Chapter 130: New Class, Old Problem

Sonny patted Shani’s shoulder with concern, glancing at the silver-haired girl sitting in that seat. Shani nodded, as if silently reassuring him that she was fine.

Still, Sonny, Luca, and the others kept talking with Shani so she wouldn’t have to head over to her desk immediately.

It was only when the head instructor walked into the classroom that Shani finally took her seat.

"What are you staring at?!" Vivienne barked as Shani approached the desk.

Shani frowned but said nothing, writing it off as nothing more than the barking of a stray dog.

Vivienne was about to hurl another provocative insult, when a sharp cough from the instructor cut her off.

"Ahem. Shani Rowan, welcome to Class 2. If you face any difficulties or run into any issues, just report directly to me," the head instructor said, making no attempt to hide his mind.

Shani suspected the head instructor had already been tipped off in advance by the headmaster, Instructor Theron, or Damon.

Shani wasn’t particularly surprised by the special treatment.

What did surprise her was the complete absence of sneers from her fellow classmates. They were nodding along as if in total agreement with the instructor’s words, a stark contrast to her previous two classes, where the majority of students had viewed her in a negative light.

Not wanting to dampen the spirits of those looking out for her, Shani smiled and nodded toward her classmates before turning back to the instructor. "Understood. Thank you, Instructor."

Beside Shani, Vivienne glared at her with pure, unadulterated hatred. Ever since being demoted to this class, everyone had openly treated her like a pest.

How could it be that when Shani joined the class, everyone welcomed her with open arms? Shani was just a family-less orphan!

Staring straight ahead, Vivienne hissed under her breath, "Don’t get too comfortable. Your friends won’t always be around to protect you."

Shani heard the remark loud and clear, knowing full well it was directed at her. She could have easily ignored Vivienne, but... ’Do I really have to keep playing deaf when I can hear every word?’

On the surface, she might seem unbothered, but words laced with such malice still left sharp pricks against her heart.

Matching Vivienne’s low volume, Shani whispered back in a mockingly playful tone, "At least my friends don’t use me as a scapegoat. Unlike a certain someone who got played like a puppet by her own maid."

Vivienne’s eyes widened in sheer fury and disgust. As an immensely prideful person, the incident with Nora was her sorest spot.

Her fists clenched tightly, veins bulging at her temples as blood rushed to her eyes. Yet given her current disgraced standing, she had no choice but to swallow her rage.

’Good. That shut her up,’ Shani thought with satisfaction.

Whenever Shani happened to glance over at Vivienne throughout the day, she would catch the girl glaring daggers at her, though Vivienne refrained from uttering any more toxic remarks.

Shani let out a quiet sigh of relief, glad that Vivienne hadn’t made any actual moves for the rest of the day.

By the following day, Shani had completely put Vivienne out of her mind. Classes resumed on the sixth floor, where all first-year students gathered for their core compulsory subjects.

Shani knew Vivienne wouldn’t dare so much as cast a glance her way whenever Jeryon or Noella were around.

Shani genuinely believed the rest of the week would pass smoothly without incident.

Unfortunately, that very day, the moment her guard slipped, she was cornered by Vivienne inside a seventh-floor restroom.

Vivienne shoved Shani hard, intending to send her sprawling onto the cold bathroom floor.

Despite being caught off guard and still processing the sudden assault, Shani, now an upper B-Rank, barely swayed on her feet.

Vivienne paid no attention to that subtle detail. Instead, she checked Shani’s smartwatch to ensure it was powered off, verifying that there were no active recordings or evidence that could be used against her.

It was at that moment that Shani fully processed the ambush. She clamped a firm grip onto Vivienne’s wrist just as the girl reached for her pocket.

"What do you think you’re doing?" Shani asked, her tone razor-sharp.

"I’m going to teach you that you can’t mess with me, the future head of House Ashbourne, who outranks you in every way!" Vivienne spat back, her voice dripping with menace.

"Oh? And how do you plan to do that?" Shani countered flatly.

"By showing you real power, of course! Through brute force!" Vivienne declared with a smug smirk.

"Brute force? You?" Shani smirked, tightening her grip on Vivienne’s wrist while channeling a thread of essence.

"Ah!" Vivienne squealed as realization hit her... She hadn’t been able to break free from Shani’s grasp this whole time!

"Let go of me!" She yanked hard on her arm, but Shani didn’t budge an inch.

In that moment, the memories Vivienne had tried so hard to bury, and indeed had kept buried beneath her burning rage toward Shani, resurfaced with violent clarity.

She remembered the sheer terror and helplessness she had felt when confronting Shani before. And now, history was repeating itself in exact detail.

Gradually, Vivienne’s knees buckled, her body sinking toward the floor as she looked up at Shani.

In her eyes, Shani loomed like a towering, insurmountable entity that could swallow her whole and crush her with a single step.

"Please... please let me go!" The terrified squeak slipped past Vivienne’s lips. She no longer cared about how utterly humiliating she looked. All she wanted was to break free.

"Vivienne, you know my father was a thousand times greater than yours. What on earth makes you think you could ever be greater than me?" Shani asked, her tone sharp as a blade.

Vivienne bit her lip so hard it bled. It was a cold fact that she had always paraded her status in front of Shani, using her family name as her ultimate vanity.

But, suddenly that same lineage crush her.

...