Jane's glare sharpened, her fingers tightening around her glass as if she were about to hurl it.
She opened her mouth, ready to yell
Ava's hand closed over hers, warm and firm.
"Arguing with a fool proves you're the second fool, baby girl,"
Ava said, voice low, almost soothing. "What happened has happened."
She picked up the bottle of wine, shook it once, then popped the cork with a soft hiss.
Before Jennie could react, Ava tilted the bottle, letting a slow, steady stream of red pour over Jennie's lap and chest.
Jennie shot to her feet, her chair scraping loudly against the floor.
"The hell—! Why did you do that?" she started, voice rising—then cut herself off mid-sentence, forcing her tone down into something wounded and bullied. "Oh my god… why would you do that?"
Ava blinked, all innocence.
She set the bottle down and pulled a tissue from her clutch, dabbing her fingers with exaggerated care before using her index finger to trace the rim of her wine glass.
"Oh my. Did I do that?" she asked, voice soft with fake concern. "So sorry."
She leaned back, eyes cool and unapologetic.
"You're owing me 560 million CU, right? Take 60 million from it. Buy yourself some clothes, jewelry, a bag, a car. Since I'm being nice, why don't I go hard? Take 200 million CU for yourself. You're going to need it after your life turns upside down. You can even use it to treat the future diseases you'll get from whoring around."
Ava's smile was sweet, razor-sharp.
"Word of advice: go call your sugar daddy. No, wait—you don't call him that. You call him 'senior brother.' Cash him out before you're thrown away like trash."
She tapped the table once, the sound crisp in the space between them.
"As for the remaining 300 million CU—the day should not break before I see my money. Or I will sue you. Now get lost."
Jennie didn't even bother exchanging word
She wasn't foolish enough to mistake Ava's warning for mere taunting .
She turned on her heel and walked out, spine straight though she wants to quickly understand what is going she won't let herself embarrass, pretending she hadn't just been drenched in front of half the room.
As soon as she was gone, Jane burst into giggles, shoulders shaking.
"Damn, your mouth is poisonous," she said, wiping at her eyes.
Ava winked, lifting her glass in a lazy toast.
"Well, that's how I was made to be. Baddie princess. Don't hate the player, hate the game."
In the bathroom, the mirror lights cast a cold glow over Jennie's flushed face. She leaned against the sink, phone pressed to her ear, knuckles white.
She called her senior brother five times.
Each time, the same recorded message:
This line is busy. Please try again later.
Jennie closed her eyes, forcing herself to breathe. In. Out.
She couldn't afford to look panicked. Not now.
She called the assistant instead On the third call to the assistant, he finally picked up.
"How is senior brother? Is he okay?" Jennie's voice came out small, trembling, as if she were barely holding it together.
"I kept trying to call him, but he isn't answering. I hope nothing bad happened to him. I'm so worried right now. Are you with him?"
"Boss is busy," the assistant replied, tone flat.
"Oh… is it because of me? The yesterday case?" Jennie's voice cracked, guilt thick in every word. "It's my fault. Senior brother is very busy right now… When he works hard, he doesn't take care of himself. He drinks too much."
She paused, as if gathering herself.
"Please tell the servant to prepare him some porridge. Not too bland—he won't eat it if it's bland. They should add some shrimp inside. And they should make his favorite cake. Just a small piece. And put his medicine inside—that's how he takes his medicine."
Her breath hitched, like she was fighting back tears.
"Also… tell senior brother he should just drop my case. I don't want to be the reason he's in difficulty because of me. I know what I did. And I know how Ava takes revenge. They'll be looking for a scapegoat. If senior brother tries to defend me, it will end badly for him. I don't want to be the case that ruins everything. He's worked so hard to be where he is."
Jennie stopped, swallowing hard, as if forcing herself not to cry.
"At the end of the day, I'm just a mistress. The shareholders in his company can use it against him. It could cause another rift between his family. I don't want to be that selfish anymore. Senior brother has done so much for me. I'm the one who made the mistake."
Tears gathered in her eyes, glistening but not falling.
On the other end, the assistant could almost picture her: fragile, in love, already thinking of the big picture while her own life crumbled.
"I should take the brunt of my errors. No one else should. I would go back to Averis. What happened to me and my family is up to fate. And anyway, I'm just eighteen. I don't have much to lose."
Her voice steadied, turning soft but firm.
"Just… thank senior brother for me. For being there for me no matter what I've done. And for playing along with my act. I did take him as family. He was the one who helped me, the one I could rely on when I had nothing. But I will handle the backlash myself. I won't be able to rest otherwise."
She took a breath.
"Bye," Jennie said, and before the assistant could respond, she ended the call.
For a moment, the bathroom was silent except for the low hum of the ventilation.
Jennie lowered the phone, staring at her reflection counting the second he would call back.
In the office, the assistant stood frozen, phone still in hand. Even his blank, professional face had cracked he could picture her expression Her eyes were wet, but her expression was calm, almost resigned—as if she had already accepted her fate.
He glanced toward his boss, who had been listening to the entire conversation on speaker, jaw tight.
All the annoyance he'd felt for Jennie earlier was gone now.
At the end of the day, she was just eighteen, clinging to a man twenty-four to help her family have a standing in Averis, trying to protect him from the fallout of her own mistakes.
The boss tapped his fingers on the desk, jaw tight.
He hadn't really wanted to talk to Jennie at all. When he'd tried to help her before, he'd faced massive backlash—quickly contained, but enough to remind him how dangerous this was.
Though He was the head of one of the top Gray families—a family with enormous influence, connections, and ties that stretched back generations throughout Averis.
He'd hidden his affairs with Jennie carefully.
Only those at the very top knew he was the one sponsoring her, and even then, they were few.
But now, because of that deal with Ava, the imbalance was glaring.
Everyone could see what Ava stood to gain, and how she'd gotten this opportunity—all because Jennie had gone after her, and he'd backed Jennie.
It made him an eyesore.
He'd expected Jennie to call sobbing: begging for help, wanting to run, asking for money, complaining about how unfair it all was.
But hearing her now… it would be a lie if he said he wasn't moved. He'd always seen her as young, spoiled, careless. He hadn't expected this.
He glanced at his assistant, who was still holding the phone after the call ended.
The boss exhaled slowly. "It's not that I don't want to keep contact, but this is not the right time at all call back."
The assistant called Jennie back.
"Miss Jennie"He paused, then added, voice cool but not unkind, "Given your relationship, I would advise you not to come back to Averis anytime soon. Do not follow the vice president, nor those teachers and students back to school. You have already been expelled. They didn't make it public because they want you to come back—to use you as a scapegoat. Stay where you are."
"As for how you will survive: cancel your citizenship quickly. The boss will send you 500 million CU. Do not contact him again. Use the money to start anew with your family. Build your family company."
The assistant added then ,ended the call—and moments later, the payment transfer notification chimed.
Jennie didn't even look at it.
Her act had dropped. Her face was pale, eyes hollow, as if she were only just processing how completely the ground had been pulled from under her.
Before she could move, the bathroom door opened again.
One of the Averis teachers stepped inside—a woman, calm and composed, gaze scanning Jennie from head to toe.
"What are you doing?" the teacher asked, voice even.
"That Ava bitch poured drink all over me," Jennie complained, voice tight with injured pride. "I know she's mad at me, but does she really have to go so far? Does she know how expensive that dress was?"
Her expression was hurt, but only in the way of someone angry at being disrespected—not broken.
The teacher nodded once. "Enough. When you are done, come outside. Do not waste time."
Jennie's eyes narrowed. "Why are you worried about me, teacher? Why are you here? Did the vice president send you?"
For a heartbeat, the teacher's eyes went wide—then cold.
Jennie felt chills run down her spine, but she didn't show it as the teacher expression had proven it right they want to use her as scapegoat what scared her really is what if she didn't find it early.
"Did he send you to watch me? To see if I would try to attack Ava?" Jennie's voice sharpened, defensive. "I'm not stupid. Go away. I want to clean myself and use the toilet. When I go back, I will make my senior brother deal with her."
The teacher studied her for a long moment, as if weighing something.
Then, seeing that Jennie truly didn't know what was coming, she turned and left without another word.
The second the door clicked shut, Jennie's mask shattered.
She punched the mirror, hard. Glass cracked in a spiderweb pattern around her knuckles, but she didn't flinch. Her gaze was freezing cold.
"That old hag dared to cut me off. And the school expelled me. All my hard work—everything—gone down the fucking drain."
Her breath came fast, furious.
"And now a mere vice president has sent people to control me. How poetic." Her lips twisted into something ugly. "It's all that damn Ava's fault. Not only her fault—that other person who caused the cabinet accident and made me take the blame, trying to climb over my head. If I catch you, I will skin you alive. One. By. One."
She stopped, forcing herself to breathe.
"And it's also my fault. I acted so rashly and ended up in this shit."
Jennie closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and smoothed her expression back into something composed. Then she picked up her phone.
She opened a secure chat and attached a file—implication documents that could harm her dear "sugar daddy," along with evidence of his cheating, ready to send to his wife.
Her message was short:
I want my citizenship card. Destroy it. I'm not a citizen of Averis. Then I will send the remaining files. If you do not, I don't only have your husband's file—your dear family's as well. Consider it woman helping women.
She hit send, deleted the chat, and cleared all traces.
Then she stared at her reflection in the cracked mirror, eyes empty of everything but calculation.
Jennie walked back into the hall, heading straight toward Ava.
Without saying a word, she transferred the money before returning to her seat, her expression carefully composed.
By the time the event began winding down, Ava spotted Matthew standing with Sophia and the other three students who would be participating in the Unity competition.
She walked over.
Sophia glanced at her with a small smile.
"Ava, are you here for Matthew?"
"Can't you see he's busy?" Sophia's friend said before Ava could answer, glaring at her. "Not everyone has time for your love nonsense. We're planning to stay in the hotel tonight and go through some revisions so we can figure out how to work together."
Ava stared at her.
"You guys have Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday—actually, the whole damn week—to study together. And it's Thursday evening. The competition is tomorrow, and suddenly you want to learn how to cooperate?"
She planted her hands on her hips.
"I don't have a lagging brain like yours, so try to make it make sense. And if you fail tomorrow, that's on you. Stop trying to shift the blame."
She stomped her foot lightly, deliberately acting cute in front of Matthew.
The third girl opened her mouth.
"You—"
Her lips moved, but nothing else came out.
"You don't have to say it like that," the second boy complained. "You're making it sound like we're unserious."
"Enough."
Sophia stepped in, her tone gentle.
"Ava is here for Matthew, and he hasn't said anything about leaving with her. It's true that we haven't practiced enough as a team, but individually, we're prepared. We didn't study together because we wanted to see where our individual shortcomings are."
She gave Ava a patient smile.
"We only want to go over a short topic tonight and calm our nerves before tomorrow. Ava, this isn't the time to be rude. Try to understand the bigger picture."
Her words were gentle, almost coaxing.
The kind of tone that made it sound as though Ava was simply being childish and selfish while Sophia was the one patiently trying to keep everyone together.
Ava's eyes narrowed slightly.
Before she could respond, Matthew spoke.
"Just because you paint your words nicely doesn't make them good."
Sophia's eyes twitched.
Matthew's voice remained calm.
"If you really care about everyone, you'd realize you're inconveniencing them."
He glanced around at the others.
"Tomorrow is the competition, and you want everyone to sit here tonight and go through books?"
He raised an eyebrow.
"I'm pretty sure everyone has already studied in the morning and afternoon. Then we spent the evening attending these events. Everyone is tired and exhausted, yet you want us to start figuring out how to coordinate as a team tonight?"
His tone was soothing, almost casual.
"I know you want the best for everyone. And I know you don't want anyone to be affected tomorrow."
He paused.
"But sometimes, trying to do what you think is best for everyone doesn't mean everyone actually wants it."
Sophia remained silent.
Matthew's voice stayed warm, but there was something firm underneath it.
"Keep your opinion if you want. Just don't make everyone else follow it."
There was no anger in his expression.
No raised voice.
No confrontation.
And somehow, that made it harder to argue with him.
He had that lazy, detached warmth about him—the kind of presence that didn't force its way through a wall.
You simply couldn't get past it.
You could argue.
You could complain.
You could try to push.
But eventually, you'd just bounce right back and have to listen.
Ava's lips curled into a delighted smile.
She loved this side of him.
Sophia's eyes twitched again.
"Good," Matthew said simply.
He reached for Ava's hand.
"Let's go."
Ava happily slipped her fingers into his.
As they walked away, she glanced back at Sophia with a tiny, smug smile.
She didn't say a word.
She didn't need to.
Matthew had already said enough.
This is on Wednesday work I think I don't even know but just take it sorry for updating late guys I already had it down then I have network issues throughout so frustrating