I forced a bitter smile. "Don''t worry. Haven''t you heard the saying?"


    "What is it?" Matthew asked.


    "When the stormes, we stand strong together, like branches on the same tree." I grinned, hoping to lighten the mood.


    Matthew looked at me like I was a fool, and I couldn''t help butugh.


    I just wanted to joke around with him a bit, to lighten the mood for both of us. Truth be told, I was still a little nervous.


    At the ssroom door, I told Matthew and the others to go in first. I didn''t want them to face the same storm of judgment I was about to.


    Sure enough, the moment I stepped into the room, every pair of eyes turned to


    me.


    Their gazes were filled with resentment, as though they had collectively been wronged by me. If such negativity had a physical form, I imagined a cloud of bad energy rising from the building would being in my direction.


    This was probably the biggest test of my life. I braced myself and walked into the ssroom with as muchposure as I could muster.


    Benjamin waved me over to sit with him, but I shook my head. I couldn''t drag him into this.


    Instead, I sat beside Louis and Zack.


    Their eyes widened in disbelief, and they looked like they wanted to leave, but I had conveniently blocked their escape route.


    Louis exploded in anger. "How can someone be so shameless? I''m done!"


    Zack chimed in, "Do you think we won''t do anything to you? I''ll count to three. Leave, or I''ll make you regret it!"


    I shook my phone. "I recorded everything you just said. When I report you for nder, this will be my evidence."


    Both of them went silent immediately.


    I smirked.


    What cowards.


    If they had dared to stand their ground, I might have respected them a little more.


    ss began, and the teacher pulled out the roster to take attendance. When my name was called, she paused to shoot me a sharp nce.


    I instantly understood the rumors must have reached her as well.


    I guessed my infamy had spread not just throughout the department, but probably the entire school.


    However, I had to hold my ground.


    "Felicia."


    "Felicia?"


    The teacher called her name twice, but no one answered. I froze for a moment, then quickly looked around. Felicia wasn''t in the ssroom.


    She didn''te to ss?


    A pang of guilt hit me as I recalled how I had coldly ended things with herst night. Could she have fallen sick because of that?


    After ss, I stopped Matthew. "Can you ask Isabelle to check on Felicia for me? She didn''t show up today."


    "Sure," Matthew agreed readily and called Isabelle.


    It didn''t take long for Isabelle to reply. "Felicia''s roommate said she was looking


    for part-time jobs all night after she got back to the dorm. This morning, she went for an interview at a restaurant."


    I wondered why she would need a part-time job.


    She wasn''t rich, but it wasn''t like she was desperate for money either.


    After finding out which restaurant she had gone to, I immediately hailed a cab.


    On the way there, I couldn''t stop thinking about what I would say to her.


    We were already broken up, and I had told her not to see me again. I had no grounds to interfere with what she did, but I couldn''t just sit back and watch her ruin her future and neglect her studies.