"Bye, Juniper."


    "Bye, Shanley."


    With his goodbyes rushing out, Kurt vanished out the door with the luggage in tow. Ebony Fox quickly followed behind, seemingly worried he might sabotage her car.


    "Why is Kurt acting so weird?" Juniper asked, leaning over the tank to feed the little turtles.


    "He is a bit off," Shanley agreed, a subtle smile tugging at his lips as he nced at his oblivious girlfriend.


    Whatever. He didn''t feel like exining it to her. Kurt was a toad dreaming of eating swan meat; it was never going to happen anyway.


    At Era University.


    Juniper was already quite famous on campus, but once her rtionship with Shanley went public, her reputation echoed across the entirety of Borealia. As she walked through the university grounds, students parted like the red sea, casting overly cautious nces her way.


    The future wife of the CEO of the Schwartz Group. That title alone was enough to strike fear into everyone''s hearts.


    "Good morning, Juniper."


    "?"


    Hearing the greeting, Juniper turned to see the Dean, smiling at her with unprecedented warmth.


    Hmm? The Dean was greeting her? The Dean was *initiating* a greeting with her? This world truly had gone mad.


    "Good morning," Juniper replied politely, despite the utter awkwardness.


    "Is your backpack heavy?" the Dean asked affectionately, stepping closer. "How about I carry it for you?"


    "No, thank you." Juniper took two steps back, casting a highly suspicious look at the Dean before speeding up and practically running away.


    Along the way, Juniper felt like a rare panda on disy, receiving countless lingering stares from everyone she passed.


    Juniper was immensely annoyed. This was exactly why she hadn''t wanted to go public. The hysteria was no less than an A-list celebrity announcing a marriage. From now on, she was stuck ying the role of the "rare panda."


    Finally managing to dodge the crowds, she passed a stairwell and suddenly caught a familiar voice.


    "Who knows what kind of seductive tricks she used to cling onto a massive tree like Mr. Schwartz," Ynda Sherwin scoffed, feaning against the wall, her tone dripping with venom. "You know my O boyfriend, right? Juniper tried to seduce him in the past, but she failed."


    "Really?" The girl beside her gasped, her mouth wide open in disbelief. "Then why did she fail? With that face and that aura... if she pursued me, I''d probably say yes."


    Ynda shot the girl a vicious re. "We grew up together, don''t you think I know exactly what kind of trash she is?"


    "People are just too scared to talk about it now because she has her brother backing her."


    "Go ask around. Find out how garbage her reputation used to be."


    "Used to be... The girl carefully sifted through her memory of the news from a while back. There were indeed rumors involving Jumper and Ynda But... hadn''t those been cleared up? In fact, Ynda seemed to be the one with more scandals attached to her name.


    She also recalled that while the


    Sherwin family had technically adopted Juniper, they never really cared for her. It was Lemuel Sherwin


    who had ultimately taken het to the martial arts center and


    der


    properly. Not to mention, Ynda had a history of bullying her.


    If the girl hadn''t read the news herself, she might have actually been fooled by Ynda.


    "I don''t think Juniper seems like that kind of person," the girl murmured, nervously ying with her hair. "She''s beautiful and smart. And for someone who''s the sister of a famous actor and the future wife of a CEO, she keeps a really low profile..."


    "What do you know?" Ynda''s face twisted furiously at the girl''s defense of Juniper. She snapped back, "Why else do you think my boyfriend broke off his engagement with her back then?"


    "And what right does she have to date Shanley Schwartz? Isn''t she just relying on her pretty face?"


    "If the Sherwin family hadn''t adopted her, she would''ve died in some ditch a long time ago! You think she''d be living the high life today?"


    "Now she''s waving around a feather like it''s a royal decree, thinking that just because she hooked up with Shanley, she can throw her weight around and step all over me?"