Chapter 65 My Decision and the Warning from Marco

Elena Garcia POV:

These girls somehow figured out I was at the apartment party. Maybe someone accidentally caught me in a short video, or maybe they had someone keeping an eye on me. Then, they brought Sophia along just to humiliate her in front of me.

This was a straight-up provocation. I had saved Sophia from them before, and now they were basically indicating that I couldn't do it again. Plus, they had a more resonable excuse to bully her because, technically, Sophia chose to be with them.

Damn it! This wasn't how it should be! I shouldn't be the one who was angry sinceI was the one who got betrayed.

Sophia and Nancy had isolated me to avoid getting bullied, but those jerks didn't keep their word. Others might say to Sophia and Nancy, "Serves you right."But I couldn't do that; I was just furious internally.

People had to own up to their bad choices, especially when they knew from the start it was a bad idea.

Sophia was a victim; she was forced to make that choice with her sister.

The people who forced them were malicious and evil, and they wouldn't keep their promises. They wanted us to tear each other apart. If I showed my anger at Sophia's situation, they would keep targeting me, Sophia, and Nancy.

If I ignored Sophia's plight, they would be happy because they could keep bullying us. So, why not make a choice that made me feel a bit better?

I said, "I have something to deal with; I'll be back soon. Do you want to check on Noah first? He seems to be a little drunk."

I tugged on Marco's sleeve, signaling him to look at Noah. Marco was still here; I needed to get him away.

In the grand hall, Noah was definitely a bit drunk, bumping into people around him. It looked like a fight was about to break out.

Marco glanced at Noah but didn't move. Instead, he asked me, "Do you need my help?"

His question made my heart skip a beat. I looked at his serious expression; it was like he knew what I was about to do.

"No." I shook my head. "I can handle it."

After Marco left, I approached the group of girls. They were waiting for me.

This corner was pretty secluded, but I was ready.

I asked, "What are you doing? Don't you want to keep your promise?"

"Calm down. My God, you look absolutely insufferable when you're angry," the lead girl taunted, giving me a shove.

She signaled to the girls behind her, "Did you see how she ran over just now? She was squeezing through the crowd like a disgusting wriggling insect."

The group of girls burst into raucous laughter.

In this corner, only Sophia and I weren't laughing.

When Sophia saw me, she lowered her head. I think she was avoiding me because of the decision she made.

"We do want to keep our promise, Elena. But maybe you should ask her what she did?" The leading girl admired her beautiful nails, sneering with disdain at both me and Sophia.

She continued, "Your friend still begged us to spare you after choosing our side. How touching. We were just helping her see the reality."

Hearing these sarcastic words, I looked at Sophia in surprise.

Sophia lowered her head even more. I heard her apologizing, even when the surrounding noise was loud.

It was different from what I imagined. I had been sad that Sophia and Nancy chose to stand with Laura, who had hurt them, to protect themselves, especially since Sophia hadn't replied to my messages and even blocked me.

This made me feel a bit desperate, but I couldn't convince myself to hate their choice because they were victims too.

I had been unhappy about this all day, but now, knowing that Sophia hadn't completely chosen Laura, I couldn't help but smile.

My spirits finally lifted, and an expression of surprise appeared on my face.

"Sophia."

I became confident again. I decided to respond to Sophia's defense of me. I would protect her and her sister in my own way!

I said, "Thank you for bringing my friend back. Now, this slap is for my friend's return."

I reached out and slapped the leading girl across the face firmly.

I tried my best to act like I had broken off with Sophia and didn't accept her defense of me.

I shouted, "Do you think I would be grateful to you? Don't lie to me. How could Sophia, who betrayed me, say such things? Now, take this betrayer Sophia and get out of here. If I see you putting on this boring show in front of me again, I will tear your mouth apart!"

I grabbed the leading girl's hair, watching her cry out in pain under my hand. Her eyes were filled with surprise, fear, and hatred.

But who cared? I had already achieved my goal. These girls would focus their attention on me, and that was exactly what I wanted!

Sophia looked up, staring at me in disbelief. She seemed to understand what I wanted to do, but she couldn't stop me anymore.

Marco Bianchi POV:

I noticed what was happening at the party.

Maybe Elena didn't realize that when she tried to lie and cover something up, her speech sped up unconsciously, and she furrowed her brows unconsciously.

I followed her words, walked over to Noah, and then helped him to a corner where I could observe Elena's movements.

I said, "If you're really drunk, I'll punch you in the stomach twice to make you throw up and sober up quickly."

Noah grumbled, "Don't be so rough. Are you behaving like this in front of my pretty new roommate too?"

Noah was pretending to be drunk. He glanced around, and after confirming no one was paying attention to him, he stood up straight.

Noah said, "Oh, damn, they can really hold their liquor! This could lead to alcohol poisoning, which will be funny for a medical student. I definitely won't be doing that!"

"I hope you didn't drink any of the unmarked bottles at the party. Those aren't from the supermarket. I heard some daring person brewed them using lab equipment. That's just crazy!"

He kept talking, and when he noticed my attention wasn't on him, he followed my gaze.

Noah said, "Wow, it's Laura's followers."

Seeing my puzzled expression, Noah explained, "Laura is a friend of Elena's sister, Sophia. Her family has some business dealings with ours."

Noah's expression turned mocking when he mentioned Laura, completely different from his earlier feigned ignorance.

But this was his true nature. Even though he had no interest in the mafia, his upbringing destined him not to be simple.

Noah added, "She's a puppet deceived and manipulated by Sophia. If you're interested in campus news, I'd be happy to tell you more."

"But right now, I'm more interested in why Elena is with Laura's followers. Could it be that your little girlfriend isn't as innocent as she seems?"

I looked at Noah, warning him with my eyes until he withdrew his speculation about Elena.

I said, "When I said Elena's relationship with her sister Sophia was average, it was a euphemism."

Noah suddenly saw the light.

I quietly watched everything happening in the corner where Elena was. When I saw them showing mocking expressions towards Elena and shoving her, I was seething with anger.

Noah looked at me with unease, fear evident in his eyes. "Are you going to intervene?"

I was silent for two seconds, then shook my head.

"Elena wouldn't want me to intervene, as she refused my help." Seeing Noah's confused expression, I lowered my gaze.

I wanted Elena to rely on me, but she didn't. She didn't tell me the truth while crying, which meant she wanted to draw a line between us. I felt dejected about this.

Noah said with a sense of pity, "Then Elena might endure some hardship. Laura's followers are not easily contended with; they are exceptionally domineering at school, leveraging Laura's influence."

Noah might have misunderstood Elena. He treated Elena as someone extremely weak. 

This displeased me, and I coldly said, "Elena won't."

The next second after I finished speaking, I saw Elena slap the arrogant girl. Her expression was proud and determined, showing no signs of giving in.

Hearing Noah's exclamation, I couldn't help but smile.

Elena was just a kind person who didn't overly suspect someone of being evil. This was her flaw, but also her strength.

Just like when everyone in the neighborhood avoided me, only she and her mother would reach out to the wandering me. But this didn't mean she would silently endure after knowing someone had ill intentions towards her.

The Elena I like was incredibly strong when she became determined.

After those girls left the apartment in disgrace, I told Noah I was going out for a bit.

I avoided the crowd and followed the girls who bullied Elena. At a deserted intersection, I called out to them.

The girls approached me without any wariness. "If you want to exchange contact information with us, maybe you should come up with some better pickup lines, despite your handsome face.."

I didn't speak. Instead, I took out a pack of cigarettes from my pocket and lit one. Then I said calmly, "This is a piece of advice from me. If you don't want to add some accidents to your current smooth campus life, maybe you should learn to rein in some of your behaviors."

I grabbed the hair of the girl who was the most arrogant in front of Elena earlier. After hearing her scream, I pointed the lit cigarette at her.

I shouted, "Don't be so scared. Didn't you think that one day you might encounter this when you did similar things to others? If I see you bullying someone again and making fun of your classmates, I will stick this lit cigarette into your eyes, then dig out your eyeballs and make you swallow them with your mean mouth. Do you understand?"

The girls nodded in fear. Before they left, I told them not to mention my warning to anyone. I didn't want others to know about this.

Since Elena didn't want me to intervene, I would respect her opinion. But that didn't mean I wouldn't clear some obstacles for her from my standpoint, because I liked her.