Tang Lilou hadn’t expected her cousin to be this frightening. She was now seeing Lu Xinyi in a new light. People always say ‘pent-up hatred is stronger when someone snaps’. She wondered how long did it take Lu Xinyi’s patience towards Meng Jiao ran thin.

It was good that she wasn’t planning to offend her Xin Jiejie because her actions, even her conniving schemes, reminded her that Lu Xinyi was the demon king’s bride. Although she hadn’t really thought that Lu Xinyi was one to play her victim on her hands. Giving Meng Jiao false hopes, letting her cling to her desperation, but ruining all her chances to survive…

Even Lan Xiaoli was frightened by what Lu Xinyi said. False hope was worse than despair. However, she and Tang Lilou knew that if Meng Jiao hadn’t schemed against Lu Xinyi, Lu Xinyi wouldn’t have to retaliate viciously.

“Miss Lan, is Wen Shufen still bothering you?” Lu Xinyi’s question brought back Tang Lilou and Lan Xiaoli from their thoughts.

“Oh, I think she grew to hate me more since our macaron exam. She said a couple of things but hadn’t made a move to harm me,” Lan Xiaoli responded.

Lu Xinyi snorted.

“As expected, she only knows how to bark but not to bite. Even dogs would be offended if compared to her.”

“I’m sorry, Miss Lu. If it wasn’t for me, Miss Wen won’t pick a fight with you,” Lan Xiaoli lowered her head and bit her lower lip. Wen Shufen wouldn’t drag Han Yixin to challenged Lu Xinyi if Lu Xinyi hadn’t stepped up to protect her.

“Why are you taking the blame for something you have no control of?” Lu Xinyi sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Lan Xiaoli’s attitude made her think of Meng Jiao’s opposite shamelessness.

“Miss Lan, Wen Shufen will still come after me even if we haven’t met you that day. On our first day of class, she already made it clear that she hates me down to her bones. Thank you for your concern, Miss Lan, but you don’t have to worry about me. Miss Wen chose to offend me repeatedly and tried to harm you. I’ll not turn a blind eye when someone’s bullying a friend.”-.

Lan Xiaoli’s eyes teared up. She was really moved upon hearing that Lu Xinyi regarded her as a friend. Since she started attending Silver Leaf, the pressure on her shoulder was driving her insane. Being the last of her class, she thought of giving up.

However, when she tried to meet Ye Xieren that day, she was completely overwhelmed by Lu Xinyi’s confidence. Her admiration shifted from Ye Xieren to Lu Xinyi that day. Since her stay at the academy, Lu Xinyi was the first one who treated her fairly and patiently taught her to improve her macarons.

“Miss Lu…” she sobbed, “No, you’re my Xin Jiejie from now on!” Lan Xiaoli exclaimed.

“Hey! Don’t go around claiming someone as your sister!” Tang Lilou pouted.

“Huh? Why not? You’re also calling her Xin Jiejie; are you her sister?” Lan Xiaoli countered.

Lu Xinyi sweatdropped. She felt like looking after her little sisters fighting over a sweet she made. Remembering something, she turned to Tang Lilou.” Have you heard about Han Yixin lately?”

“She hasn’t said anything after issuing her challenge to you. Is there something wrong?”

“No.” Lu Xinyi was just curious about Han Yixin. She hadn’t met this woman personally. As the Headmistress’ niece, Han Yixin’s aloof personality hadn’t surprised Lu Xinyi.

She wondered if there’s somewhat an invisible mark on her forehead that says, ‘Hey, I’m a weakling. Bully me’. Her eyes landed on the keychain gift on her bag that Yuan Jin sent her. A beautiful white nine-tailed fox with golden eyes. She inwardly sighed. It must have been nice to have nine tails so she could slap those bitches all at once.

Meanwhile, Meng Jiao stopped her tears and tried to suppress her brewing anger. Seeing other students whispering when they see her, she was tempted to snap and talk back to them.

Lu Xinyi…

How could this happen to her? Since she met Lu Xinyi, she had always been her shadow. How come today she ended up chasing after Lu Xinyi? How was she supposed to accept that the shadow that following her all these years suddenly became more popular than she was?

After a long while, she went back to their classroom, only to find her classmates stopped what they were doing—making an awkward atmosphere as she went back to her seat. Her eyes sought Lu Xinyi, who had a bored expression on her face while watching Lan Xiaoli and Tang Lilou arguing with each other. Then, low whispers started to reach her ears.

Initially, some of their classmates view Meng Jiao as someone they could always rely on, but ever since she started leading their group activities and purposely antagonizing Lu Xinyi’s suggestions, they started to see her as someone who couldn’t take the competition. In her eyes, she could never be inferior to anyone especially if was Lu Xinyi.

Meng Jiao always found trouble when Lu Xinyi was involved. Maybe it was because Lu Xinyi’s performance was more outstanding than hers. Unlike Ye Xieren and Yan Chen who both have on-hand experience in restaurant kitchens and Tang twins who had several family restaurant chains under their belt, Meng Jiao and Lu Xinyi didn’t have technical experiences.

When the news spread about Lu Xinyi’s disappearance—although no one had brought the issue to the limelight, everyone was aware that it was Meng Jiao who instigated it out of her jealousy. After all, Lu Xinyi was dominating the ranks.

“Do you think she’ll get an expulsion?”

The gossip continued while Meng Jiao tried to bear with it as she lowered her head, refusing to meet everyone’s eyes.

“There’s a great chance she will, but let’s not forget that Miss Sun has her back.”

“You think she’ll continue to support her? Are we forgetting that Lu Xinyi is also a Sun Miss?”

—

“Miss Feiyan, the academy just called. Miss Meng looked for trouble with Lu Xinyi.”

Chen Anqi, Sun Feiyan’s assistant, arrived and tidied up the messy table of her boss. Sun Feiyan was laying on the couch, covering her eyes with an arm. She’s spent an all-nighter, trying to finish the pile of work she had on her table.

It was already six in the morning, and she just had a two-hour nap when Chen Anqi arrived. Across Sun Feiyan, a man was sitting with his eyes closed. Chen Anqi knew better that he wasn’t sleeping at all. This man was her mistress’s personal bodyguard, Ye Xingjie.

“Such a useless bitch…” Sun Feiyan muttered without moving on her place. Chen Anqi stopped and blinked at her mistress’s tone.

Sun Feiyan rarely lost her composure and wouldn’t talk harshly unless someone was testing her patience.

“How’s Lu Xinyi?” Sun Feiyan asked. She sat up and run her fingers on her messy locks. The darkening of her under eyes indicated that she’d been suffering for a lack of sleep for days.

Chen Anqi’s gaze softened as she looked towards her mistress. Ever since they arrived from overseas, her mistress hadn’t stopped working. With her aunts and cousins around, it didn’t help that Sun Feiyan also needed to up her guard against her conniving relatives.

“She got a cut on her leg, but she’s doing well now,” Chen Anqi replied. “How should we deal with Miss Meng?”

Sun Feiyan stared down on her hands and sighed.

“I’ll let the academy deal with her. Allowing someone to use her? She must have forgotten who helped her all this time.” Sun Feiyan spat out.

Meng Jiao was supposed to be her chess piece. How dare she allow Sun Mingai and Sun Qiyan to use her and hurt Lu Xinyi behind her back? She specifically took her under her wing to keep watch on Lu Xinyi, but she dared to do someone else’s task? Meng Jiao needed to be taught a lesson.

“But Lu Xinyi will sure wouldn’t let her off easily…” Chen Anqi reminded her.

Sun Feiyan scoffed and strode towards her desk to open the top drawer, taking a pack of cigarettes. Taking a piece, she lit the end and let the smoke fill her lungs before letting it out as a puff.

“Dealing with Xin’er was never been easy…” she said thoughtfully, “as long as she hides behind Shen Yi, she will never grow and get stronger.”

Shen Yi’s overprotective nature for Lu Xinyi was giving Sun Feiyan a headache. She’d never thought the two had deep feelings for each other. Shen Yi’s action was enough to tell everyone that in this world, Lu Xinyi was his everything.

Chen Anqi understood what her mistress meant at once. President Shen had been trying to corner them, pushing them to retreat. Shen Yi was subtly suppressing Sun Corporation’s growth and performance.

“It will be better if they break up soon…” Chen Anqi muttered.

It would make their plans run smoothly if Lu Xinyi would be left alone.

“Anyway, how come Starlight Collection is losing sales lately?” Sun Feiyan’s question caught Chen Anqi off guard.

“Miss Qiyan is assigned for Starlight Collection, but Lu Xinyi’s Flair Apparel has recently made a comeback after her front cover issue surfaced.” Chen Anqi replied while starting to sort out the documents her mistress needed to sign today.

Sun Feiyan chuckled. She sat at the edge of her desk while staring outside her full-size windows.

“Qiyan is always inferior to Xin’er. What made her think that she could compete with her?”

“Should we make a move against Flair Apparel?” Chen Anqi asked. Flair Apparel was exclusively owned by Lu Xinyi now. She took over the ownership after Xia Yuhan sold all her shares to Lu Xinyi.

“No,” Sun Feiyan rejected the idea, “Since Xin’er owns Flair Apparel, let it be.”

It would only take a matter of time before Lu Xinyi falls anyway.