you, but I can't stop my mouth. It's really troubling this lady."
Severine: "..."
She ignored the nonsensical words and went toward her room.
"Oi! What if we put itch powder in Damien's socks? Will that ease your anger?"
"If you wish to be buried in the itch powder, sure." Then, Severine directly closed the door.
Finally peace... She thought with a sigh.
Rhodes was targeting her, but compared to what Damien had done to Alina, his actions were milder.
Everything she had warned Alina earlier had really happened.
After she had betrayed Alina under Damien's fear, she crippled her for nearly two months.
If not for Alina's Awakener blood, it might have taken a few more months for her to take a proper step on the tennis court.
Without realising it, Damien became obsessed with Alina.
The more the heroine defied him, the more it triggered the male lead's crazy streak.
From losing their jobs to becoming homeless, Alina's innocent parents had to go through hell, and the poor girl wasn't any better either.
In the latter part, Damien made up for all the things he had done, treating both his girlfriend and her parents with respect.
But in a way, it was a threat. If Alina dared to leave him, he wouldn't hesitate to strike the innocent couple.
So, yes, this sling on her arm did indeed seem childish in comparison.
Surprisingly, her class went well, and there were no more 'slippery' moments.
"Awakener's threat is indeed useful."
As she sat on the soft cushion, her tense shoulders loosened.
This whole fiasco had reminded her of the only person who could put Damien in his place.
{Damien flung the file across his office, fury twisting his features. Months of planning, gone—because Killian bought the land he had reserved as a gift for Alina.
Killian Rhett King had ruined it all!
That was the last straw.
Damien's silver earring glinted under the pale light, illuminating the sudden smirk. That chilling smile gave his already handsome face a devilish charm.
Then he called someone who wanted Killian gone just as much.
Emmett D'Arden.
This marked the beginning of the cooperation between the two young masters, who had never seen eye to eye. All because they wanted Killian to suffer.}
This was supposed to happen after a few years with Severine gone from this world.
But her focus wasn't on the drama of male lead number one and male lead number two working together to defeat the big villain.
She was concentrated on that piece of land.
If even the Kings were vying for it, then it sure had to have special value.
Value meant money, and money was power.
She opened her laptop and started checking the emails she had received.
Her mother, though sick with depression, would never allow her to slack off, especially when there were many eyes staring at them.
"One mistake and everything would fall into someone's hands," she would say.
So, Severine had used all her secret funds to open her own investment company.
After two years of relentless effort, they had finally gained a foothold in the industry.
If Damien learned of it...
"No, I'll never allow it in this life."
She had recalled many details from the novel.
Using those plot points, she marked the major business turning points.
Like in one instance, Alina was taken to a lavish banquet hosted by the Kings and was attacked by a waiter.
As a form of apology, the Kings had given Alina a land near the Burketon Bridge.
Due to Alina's sudden fortune, the Rhodes parents started seeing her in a new light. Thus paving the way for good in-laws who doted on their daughter-in-law.
Severine had circled that area on the map along with several others.
She wasn't foolish enough to buy it blindly. After all, there were many factors that could affect its price.
Her assistant had been busy for the past two days and had sent the final investigation report to her email.
According to it, the land was fertile. Its price wasn't too high, and compared to other projects, it could be considered even cheap.
However, Severine's attention was caught by another line.
[A place where General Moshin lived.]
The general had been a great freedom fighter who sacrificed his life for the country. It suddenly became clear why the land's value would skyrocket in the future.
If her calculations were right, the government would be planning to build a research center in the city as a memorial to the General in a few years.
And the key component of that research lay beneath that plot of land.
Even if she didn't convert it into a factory as Damien had, she would still earn plenty.
A fleeting smile finally flickered in her dark gray eyes.
One by one, she marked the areas worth investing in and sorted them by priority.
If not for her lack of funds, she wouldn't have stopped there.