Jillian glared at Flora with eyes tinged red. Flora, on the other hand, turned away, half-drooping her eyelids as she stared ahead, not giving Jillian any attention.

Jillian watched her profile and started to calm down. The overwhelming panic and suffocation she felt began to fade. She felt a wave of shame, realizing she had been scared by Flora. Taking a bold step forward, Jillian blocked Flora's path. "You need to explain what you meant by your earlier words. Are you accusing me?"

"If you think I had something to do with the presentation mishap, then show me your evidence. Throwing around baseless accusations is what you resort to? Is this how you were raised?"

Jillian was sure that if Flora had any proof, she would have shown it already instead of dragging this out. Feeling confident that Flora had nothing, Jillian's arrogance spiked.

"I heard your mom died giving birth to you. No wonder you turned out so poorly raised—"

Before she could finish, a sharp slap landed on her face. Flora raised her hand again, delivering another slap, even harder than the first, the sound echoing crisply.

Flora stepped forward and grabbed Jillian's chin with a crushing grip, as if she intended to break it. Jillian trembled with pain, her lips unable to meet, let alone speak. All she could do was desperately slap at Flora's hand, making strained, gargling noises.

Flora looked terrifying at that moment. Her usually lazy, half-closed eyes were now bloodshot, emitting a chilling gleam. Anger radiated off her like a fierce fire, as if getting too close would turn one to ashes. It was utterly horrifying.

Eilies and Cynthia shivered in fear. They had been around Flora for almost a month and always found her easy to talk to. This was the first time they saw her lose control so completely, and it scared them deeply.

It was break time, and with people coming and going, the commotion quickly drew a crowd. Some even started recording with their phones. Worried that things might escalate, they rushed to separate Flora and Jillian.

But Flora was too strong, and they struggled to pull her away.

"Flora, calm down! Flora!" Cynthia shouted her name several times before the coldness in Flora's eyes gradually faded, and she returned to her usual demeanor. Yet, her eyes remained devoid of warmth. Slowly, she released her grip on Jillian. Jillian collapsed to the ground, gasping in pain. Both sides of her face were swollen, burning with pain, and her jaw felt like it had been torn apart; she suspected a fracture.

Cynthia supported Flora while Eilies helped Jillian up. In their eyes, Jillian had it coming. Even elementary kids knew better than to insult someone's family. Saying Flora had no upbringing right to her face was asking for trouble.

They too would have hit her, though not as fiercely as their strong-willed friend.

"Flora! I won't let this go!" Jillian spat out each word with deep resentment, forcing them from her chest. Though not exactly a prodigy, she had been coddled by her family since childhood, never hit or humiliated like this.

Flora smiled. Normally, her smiles were serene, sometimes with a hint of amusement, calming and delightful to those around her.

Tip: You can use left, right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.Tap the middle of the screen to reveal Reading Options.

If you replace any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report