Jake shook his head.
"You are the only shameless person I know who could demand something like this and actually get them to agree."
He let out another chuckle.
"I'm starting to pity Jennie."
Luna snatched the document from him.
"What is there to pity her for?"
She scanned the agreement.
Then her face twisted in disgust.
"She deserves it. What a bitch."
Jane laughed.
"We should celebrate, Ava It's on you."
"Of course." Ava said smiling sweetly.
Ava proudly folded her arms.
"I'm expecting seven hundred million CU dollars from Jennie but I gave her 20 percent of so just 560 million CU dollars
Jake raised an eyebrow.
Around them, the teachers continued with the formal announcements, thanking the participants, praising their effort, and dedicating the awards to the students who had represented their schools.
Ava barely paid attention.
Another second passed.
And suddenly—
They burst out laughing.
Ava grinned.
"Why are you laughing?"
"Ava," Jordan said, staring at the document with pure amusement, "you're a thief."
Meanwhile, back in the equipment room, Jennie slowly pushed herself off the floor.
Blood still trickled from the wound on her forehead, sliding past her temple.
She touched it.
Her fingers came away red.
"Ava…"
Her jaw tightened.
"I'll fucking kill you."
She stared at the closed door with pure hatred, her eyes burning as though Ava were still standing right in front of her.
Then her phone came out.
Jennie wiped the hatred from her face.
She took one breath.
Another.
And by the time she pressed the call button, the murderous glare was gone.
The phone rang three times.
"Senior Brother…"
Her voice cracked instantly.
She sounded terrified.
"I'm so scared."
Her lower lip trembled.
"Everyone is bullying me here. I was framed. I swear I was framed."
She sniffed.
"If I wanted to attack someone, why would I leave evidence behind? Why would I be stupid enough to do that?"
Her voice became smaller.
"I don't understand why everyone hates me…"
She lowered herself onto the edge of a table, one hand covering her mouth as she forced out another shaky sob.
There was a brief silence.
Then a calm male voice answered.
"Hmm. It's okay. Don't worry."
His voice carried the quiet authority of someone who stood at the head of a powerful family.
"I'll take care of whatever needs to be handled. You don't have to worry about anything."
Jennie's eyes softened.
"Really?"
"Really. Just stay there for now. Calm down. I'll send you some allowance money." he added
"Thank you, Senior Brother."
Her voice was filled with gratitude.
"You're the only person who cares about me."
She sniffed one last time.
"I knew I could depend on you."
"I know."
The call ended.
Click.
Silence.
Jennie stared at the blank screen.
For two seconds, she didn't move.
Then The trembling stopped.
Her shoulders straightened.
The tears in her eyes disappeared.
Her mouth flattened into an annoyed line.
The frightened expression vanished so completely that it was almost disturbing.
Jennie casually wiped the corner of her eye.
There hadn't even been a tear.
"Tch."
She tossed the phone onto the table.
"If my parents had even half of Ava's parents' ability…"
She looked at herself in the small mirror from her makeup bag.
"I wouldn't have to beg a man I'm his thirty to for pocket money."
She clicked her tongue.
"But whatever."
She picked up her brush and began fixing her hair.
"As long as I'm taken care of."
Her phone suddenly rang again.
Jennie glanced at the screen.
Father.
Her expression immediately turned irritated.
She answered and placed the phone on the piano.
The moment his voice came through, he was already shouting.
"Where the hell did you go bragging that you were going to win this competition?!"
Jennie rolled her eyes.
"I already told all my friends you were going to win! Now I can't even lift my head!" her father roared
She continued fixing her hair.
"Your brother and sister-in-law are embarrassed because of you! Your younger brother even made a huge bet! Now he can't pay it!" he added
Jennie opened her lipstick.
"He's the one who made the bet."
"You need to help him! He is your brother" her father said irritated she is not doing as instructed.
Jennie applied lipstick without the slightest change in expression.
"And talk to your Senior Brother! Tell him to send some projects our way. You owe this family and you need us " her father said
Jennie paused
.
Then she looked at herself in the mirror.
Her eyes narrowed.
"You people really have one vocabulary."
"What?"
"Money."
She applied another layer of lipstick.
"You open your mouth, and the first thing that comes out is money."
Her father started shouting again.
Jennie didn't even bother looking at the phone.
"I'm the one who entered the competition. I didn't bet on myself."
She capped her lipstick.
"Your son did."
She picked up her compact mirror.
"So he can deal with his own stupid bet."
"Jennie!"
"And you're his father."
She smiled coldly at her reflection.
"Since when did I become his father?"
Her father went silent.
"when did I start acting like the head of the family dear father that I have to provide for you Should I start calling myself your mother too?"
"Watch your mouth—"
"No."
Her voice suddenly sharpened.
"You watch yours."
She put the compact away.
"Remember who kept this family connected to people who actually matter."
Her tone became colder.
"If I didn't have any use for you people, I would've abandoned you a long time ago."
Her father cursed.
Jennie simply rolled her eyes.
"And don't pretend you're innocent."
She leaned against the piano.
"If you weren't corrupt, what exactly would they have used against you?"
Silence.
"So what if I'm the reason you were investigated?"
Her voice was completely emotionless now.
"If you were actually a good man, would you have been kicked out?"
Her father had nothing to say.
Jennie smiled faintly.
"Exactly."
She picked up her phone.
"You made your choices I made mine I got kick out of Elysia but you are the one who had failed bussiness and followed me so Deal with the consequences ."
She ended the call.
Click.
Jennie stared at the screen.
Then she calmly slipped the phone into her bag.
The transition from the buzzing energy of the activity hall to the quiet, monolithic structure of the seven-story rest building was immediate.
Standing as an architectural fortress of privacy for Crownside High's most elite students, the building's exterior was a striking column of dark tinted glass and seamless white marble panels that blocked out the late afternoon sun.Inside, the layout was structured entirely around absolute isolation and status.
The first three floors contained sprawling, high-tech lounges and personal training quarters.
The fourth floor split the tower completely, acting as a massive, open-air gallery hall bordered by glass railings that looked out over the lush, manicured school grounds. Above this open space sat the residential suites.
The fifth floor housed twenty individual private rooms, while the sixth floor narrowed down to fifteen.
The absolute peak of the tower, the seventh floor, contained only ten highly exclusive private suites, each designed with thick soundproofed walls and private biometric locks, ensuring that the heirs of the Top 20 and Grey families never had to cross paths unless they chose to.
Following the end of the ceremony, the entire circle moved over to the rest building. Virtue, Sophia, Aiden, the other two elite girls, and Aiden's six friends headed up to their designated quarters.
Driven by an underlying panic, Virtue quietly slipped away from her private room, stepping out onto the sweeping concrete balcony of the residential floor.
The air up here was cold, whistling softly past the glass barriers. She pulled out her phone, dialing a hidden number with trembling fingers.
The line clicked open.
"I told you to fix the blade well in the cabinet and completely destroy Ava's hand! Now I'm hearing it isn't even that serious at all!" Virtue hissed through gritted teeth, her voice a low, frantic whisper against the wind.
"We did exactly as instructed," a man's voice replied smoothly from the other end of the line, entirely unbothered by her fury.
"Do you think it's that easy? We had to avoid the school's high-tech grid and bypass Ava's personal security detail. It's a miracle the blade was even placed."he added
"Fine! Make excuses all you want," Virtue snapped, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the phone.
"Just make sure absolutely none of this gets traced back to you. How sure are you that you didn't leave a trail?" virtue asked
A smug chuckle escaped the man over the receiver. "We didn't leave a single trace. It's a good thing you noticed that Averis girl trying to sabotage Ava's piano beforehand. We used her exact bribe and signature to mask our entry. Even if Crownside's security traces the mechanism, the trail will loop straight back to that Averis student."
Virtue took a slow, deep breath, her shoulders finally relaxing as the tension left her body. "Good."
She cut the call, a dark, vindictive satisfaction settling over her features as she stared out over the courtyard.It is all Ava's fault, Virtue thought, her eyes narrowing into cold slits.
She has far too many enemies anyway.
Jennie hadn't even planned to genuinely harm Ava—she just wanted to embarrass her on stage to win the points. But Ava had dared to eye the man of her dreams.
The mere thought of Ava and Aiden being together was something Virtue would never accept, even if she had to burn everything down to stop it.
Now, even if Ava didn't get crippled, she and that Jennie from the Averis representative school were going to completely tear each other apart.
Sophia is right, Virtue whispered to herself, the poison of her friend's lies completely clouding any remnant of her logic. I need to fight for my love.
She already said she and Aiden are just close, like siblings. It's only Aiden's grandfather who wants to force an arranged marriage between Ava and Aiden.
Why Ava? Why that chaotic girl? Virtue didn't want to see reason.
Even though Sophia had carefully mentioned she only heard it gossiping from a servant and that it might not be true, the jealousy had already consumed her completely."I am taking risks... but it's worth it," Virtue muttered aloud, her eyes spitting venom into the empty air.
"What are you talking about, you crazy girl?"The sudden, cold voice shattered her thoughts.
Virtue went completely pale, her heart leaping into her throat as Paul walked out onto the balcony toward her.
She held her breath, frantically scanning his face to see if he had caught the details of her call.
Realizing he had only caught her final, muttered words, her muscles relaxed just a fraction.
But she didn't have time to step back.
Paul lunged forward with a sudden, violent fluidness, slamming his hand against her shoulder and pushing her back against the reinforced glass railing, pinning her body in place beneath his frame.
"You dare make fun of me?" Paul whispered directly into her ear, his breath hot and dangerous against her skin.
Every single word felt like a direct death sentence to Virtue. "You dare mock my ability in bed? You are just a common whore, do you know that? You think I don't know your pathetic little plan?"
Virtue's breath hitched, her eyes wide with terror as he leaned closer.
"You actually drugged Aiden's drink," Paul sneered, a vicious, mocking smirk twisting his face.
"I saw you creeping around in the kitchen last night, acting like a common rat, but I didn't think you would go so low as to actually put an aphrodisiac drug inside his glass. What? You wanted to sleep with him, then force him to take responsibility or threaten to expose it to the world? Do you have any idea how crazily naive you are?"paul said with a chuckle as if her stupidity amused him.
Virtue tried to twist out of his grip, but he didn't give her an inch.
"Aiden would have had you thrown straight to the dogs," Paul whispered, his voice dropping into a dark, unhinged register.
"Letting the guys walk in on you naked and pathetic this morning was supposed to be enough punishment. But you actually opened your mouth at the table to mock me? You deserve death."Without a shred of hesitation, Paul's hand shot up, his fingers clamping violently around Virtue's throat.
He squeezed with a terrifying, iron strength, his eyes wide with a psychopathic rage that left no doubt he genuinely intended to choke the life out of her right there on the balcony.
Virtue's vision instantly began to blur. Gasping for air, she clawed frantically at his hand, her fingernails tearing at his skin as she tried to break the chokehold.
She slammed her other fist repeatedly against his chest, but his grip only tightened..
Desperate for survival, Virtue gathered the last of her physical strength.
She raised her leg and violently drove her knee straight up into his crotch.
The heavy, agonizing blow landed perfectly.
"Fucking... bitch!" Paul gritted out, his face contorting in pure agony as his grip instantly broke.
He stumbled backward several paces, completely doubling over as he clutched his crotch, his breathing ragged.
Virtue collapsed against the railing, clutching her throat as she violently coughed, drawing massive, frantic gasps of air back into her burning lungs.
She could already feel the deep, swollen handprint forming against her skin, her throat feeling incredibly sore and raw.
But as she looked down at the whimpering psychopath before her, the terror vanished, replaced by an unadulterated, vicious malice."You say I'm a whore and loose?"
Virtue mocked, her voice hoarse and raspy, but dripping with a cutting, lethal satisfaction as she glared down at him. "What about you? Lusting over Sophia... what do you think would happen if I told Aiden the truth? That when we were having sex last night, you were desperately moaning out Sophia's name?!"
Paul's head snapped up, his face turning an ugly, defensive shade of red through the pain.
"Then let's see what your dear 'friends' at that table would do to you, Paul," Virtue sneered, leaning against the glass as a mocking smile broke across her face. "You are also completely pathetic. And entirely useless."
Paul stared at her for a few minutes then got up calmly.
He didn't say a word.
The anger that had been burning across his face moments ago had completely disappeared.
His expression was cold and distant, almost unnervingly relaxed.
Virtue's breathing slowed.
"Oh. So you know I like Sophia. How interesting," Paul said, his voice dropping into a register of flat, mock amusement.
Virtue shifted her weight against the glass railing, watching him warily, her pulse hammering against her ribs as she wondered why he wasn't violently exploding in rage.
She had expected anger.
Instead, he looked almost entertained.
Paul tilted his head slightly.
"Then I don't have to hide it anymore."
His calmness made Virtue even more uneasy.
"Seriously, though," he continued, stepping closer. "Even with your status, you should know when to keep your mouth shut."
He placed one hand against the railing beside her head, trapping her between him and the glass barrier.
"You want to threaten me with Aiden?"
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"But aren't you scared?"
Virtue's eyes flickered.
"Before Aiden even finds out what you've been doing, wouldn't you be dead?"
Paul leaned closer, his expression remaining almost emotionless.
"I only wanted to humiliate you."
Virtue stared at him.
"I wanted to see how far you'd actually go just to take Aiden away from Sophia."
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
"But you had to ruin the fun with that big mouth of yours."
His eyes travelled over her dismissively.
"You're the daughter of a low-tier prestigious family. Even among that circle, your family is still near the bottom."
Virtue's expression tightened.
"And yet you're standing here threatening me."
Paul gave a quiet laugh.
"I could kill you right now, then throw enough projects at your family to make the whole thing disappear."
Virtue's face paled.
"You think because you're friends with Sophia, you've suddenly become somebody?"
He shook his head.
"You're still nobody."
His voice became colder.
"Some people are born to be main characters. Others are born to stand in the background and make the main characters look brilliant you are just an extra ones an extra always an extra ."
His eyes narrowed.
"And you're dreaming of becoming Cinderella."
He smiled.
"What a joke."
Virtue's jaw clenched.
Sorry my beloved after writing about posting everyday from now on I went back on my word and didn't post for 12 Days sorry my babies this is my bad so enjoy