Chapter 17: Betting on Football

"I'm Sophia!" the sprite shouted after Emily's retreating figure.

Emily turned around, smiled at her, waved her hand, and quickly ran out of the forest with Benjamin. They had to outrun the sunlight now. If they couldn't reach the castle or Benjamin's villa before dawn, he would be in danger.

Although the people in Lesombra weren't the most trustworthy, Benjamin hadn't harmed Emily thus far. Even if it was for the sake of this new phone, she felt obligated to ensure Benjamin's safety.

Just a second before the sun rose, Benjamin darted into his villa. The villa appeared like any ordinary human residence, complete with doors and windows. Benjamin hurried to the basement.

"That was close! So close! I almost got roasted by the sunlight," Benjamin exclaimed with relief.

Emily followed Benjamin into the basement. It was a completely lightproof area, but it had been furnished like a bedroom. During the daytime, Benjamin could only sleep here. As for the upper levels, despite having two floors, they were merely for appearances.

Although vampires were a secretive species, they still needed to interact with humans. After all, this world was primarily driven by human development, and they had to earn money. So, Benjamin had acquired this villa under his name to serve as a place for entertaining humans.

"Who would've thought there would be hidden secrets here!" Emily plopped down on Benjamin's bed, looking around the room. Despite its small size, it had everything one could need, except for a light.

Although Emily's eyes had adjusted to the darkness, having been accustomed to well-lit nights, being in such darkness without a light felt a bit uncomfortable.

"Aren't you going back? It's about to be daylight, and if you don't go back for another night, that suspicious Olivia will worry again!" Benjamin urged.

Emily playfully hit him, remembering Olivia's worried face every time something happened to her. Glancing at the time, it was already 4:30 in the morning, and she realized it was time to go back.

"Sweet dreams!" Emily stood up, looking at herself covered in blood. The stench of blood was still strong and offensive. She quickly went upstairs, freshened up a bit, and put on a clean set of Benjamin's clothes. Then she dashed off, using her newfound speed and skipping any transportation.

Returning to the school, Emily looked at the locked door of the dormitory with a headache. What should she do now? Last night, she didn't just jump out of the window directly. Even if she climbed up, she wasn't sure if the window was locked. If she were discovered again, without her hypnotic abilities, it would be disastrous.

After pacing back and forth in front of the dormitory door, Emily gave up. Well, she definitely couldn't enter through the door. Let's try climbing through the window!

Emily leaped onto the air conditioning unit and jumped up. First, she peeked inside and saw Charlotte and Ava still sleeping, but the curtains blocked her view of Olivia.

She gently pushed the window, and it was actually open!

It was truly open!

Emily found it somewhat unbelievable. Previously, there had been an incident in the girls' dormitory where construction workers climbed in through the windows and assaulted four female students. The dormitories on the first to third floors had protective bars on the windows, but from the fourth to seventh floors, there were none. And those two workers had climbed up to the seventh floor. The school had analyzed the situation and concluded that they must have entered from the rooftop.

Considering that there were over forty dormitory buildings in the entire school, it wasn't financially feasible for the school to install protective bars on all of them. Therefore, they repeatedly emphasized that the doors and windows must be locked securely before going to sleep.

Since that incident occurred, it had become a routine for everyone to check if their windows were locked before going to bed, especially for Charlotte and Olivia. Although Charlotte often flirted with guys, she didn't want to give any advantage to the construction workers, and Olivia valued her innocence more than anything.

So the fact that the window was open surprised Emily. She quietly climbed inside and gently closed the window. Like a cat, she settled on the bed, covering herself with the blanket. Just as she had finished, she heard Olivia shifting in her sleep, startling Emily. She perked up her ears and listened carefully, but there were no more sounds, so she drifted off to sleep.

The classes the next day weren't very important. Olivia sighed as she looked at the sleeping Emily and decided not to wake her up. By the time Emily woke up, it was already afternoon, with the setting sun casting its warm glow. Charlotte and Ava returned first.

Charlotte and Ava were not from the same department as Emily and Olivia, and they hadn't initially been assigned to the same dormitory. They had paid a significant sum of money as a bribe to the dormitory supervisor to arrange for them to be in the same room. The supervisor turned a blind eye to their arrangement.

"Emily, just woke up, huh! You always disappear as soon as it's nighttime, like an owl," Ava said as soon as she entered the room.

"Of course, she must be spending her nights having a private time with Benjamin. Look at her, she comes back during the day looking all downcast. It's definitely a night of intense passion for three hundred rounds!" Charlotte exclaimed, her face displaying a mischievous grin with the word "lewd" written all over it.

"Yeah! Three hundred rounds of intense passion! Leaving you dizzy, sore back, weak legs! Are you satisfied now?" Emily rolled her eyes at her. It didn't really matter what they said; it was up to their interpretation. Emily couldn't be bothered to explain, as it wasn't something that could be easily clarified.

Ava seemed to revel in wickedness as she widened her eyes and looked at Emily, full of astonishment. "Oh my goodness! Finally, someone has tamed this demon of yours. Otherwise, who knows how many innocent boys you would have harmed? You're nothing but a menace to single men!"

"Now William can give up," Charlotte chimed in.

Just as they finished speaking, Olivia walked in. Clearly, she had overheard their conversation, and her expression turned a bit sour. Charlotte fell silent, looking cautiously at Olivia, waiting for her reaction.

Everyone could see William's different treatment towards Emily, and Olivia's feelings for William were also evident to others. It was a cliché love triangle that had been entangled among this group of best friends. Now, with William's defeat, Olivia had taken advantage of the opportunity, but no one knew for sure how it would all end.

Olivia looked at the cautious faces of the three and quickly regained her smile. She urged Emily, "Hurry up and freshen up. It's time for dinner."

"After dinner, let's go play pool," Charlotte said, seeing Olivia's expression return to normal. She quickly approached to please her, "I met a cute young guy yesterday. Heard he works at the pool hall. Will you come with me tonight?"

The three of them feigned helplessness. It seemed that this cute guy wasn't easily conquered. If Charlotte hadn't succeeded in getting his attention yesterday, she wouldn't bother with him today. Charlotte always had a fighting spirit when it came to hunting different cute guys. Once she encountered one she couldn't conquer, she would be excited until she succeeded.

"Just go by yourself!" Olivia was becoming more and more reluctant to go out at night. Every time she went out at night, nothing good happened.

"Olivia!" Charlotte grabbed her arm and started to act cute again. "The pool hall is not a place to go alone! Come on, I'll call William!"

With the last two words, Olivia was completely won over. She concealed her smile and pretended to nod reluctantly. Charlotte cheered victoriously.

The group went out together for a hotpot dinner. Emily devoured her food like a wolf, while Olivia and the others had stopped eating for a while. Emily wasn't satisfied yet and ordered two more plates of meat before finally feeling full. This left them dumbfounded. She ate more than William, who was known for his large appetite. Even when she didn't eat for a day, Emily would consume very little.

With a satisfied belly, Emily looked up at them and realized how ungraceful she had been while eating. She chuckled, realizing she had been careless. She didn't know why, but her appetite had increased recently, perhaps due to the excessive physical exertion from two consecutive nights of intense activities.

The five of them arrived at the pool hall. While other tables were sparsely occupied, there was one table surrounded by a crowd, with occasional cheers. Charlotte walked straight toward that group, where the cute young guy was the center of attention.

The cute young guy was skilled at pool, which was why he was gambling here. Each ball was worth 10 yuan, and he could easily make a few hundred yuan in one night by playing a few shots. So far, he hadn't encountered any opponents, and that was why he felt a bit proud and arrogant. This was the reason Charlotte hadn't conquered him right away.

Emily glanced at the cute guy. He had a fair and tender appearance, but she couldn't understand why Charlotte was interested in this type of creamy young man. Sure, he was good-looking, but he could easily pass for a woman with a wig on. Emily didn't particularly like men who exuded feminine qualities. Instead of calling him a cute young guy, she would rather refer to him as a creamy girl.

Just as the creamy girl set up his stance to take a shot, he noticed four flashy women squeezing into the crowd. His eyes briefly swept over Charlotte but quickly returned to the ball. With a crisp sound, the ball went into the pocket.

Charlotte was the first to clap her hands, but the sound was quite abrupt. When she noticed everyone looking at her with strange expressions, her applause gradually faded and eventually ceased.

The creamy girl hardly gave his opponent a chance. With a few shots, he pocketed all the balls, leaving four colored balls on the table. The opponent reluctantly handed him forty yuan.

The creamy girl put the money in his pocket, lit a cigarette, and arrogantly scanned the crowd. "Anyone else?"

"I-I-I!" Charlotte couldn't contain her excitement, raising her hand.

The creamy girl glanced at her, then looked at the others, clearly treating her as a joke. Ava was a bit angry. "What's the matter? Afraid of losing to a woman and losing face?"

The creamy girl raised an eyebrow. "I'm afraid she'll lose in a disgraceful manner!"

"I think you're the one who's afraid of the challenge!" Emily retorted, seeing Ava's confident demeanor, also lifting her head.

The creamy girl sneered. "Then come on!"

Charlotte looked at the others as if seeking help, but the truth was, she didn't know how to play pool, and neither did the others. The four stunning beauties all turned their gaze to William, making him feel a bit uncomfortable.

Although William wasn't completely clueless about pool, his skills were just too poor. He had been mocked by those rich kids in the past and had given up playing. Now, he was being pushed forward like this, feeling embarrassed and awkward.

In the midst of hesitation, Emily suddenly smelled the scent of opium in the air. She quickly turned around and saw Alexander walking towards them with a smile on his face. Despite the smile, the malicious intent in his eyes couldn't be concealed. It sent shivers down Emily's spine. How could he be here?