Fresh air rushed back into her lungs, and Summer had never felt more alive than she did at that moment. Clutching her still-burning throat, she gathered herself and shot Mirabe a defiant smile, pointing a finger at her. Her voice was hoarse as she shouted, "You wouldn''t darey a finger on me! Even if you hate me to your core, you wouldn''t dare to kill me!"


    She had forgotten one crucial thing: this was and ofws. Murder was illegal. So, Mirabe really had no way to harm her.


    Summerughed so hard that tears streamed down her face, even though she had been on the verge of death just moments earlier. Now that she grasped this truth, she feltpletely invincible.


    Mirabe watched Summer, who seemed slightly unhinged, with eyes that had shifted from burning with murderous intent to a calm indifference. She nodded, "Indeed, you''re right. So you shall live."


    To live a life worse than death.


    Mirabe flicked her fingers by her side, her expression remaining unchanged as she thought to herself. Summer was still gasping for air when she suddenly felt something bounce into her mouth. Before she could make sense of it, her throat reflexively swallowed. She could clearly feel that she had swallowed something foreign.


    Summer''sughter stopped abruptly, and she quickly pressed her hand against her throat, trying to expel whatever she had swallowed. But no matter how hard she tried, nothing came out. Soon, waves of pain followed-not intense, but as if radiating from every bone in her body.


    Mirabe calmly turned her gaze to the vast artificialke ahead. The surface shimmered, and as the wind picked up, a chill settled in. March in Merrywoods was much colder than in Riverdale.


    By now, Summer''s face waspletely pale, and she struggled to stay on her feet. She raised her head and spoke with difficulty, "Did you make me eat..."


    Before she could finish, she saw Mirabe leap into theke without a second thought. Summer stood hunched over, her face frozen in shock, like someone had hit the pause button. She couldn''t understand-was it really just about a broken phone?


    Patrick and ze waited in the cafeteria for twenty minutes, but Mira never came back, making them realize something was off. "Mira''s not picking up," ze said, hanging up for the fifth time but ready to dial again. Denny returned from the restroom, looking at Patrick and ze with a serious expression, shaking his head, "There''s no one in the restroom."


    "She must be in trouble," Patrick said with near certainty. Even though they hadn''t known Mira for long, they knew enough about her character. She wasn''t the type to be careless.


    "I''ll go exin the situation to


    Robert," ze decided quickly. "I''ll talk to a professor to help us look, Denny added. Patrick paused, suddenly recalling the girl from earlier who had seemed hostile towards Mira. He wondered if there was a connection and nodded, "Let''s keep in touch."


    ze and Denny nodded in agreement. The three quickly split up. Patrick headed


    to the administration office responsible for the exchange program, where a


    professor was still on duty.


    "You''re asking about Summer,


    right?" The professor immediately


    knew who Patrick was looking for based on his description, then pulled up Summer''s contact information from the system. Patrick took the number, thanked the professor politely, and was about to leave when he nearly collided with a student rushing in from outside.