Leila shrieked, instinctively curling up and clutching her head.
Seeing Leila react so timidly, Velora raised an eyebrow and smirked. "You're such a wimp," she teased. "Come on, you said it yourself—hitting someone at school would get me in trouble. Why would I hit you? If I were going to hit you, I'd do it outside of school."
Leila was about to explode with anger.
Of course, she knew that normal people wouldn't dare hit anyone at school. But Velora was anything but normal.
It was perfectly reasonable for Leila to be scared.
"What are you doing?" At that moment, a short-haired girl quickly stepped forward and helped Leila up, her voice filled with concern. "Leila, are you okay?"
"Lynn?" Leila blinked in surprise at the girl who had just rushed to her aid. She had nearly been brought to tears by Velora's words, and her eyes were still glistening with the remains of unshed tears, giving her a somewhat pitiful look from an outsider's perspective.
The short-haired girl was Lynn Miller, Leila's best friend. They'd been close since high school.
Seeing her best friend on the verge of tears, Lynn immediately glared at Velora and spoke up with a tone full of righteous anger.
"What were you doing just now? This is a school! You actually tried to punch someone? Tell me which class you're in—this isn't over. We'll report you to the administration!"
Velora saw Lynn escalate things and rolled her eyes. "I wasn't really going to punch her, just giving her a scare."
Lynn scoffed. "Oh, so scaring someone is fine? If I suddenly decided to scare you, would that be okay? You mess up and now you're trying to deny it—how pathetic! Lyceum should've screened its students better before letting someone like you in!"
Velora's blood pressure started to rise as she listened to Lynn's rant. "What's wrong with this person? I was just trying to teach Leila a lesson for running her mouth, and now she's acting like she knows the whole story. How did I get roped into this?"
"You think talking a lot makes you right? Don't push me, or I'll make you regret it!" Velora's fist clenched. If Leila hadn't mentioned that hitting someone at school would lead to trouble, Velora would have already struck.
Lynn, just as hot-headed, grew even more defiant. "What? You still want to get physical? Fine. If you do, you're expelled—I won't stop until you're out of here!"
Velora's eyes narrowed into slits. Oh, she's on! she thought, a mischievous grin spreading across her face. I'm going to give her a piece of my mind… and maybe a black eye.
Seeing Velora finally get confronted, Leila felt a wave of relief.
She tugged at Lynn's sleeve, pretending to mediate the situation. "Okay, Lynn, she's my sister. Let's not blow this out of proportion."
"Sister?" Lynn looked at Velora in surprise, then turned back to Leila. "Leila, what do you mean by that? Is she your sister? Your cousin?"
Leila shrugged, a little reluctant to explain. "Not my cousin, my real sister. She's my dad's late wife's daughter. She was kidnapped when she was a kid, and we only just found her recently."
"Wait… she's alive?"
Jessica's anger vanished nonchalantly. "You guessed it. Stars only know how Dad didn't want her. It's just awkward—so he's trying to ease her into things."
Jessica glanced around, then leaned in and whispered, "We put her in Lyceum so she can look good on paper. But between you and me, she can barely do anything in class."
"A complete illiterate in our classes?" Lynn's eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you serious? A total dunce?"
Jessica nodded, a sly smile playing on her lips. "I'm telling you this because you're my friend. Don't spread it around, okay?"
"Okay," Lynn replied, her mind racing. But seriously? A complete fraud in a spot here? I'm going to have to do something about this. I'm sorry, Leila, but I can't let this slide.
WhatsApp Group - Finance Program
Heads up everyone! We've got a big surprise coming our way.
[What kind of surprise? Spill already!]
(There's an illiterate who didn't even finish high school and managed to weasel their way into Lyceum. And guess what? They got stuck in our program.)
[Are you kidding me? A legacy dude or dudette!!]
[Does it matter? This is messed up. Even Lyceum's doing this to us now?]
[We work our butts off to get here, and now some rich kid can just buy their way in?]
[Legendary. Who's with me? Let's get this alliterate out of Lyceum.]
[We can't let this slide. Let's step up and act.]
[Me too!]
[Count me in!]
[Same here!]
[Same here!]
Seeing the unanimous vote to ostracize the newcomer, Lynn smiled smugly. She knew it wasn't exactly honorable to plot behind someone's back, but after all, Velora had bought her way in. She's asking for it. It's all Velora's fault, Lynn thought.
"Velora, this is the classroom for the Finance Program. Let me introduce you to your classmates. Then, you can ask Oliver Barton, the class rep, for the group chat link so you can stay updated."
The guidance counselor was all smiles as he walked Velora down the hallway. Henry had already given the Lyceum principal a heads-up, informing him that Velora was actually "Professor Fletcher."
However, to keep the identity a secret, the principal had instructed the guidance counselor to take extra special care of Velora and to fulfill her every need.
With such a direct order from the principal, the guidance counselor was more than eager to please Velora.
"Okay," Velora replied, memorizing the name. What a coincidence, she thought. Same last name as Henry.
The two entered the classroom.
The guidance counselor clapped his hands to get the rowdy students' attention. "Quiet down, everyone. We have a new student joining our program. Let's give her a warm welcome."
One of the boys snickered, "Professor Morell, we know. The new student is illiterate, right?"
As soon as he said that, the whole class erupted in laughter.