The next morning, Li Yue sat beside Zhao Shui in the backseat, with her chin resting on her palm and eyes closed, while her brother, Li Xiang, settled in the passenger seat alongside their driver. The air was thick with an oppressive silence as they made their way to school.
The Li family's car glided smoothly along the road, its tires humming softly on the pavement as the sunlight cast a warm glow over the landscape.
"This is bad! They are so shameless," Puff suddenly spoke up, its eyes fixed on a transparent screen. "How can they change gears so fast? This is infuriating." Puff continued, hovering in the air between Li Yue and Zhao Shui.
"What's the matter with you? Why are you going crazy like a headless chicken?" Li Yue thought in her head, her eyes still closed.
Due to the pact between them, they both had the privilege for communicating with each other through telepathy, without having the need to actually speak, which allowed Puff to hear what she said in her mind.
Puff inched its face closer to hers, its brows furrowed deeply as it glared at her. "A headless chicken? You- you human! How dare you disrespect me by calling me a headless chicken?"
She didn't say anything; instead, she lazily opened one eye and glanced at Puff. Her icy, piercing gaze bore straight onto Puff, forcing it to back away.
"Ahem! Yeah- so, as I was saying...." Puff stuttered nervously, as it looked away, obviously scared by her. "Look at this!" a holographic screen flashed before them.
Li Yue's gaze swept across the screen, which displayed a recently uploaded post by an anonymous account on the school forum. Its title read;
[The Truth Behind School Belle's Scandal]
"This account is accusing you of setting up a trap for Zhao Shui and insists that she is innocent." Puff began to explain the details, "they've even posted a short video of our maid confessing that it was you who ordered her to do everything."
Puff tapped the screen with its claws, scrolling upwards to open the comments section. "Now everyone is blaming you for conspiring against her. They are criticizing you for your lack of integrity and familial love."
A playful smile crept onto Li Yue's lips, her eye narrowing slightly before closing again. She leisurely leaned back on her seat and ordered Puff, "Contact Liu Zong."
Puff's face twitched with disbelief at her nonchalant behavior, and it asked, "What's with your reaction? They are calling you names, but you look like you don't care at all. Aren't you going to retaliate against them?"
However, she remained silent and motionless. Seeing that, Puff fumed with anger before reluctantly obeying her order and contacting Liu Zong.
[Are you available?]
[Sorry. Something happened, and I am kinda stuck at the moment.]
[What happened? Are you ok?]
[Yeah, for the time being.]
Puff's claws stopped mid air, and it turned to look at Li Yue. "He says he's busy, so he can't meet up," Puff paused for a minute before voicing its doubt. "From the looks of it, he seems to be in trouble."
"Oh? Then ask him where he is," she replied curtly, her face emotionless as ever.
Puff nodded at her and turned its attention to the holographic screen as it continued typing.
[Where are you?]
[In the old grounds.]
~
A large group of students had gathered in the center of the old grounds behind the school's building. Most of them had their cell phones in their hands, either doing live broadcasts or recording the heated exchange between the protagonists of this huge commotion.
"You're threatening me?" A loud voice pierced through the whispering murmurs, bringing silence upon everyone.
They turned their attention on Fu Yichen, the devilishly handsome teenager who stood tall, in the middle of the gathering, with his hands tucked into his pants' pockets. Behind him, his four friends were also present, bearing witness to the bizarre scene that was playing out in front of them.
Fu Yichen's exotic, silvery hair gracefully fell over his forehead, hiding his deep, sea-like orbs, which threw death glares at a brunette girl before him.
"I- I-" she stuttered, her eyes nervously gazing around as she tried to find her voice. "I'm not- I'm just- just-" Her right hand, which held a knife and hovered over her left hand's wrist, trembled as she hesitantly took a step backwards, clearly intimidated by his question.
"Just what?" Right at that moment, another feminine voice resonated through the silence, coming from somewhere within the crowd, and startling everyone as they turned around to see Li Yue walking towards them.
As she approached the multitude, the students instinctively stepped away, creating a clear path for her to walk through.
"What kind of love confession requires a knife instead of a chocolate box or flowers?" Li Yue said with a raised brow, her eyes glancing at the knife in the brunette girl's hand as she stepped closer to her.
"You... You... Who are you? Why are you meddling in our affair?" The brunette girl stammered nervously and gulped before questioning Li Yue instead, her voice rising in agitation.
"Me?" Li Yue snickered as she walked up to Fu Yichen and stood beside him, her hand reaching out to grab his arm in a tight hug.
The corners of her mouth curled upwards slightly as she flashed the brunette girl a bright smile and replied, "I'm the fiancée of the one you shamelessly confessed your love to just now."
She proudly declared her status and raised her head, her eyes meeting Fu Yichen's confused ones, who was utterly surprised by her bold statement and had quickly turned his head to look at her.
The students around them erupted into a wave of gasps and whispers upon hearing her words, their voices rising in a mixture of shock and excitement. Fu Yichen's friends were also surprised and looked at each other, their eyes wide with astonishment as they quietly inquired about the situation among themselves.
The brunette girl's face turned white with disbelief, her eyes darting back and forth between Li Yue and Fu Yichen, her grip on the knife tightening as she took a step back and started shaking her head in defiance. "No- No! You're lying. This is a lie," she mumbled under her breath.