Pulling out a pair of sunglasses identical to the broken one in her hands, Lyla held it up in front of Ethan with a mischievous grin. "Hey, Ethie, check this out. This one has a serial number engraved on the screw, but hers doesn't. Weird, huh?"
Ethan instantly understood her meaning. This wasn't just a casual observation, this was a verbal slap in the face, delivered with precision.
Every time Ivy tried to speak, Lyla cut her off with playful jabs, each sharper than the last.
"Ma'am, I'm so sorry. How about I just give you these instead?" Lyla offered the sunglasses in her hand, her tone sweet and apologetic as she held them out.
Ivy hesitated, momentarily caught off guard, and instinctively reached for the glasses.
But just as Ivy's fingers brushed the frame, Lyla yanked them back and declared, "Wait, no. These were a gift from Ethie. How about we compensate you instead?"
With that, she reached into Ethan's pocket. Ethan assumed she was grabbing his phone to transfer the money and was about to tell her it was in the other pocket, but before he could, Lyla pulled out a thick wad of cash.
His jaw dropped.
Not only was it a bundle of neatly folded hundred-dollar bills, but there were smaller denominations and even a single dime tucked under the yellow leather strap binding the stack together.
Ethan blinked, stunned. When did he start carrying that kind of money?
Lyla turned back to Ivy, holding up the cash with a grin. "Ma'am, I have no idea what your knockoff glasses are worth, but let's compensate you at the price of the real deal. Here's $1,357.20. The original store don't give discounts, so you'll need every bit of it."
Before Ivy could respond, Lyla tossed the bundle with unerring accuracy. It smacked Ivy square in the face before falling to the ground.
The crowd fell silent. The buzzing murmurs of onlookers were replaced by a stunned hush. Jaws dropped, and eyes widened as everyone stared at Ivy, her face bright red with embarrassment and now sporting a crisp red mark from the impact.
If Lyla's earlier words were a slap to Ivy's pride, this was a full-on knockout.
Lyla tilted her head, pretending to notice something amiss. "Oh, Ma'am, what happened to your nose?"
The spectators, who had been holding their breath, turned their gazes to Ivy's face.
About to explode with rage, Ivy froze at the question. Her hand shot up to her nose as she reflexively touched it. Then, without another word, she spun on her heel and bolted.
But not before everyone saw it, her nose was crooked. No blood, just bent at an odd angle.
The realization hit the crowd all at once: her nose was probably fake.
"Ma'am, wait!" Lyla called after her, feigning concern. "You forgot your money! Those fake sunglasses aren't expensive, but fixing your nose? That's gotta cost quite a lot!"
The crowd erupted in laughter, though a few onlookers shook their heads at the sheer audacity. Ivy stumbled as she fled, her unsteady steps betraying her humiliation.
Ethan could only gape at the scene. Was this… was this Lyla's true nature? A devil in disguise?
"Ethan, hurry and help me! I lost a dime!" Lyla crouched down, waving the money at Ethan as she sifted through the scattered bills.
Ethan stepped forward, about to tell her to forget it, when a low, magnetic voice cut through the noise.
"Looking for this?"
Ethan turned, his body stiffening as his eyes landed on the speaker. No way. It's her.
"Thank you, miss!" Lyla stood, taking the dime from the woman's slender fingers with a bright smile.
The woman arched a brow, the corner of her mouth curving upward. "I thought you were going to call me Ma'am too."
Around them, the crowd gasped in unison.
"She smiled!"
"No way. Am I dreaming?"
"Ow! Why'd you pinch me?!"
As the murmurs grew louder, the woman turned and cast a single sweeping glance at the crowd. The noise ceased instantly, and the onlookers scattered like startled birds.
Some in the crowd shielded their faces with whatever they could find, hoping she wouldn't notice them.
Lyla saw the reactions and turned to the woman beside her with a bright smile. "Miss Hawthorne, how could someone as stunning as you ever be called Ma'am?"
Celeste Hawthorne, with her usual icy demeanor, ignored the comment. Instead, she shifted the subject. "So, you're the new transfer, Lyla Silverwood. Judging by that little stunt earlier, you've clearly had some training."
"Training? Oh, no, no! That was just a lucky throw!" Lyla stammered, her nerves showing as she faced Celeste. After all, the rumors about this so-called "Ice Queen" were no joke.
Celeste's lips curved into a faint smirk as she saw through Lyla's unease. "You've skipped all the combat classes this month. Don't miss the next one."
Then, her gaze flicked to Ethan. "And you, Ethan… eat more vitamins or something. Wouldn't want all this effort to go to waste." She shot a meaningful glance at Lyla, her tone dripping with insinuation, before walking away.
Ethan, who had been staring at the sky, trying to remain uninvolved, was left utterly speechless.
"What does she mean by 'waste'?" Lyla asked curiously, tilting her head at Ethan.
"Uh… nothing! Don't worry about it! Ethan quickly waved it off, desperate to change the subject. "Let's grab some food, I'm starving!"
Still puzzled, Lyla followed Ethan as they made their way to the campus dining hall, her face full of questions.
---
After finishing their meal, Ethan headed off to class, while Lyla had plans to meet her friends for a study session.
When Ethan stepped into the classroom, he was immediately greeted by a chorus of howls and laughter.
"Ethan, you little shit." boomed a towering figure who threw an arm around his shoulders.
It was Rowan Kane, his dorm mate and the so called "leader" of their group. Back when they'd first arrived on campus, Rowan had looked out for him.
"What happened?" Ethan asked, genuinely confused.
"Don't play dumb," Rowan said, laughing. "Everyone knows by now. Ex-girlfriend? Queen of the finance department. Current girl? Top candidate for campus beauty queen."
A skinny, bespectacled guy joined in, smirking. "Seriously, Ethan. Two god tier girls? How'd you pull that off?" This was Greg, another dorm mate. Despite his quiet, studious demeanor, he was infamous for his dry sense of humor.
"Ah…"
Ethan thought. So word really had spread. It hadn't taken long for today's drama to circulate across campus.
"Hey, Third Bro, come on. Share your secrets with us!" chimed in JJ, the youngest in their dorm, who had taken to calling Ethan "Third Bro" based on his dorm rank.
"Yeah, spill it, Ethan!" The others joined in, voices overlapping as they closed in.
Ethan, a software engineering major, looked around the room. It was a classic case of wolves circling in a land of scraps. In their department, eligible women were few and far between. And most weren't exactly what you'd call desirable.
Before Ethan could even attempt an answer, a voice thundered from the front of the room.
"Quiet down! This is a university, not a marketplace" The balding professor at the podium glared at them, his white shirt straining against a considerable belly.
"If you're not seated in the next sixty seconds, you'll all be marked absent!"
The classroom fell into chaos as everyone scrambled to their seats. Ethan glanced at the professor, trying to place the man's face. After all these years, he couldn't quite remember who this was, but like everyone else, he quickly found a seat before the man's patience ran out.
---
The afternoon dragged on painfully. Bored out of his mind, Ethan found himself missing the freedom of his previous life.
Eventually, exhaustion took over. He dozed off, sleeping through both back-to-back classes in the same room. Thankfully, both classes were in the same room, sparing him the indignity of being left behind in his deep sleep.
---
That evening, Ethan and Lyla went out for a lavish dinner. Full and satisfied, they returned home in the sleek Predator Beast X, their car gleaming under the streetlights as they pulled up to the villa.
After a round of playful bickering, the two retreated to their respective rooms. The clock ticked closer to midnight, the highly anticipated server resumption time of Ethereal.
Settling into his VR capsule, Ethan took a deep breath. Time to enter the game.