Chapter 106: Chapter 104: Into a Pair of Smiling Eyes (8)
As she reached the school gate, a classmate exclaimed in surprise, "Nora, why are you back? Didn’t you drop out?"
"I’ve re-enrolled."
The classmate was stunned. "Seriously? It’s been so long. Do you think you can catch up?"
Nora Ainsworth gave a small smile. "It’s no problem."
When she got to the classroom, she walked straight to her seat.
Maeve Sutton’s desk was just across the aisle. Seeing Nora for the first time in ages, Maeve immediately demanded, "What are you doing back here? Your mom’s dead. Where did you get the money to keep attending university?"
Nora Ainsworth didn’t answer her. It was a self-study period, so she took out her earbuds and put them on. Whatever Maeve Sutton said, she couldn’t hear it.
Maeve grew agitated and stood right in front of her. "Nora Ainsworth, are you deaf or something?"
Nora took off her earbuds. "Whether I stay in university or not, what the hell does it have to do with you? Does it affect you in some way?"
"Of course it affects me," she huffed. "Because I can’t stand the sight of your face."
"Well, that’s your problem. Since you can’t stand the sight of my face, why don’t you go get surgery and have your eyes gouged out? I guarantee you’ll never see it again."
Maeve was fuming. "Nora Ainsworth, you’ve skipped class for so long. Just wait, you’re going to fail everything!"
Nora couldn’t be bothered to deal with her. She lowered her head and went about her business.
She had thought that if she didn’t cause trouble, trouble wouldn’t come looking for her.
But when it was time to eat in the cafeteria, the school’s well-known little delinquent started picking a fight with her for no reason.
"So you’re that jinx, Nora Ainsworth? The one whose mother jumped off a building and whose father is a mystery?" she said, chewing her gum as her voice suddenly rose.
Nora Ainsworth looked at Maeve Sutton standing beside the delinquent, and everything suddenly made sense.
"What is it?"
"Nothing much. Just wanted to have a little chat with you."
Nora Ainsworth went to get her food. "Then let’s talk after I’ve finished eating."
The delinquent stepped forward, blocking her path. "It won’t hurt to talk before you eat."
Seeing that the girl meant trouble, Nora said, "I don’t know you. If you’re just looking for a fight, I’d advise you not to bite off more than you can chew."
The delinquent scoffed, "Do you have any idea who I am? My family is even richer than the Lynches. I wouldn’t care even if you dragged Leon Lynch over here. So, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll have that ’chat’ with me now. Otherwise, when my girls show up, you won’t know what hit you."
Nora Ainsworth smiled at her. "Then I guess we’ll wait for your girls to show up."
"You said it." The delinquent turned and left, with Maeve Sutton following her.
She watched Maeve Sutton’s retreating figure, feeling that time had destroyed their old friendship.
Perhaps it wasn’t that a good friend had turned bad, but that the world itself had grown uglier.
Because she had gotten drunk the night before, Chloe Marshall was late for work that morning.
For once, Ethan Ellsworth didn’t scold her. When she got off work that evening, she decided to go have dinner with Nora Ainsworth.
A little after eight, she headed to the university to find Nora Ainsworth. Just as she reached the main gate,
a group of girls with an alternative, edgy style caught her eye.
She didn’t think much of it and was about to enter the campus when she saw Nora Ainsworth walking toward the gate from inside.
Just as she was about to call out, the group of girls all started walking toward where she was standing.
But they bypassed her and surrounded Nora Ainsworth instead.
Chloe Marshall immediately rushed forward, shouting, "Nora!"
Seeing her, Nora Ainsworth’s expression was calm. "Chloe?"
"Are they—"
Nora Ainsworth waved her hand dismissively. "They’re just looking for trouble."
The delinquent sneered. "Look how calm and collected you are. Girls, get her! I’m going to make her drop out of school again."
Chloe Marshall shot back, "And who gave you that authority?"
"My dad did."
Chloe Marshall sneered. "Then you must be a real disappointment to him, huh?"
"And where did you crawl out from, you broke-ass nobody? Apologize to me right now—I’ll let you off easy since you clearly don’t know who I am. Otherwise, I’ll beat the crap out of you both!"
"I bet your parents regret having a daughter like you. You’re not just a disappointment to your dad, but to your mom too." Chloe Marshall pulled a tranquilizer gun from behind her back and aimed it at the girl. "Want to test it?"
The delinquent’s face paled slightly. "You think you can scare me with a kid’s toy gun?"
"Then you must want to test it." She aimed at the delinquent’s leg, preparing to pull the trigger.
One of the girls behind her whispered a suggestion. "Sis, maybe we should just go?"
"Go where!" She shot a furious glare at her lackeys. "Everyone, get them! Now!"
Seven or eight girls swarmed them. Maeve Sutton stood off to the side, waiting to see Nora Ainsworth get beaten to a pulp.
However, the battle had barely begun before the curtain fell.
In less than two minutes, Nora Ainsworth had the delinquent’s arm twisted behind her back, her voice chilling in a way no one had ever heard before.
"I don’t care who your dad is or how rich your family is. If you don’t want me to dislocate both of your arms next time, you’d better stay in line. Otherwise, I will—" She leaned in and whispered in the delinquent’s ear, in a voice only they could hear, "kill you. I’m all alone, I have no money, and I’m not afraid of anything. Don’t die a meaningless death for some so-called ’sisterhood.’ Once upon a time, Maeve Sutton and I were best friends too."
The delinquent seemed to understand her meaning. She nodded hastily. "Let me go. I won’t cause trouble for you again. From now on, if anyone else tries to mess with you, I won’t allow it."
Nora Ainsworth released her. The moment she turned around, she met a pair of smiling eyes—eyes she had seen countless times before.
"How did you know I was back in class?"
Leon Lynch’s lips curved into a faint smile. "Get in the car. I’ll tell you then."
"But, Chloe—"
Before she could finish, Chloe Marshall immediately grinned. "Nora, I’m fine. I was about to head home anyway."
And just like that, Nora Ainsworth got into Leon Lynch’s car. Maeve Sutton stood frozen, staring at the back of Nora’s head as if she could burn a hole right through it.
As the car drove away, the group of delinquents let out a collective sigh.
The delinquent leader walked up to Maeve Sutton. "You hate Nora Ainsworth that much... Don’t tell me you like Leon Lynch, too?"
Maeve Sutton didn’t deny it. "Let’s not talk about this. Let’s go back."
But the delinquent didn’t want to drop the subject. "Were you trying to use me to do your dirty work?"
Maeve Sutton lowered her head. "I wasn’t. I just hoped you could help me teach her a lesson."
The delinquent stared straight at her and said coolly, "She’s that good of a fighter. Did you really think I could beat her?"
"I haven’t seen her in ages. I don’t know when she learned how to fight," Maeve Sutton said, completely baffled.
"Haven’t you heard the saying? The tables can turn in an instant. A smart person doesn’t go head-to-head with someone stronger than them. What’s wrong with you, is your brain made of mud? Sure, my family’s rich, but I’m not wasting my time on someone I don’t even know—and frankly, someone I kind of admire now. You’re on your own."
She gave Maeve Sutton one last, cold glance, then said, "Alright, girls. Everyone go home."
Under the dim yellow glow of the streetlights, Maeve Sutton was left all alone, thinking, ’This world has gone completely insane!’
