Chapter 53 Lucas Outsmarts Cecilia

Lucas's Perspective:

Man, it was wild how one always bumped into their enemies when least expected. Running into Cecilia there? Total shocker.

To dodge her recognizing me and making a scene, I threw on my sunglasses real quick. I had no clue if it would work, but it was all I had.

I figured she would storm off if she got pissed. I didn't want to rile her up, but she actually went for Saki.

To protect Saki, I had to ditch the whole "stay hidden" plan. I jumped in front of her, but there was no way I was taking that slap. Just as her hand was about to connect, I dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

Cecilia stared at her hand, totally thrown off. Before she could react, I was already on the ground, bawling my eyes out.

"She hit me! She hit a kid! Just 'cause she's loaded, she thinks she can push me and my sister around," I wailed.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Cecilia was all flustered, not expecting my drama. "I didn't even touch you!"

"She hit me," I yelled towards the store entrance.

People outside, who were werewolves, noticed the ruckus and started crowding around. In no time, the store was packed.

"You okay, kid?" The store clerk, thinking I got smacked for real, was freaking out. "Need to go to the hospital?"

"Hospital? For what!" Cecilia shoved her aside, fuming. "You moron, I didn't hit him. Can't you see he's faking it?"

The clerk, scared out of her wits by Cecilia, was on the verge of tears.

While they were distracted, I gave Saki a little nudge.

Saki knew the drill and quickly got into character.

Her acting skills? Top-notch. She could cry on demand, unlike me.

Her big eyes filled with tears, looking all sad and pitiful, but not quite crying yet.

A little boy and his sister getting bullied in a fancy store? That hit the crowd right in the feels.

Seeing this, the werewolves outside didn't hesitate and rushed in.

Cecilia and Ophelia, seeing the mob, lost their cool and started to panic.

"Don't worry, kids. Tell us what happened," an older woman asked, looking all concerned.

"I don't know," Saki choked out. "We were just waiting for our mom when they barged in and tried to kick us out."

"They looked so mad. I wanted to cheer them up, so I said she looked like a celebrity. But she got even angrier and tried to hit me and my brother." With that, Saki burst into tears, snot and all, looking totally miserable.

Hearing this, Cecilia lost it and lunged at Saki.

"What the hell are you doing?" A bunch of werewolves saw her about to smack Saki and jumped in, shoving her away.

"Are you all nuts?" Cecilia couldn't handle being manhandled by werewolves she thought were beneath her. She lost it and started cussing. "You lowly mutts! Do you even know who I am?

"If you mess with me, I'll make sure you can't show your faces around here!"

Hearing this, the werewolves exchanged uneasy glances. Their natural tendency to submit made them hesitate.

"But even if we were broke, couldn't we look at nice clothes? We weren't bothering anyone, but she said we were an eyesore. Do poor people not have the right to exist around the rich?" Saki kept going.

The stark differences among the young and the adult, the rich and poor, the disabled and healthy, jolted the werewolves present, scattering any hint of retreat that had crept in.

I thought if Saki didn't chase her dream of being a celeb, she'd make a killer journalist. She flipped the script with just a few words.

"That's right! No matter how rich or high and mighty you are, you can't stomp on our dignity, especially these kids! How can you bully them like this?" one guy shouted.

"Yeah! Do you have any humanity?" another chimed in.

"Get out! Just 'cause you're rich doesn't mean we fear you! Get out!" another werewolf added.

The crowd got more riled up, letting out their long-buried anger, and even wanted to toss Cecilia and Ophelia out.

"They are insane! Totally insane!" Even as tough as Cecilia was, she couldn't help but feel scared with the way things were going, backing off in fear.

"Cecilia, these lowly werewolves are nuts. We don't need to deal with them. Let's just bail," Ophelia said, also freaking out.

Cecilia knew better than to fight a losing battle. Even though she felt humiliated, she didn't dare to push it. She shot us a nasty glare and turned to leave.

Ophelia quickly followed.

Just when I thought it was over and Cecilia hadn't recognized me, she suddenly stopped, like she realized something, and turned back, eyeing me suspiciously.

I froze.

Then, as if to confirm her suspicion, she marched towards me.

Seeing her coming back with such determination, fear gripped me, and I couldn't move.

She knew she hadn't hit me and that I was faking it.

But if I were really blind, I wouldn't have been able to dodge that slap.

She must've figured it out and came back to check.

Sure enough, Cecilia was now standing right in front of me.

She reached out, ready to yank off my sunglasses.

And I, like a deer in headlights, could only stand there, staring at Cecilia in terror, even as my mind screamed at me to run.