sign and make a mark

"Ha!" Natalie scoffed. "I'm afraid you don't dare."

Zuri surveyed the group. "And what about the rest of you? Do you dare?"

Everyone looked at her as if she were an idiot.

"What's there to be afraid of?"

"Hmph, don't cry when you lose."

"We'll make sure you fulfill every single term."

They were all supremely confident.

"Very well," Zuri nodded approvingly, "keep up that confidence."

Zuri gestured for the waiter, who brought over two sheets of paper and a pen. She quickly wrote up a betting agreement, signing her name at the bottom.

"Take a look. If there's no problem, sign your names."

They scoffed but weren't reckless enough to sign without reading. Farida read through it carefully before confirming it was accurate. Only then did they each sign their names.

Everyone signed, except Saira.

Zuri's bright eyes looked at her, tossing the pen in her direction. "Sign it."

"I, I…" Saira looked at her with a pitiful expression.

"Don't pressure Saira."

"Saira is showing you respect. Don't be ungrateful."

Zuri had never seen where Saira had shown her any respect; behind her back, she was nothing but trouble.

"Respect? Not needed."

Zuri's blatant rejection angered the group.

Eduardo, who had been somewhat interested in Zuri, frowned slightly.

"Saira, just sign it. Stop defending someone like her."

Under the 'pressure' of the group, Saira finally signed her name.

After signing the betting agreement, the students who had been watching quickly recorded a video and uploaded it to the school network.

The school's network administrator, a secret admirer of Saira, had long despised Zuri. As soon as the post went live, he used his authority to highlight and pin it.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Zuri left the restaurant.

As she walked through the campus, people occasionally glanced at her while checking their phones.

"So that's Saira's sister."

"She's the one who stole the identity of the Lin family's eldest daughter."

"Coming from the slums, she still looks so shabby despite being in the Lin family."

"A girl who scored 280 points, daring to make a bet—she doesn't know her limits."

"I can't wait to see the Lin family's eldest daughter cleaning toilets."

"Same here."

"Next week's test was going to be annoying, but now I can't wait."

...

Ricardo commented, "Bro, your little desk mate is in for it. How could she be so dumb? It's clearly a trap, and she just walked right into it."

Kaden's cold gaze fixed on him. "Are you very concerned about her?"

"No, not at all. Why would I care about her? I'm just glad she's getting unlucky for your sake."

Kaden kicked him. "Scram."

"If I wanted to deal with someone, I wouldn't need anyone else to lift a finger."

Ricardo hurriedly nodded. "I was wrong. If Kaden wants to crush her, it would be as easy as squashing a bug."

Right at that moment, Zuri emerged from behind a tree and walked past them.

Ricardo and the others were stunned by her ghost-like appearance.

Zuri glanced at Kaden out of the corner of her eye, a mocking smile on her lips.

She didn't say anything, but somehow, it felt like she said everything.

Ricardo murmured, "Kaden, was she just provoking us?"

"You can be more confident and drop the 'was she.' She definitely was provoking Kaden," Rhett confirmed. "Kaden, should we stop her and teach her a lesson? Show her why flowers are so red?"

Kaden's dark eyes followed the slender, determined figure walking away. Rhett's words lingered in his ears as he turned to glare at him.

Rhett, intimidated by Kaden's gaze, stammered, "Boss, what's wrong?"

Kaden kicked him. "Do we look like gangsters?"

"We are…"

The last three words were swallowed back under Kaden's stern gaze.

We are gangsters!

Rhett silently grumbled in his heart.

---

"I can't wait for next week's test," Natalie said happily.

Saira couldn't shake the feeling that something was off, but she couldn't pinpoint what it was.

"Do you think Colin could have misread the report card?" Saira asked.

"Impossible. Even if Colin were blind, he couldn't mistake 580 for 280."

"Saira, don't worry. She's just putting on a brave face, like that loser Xuan Er. She was useless but always so arrogant."

"Look, who's that?" Naya pointed behind the school building.

The group followed her gaze and saw Rhea being cornered by Lila and her gang.

"Isn't that Zuri's good friend?"

"If we want to know Zuri's capabilities, we should ask her."

The four exchanged glances and walked over.

In the corner, Lila grabbed Rhea's hair, glaring at her viciously. "Did you think running away would make everything fine?"

"I'm sorry, I was wrong," Rhea whimpered.

"Do you think an apology can make up for our losses?"

"I, I'll pay for it."

Rhea's scalp hurt, but she didn't dare cry out.

Lila lightly slapped her cheek. "That's better. But you must repay it within a month. Otherwise, don't think you can stay at Windsor Academy. We have ways to kick you out."

Rhea, eyes red, nodded continuously.

"What are you doing?" Natalie and her friends strolled over, casting disdainful looks at the group.

Lila and her gang immediately put on fawning smiles.

"Natalie, we're just explaining the rules of Windsor Academy to the new student, so she doesn't make mistakes," Lila said with a smile.

"Right, Rhea?"

Lila's threatening gaze turned to Rhea.

Rhea dared not disobey and nodded meekly, looking like a mistreated daughter-in-law.

Natalie chuckled, not exposing their lie.

Rhea's timid eyes secretly observed Saira and her friends. She recognized them, especially the most beautiful one in the middle, Zuri's nominal sister.

Seeing bullies like Lila groveling before them, Rhea felt a surge of resentment. Not towards Lila or Saira, but towards Zuri.

If Zuri had helped her pay, stood by her side, Lila and her gang wouldn't dare to bully her.

In the end, it was all Zuri's fault. Because of her, she was being bullied by Lila and the others.