Chapter 126

The teacher's face turned beet red, and he looked like he was about to explode. But instead of saying anything, he just stormed back to the podium.

After class, Esme sauntered over, gave Alice a once-over, and smirked, "Your boyfriend's quite the character, huh?"

Alice shrugged, "Thanks for the compliment."

Esme rolled her eyes and plopped down next to her. "I'm not complimenting him. Seriously, can you be a bit more discreet? I know David's your boyfriend, but others don't. With that massive hickey, who knows what kind of rumors will start flying."

Alice just shrugged again, "Who cares?"

Her reputation was already in the gutter. Back when Clara was around, she'd dubbed Alice the "Ivywood University Queen of Trouble." Even though Clara was gone, the stuff Alice had done was still fresh in everyone's minds. She'd been in fights, trashed public property, and so on. So, gossip? Whatever.

"Fine, whatever." Esme waved her hand dismissively. "Just don't say I didn't warn you. The juicier the gossip, the faster it spreads."

After their morning classes, Esme and Alice headed to the cafeteria for lunch. On the way, they passed a group of students who were chatting away, but the moment they saw Alice and Esme, their smiles vanished, and they scurried off.

Esme sensed something was up, grabbed a classmate, and got the scoop. She then handed her phone to Alice.

"Ugh, I should just keep my mouth shut. Everything I say comes true!" Esme groaned, "I don't know which jerk posted this, but they wrote it like they had front-row seats. If I find out it's someone from our class, they're in for it."

The post had no pictures, just a description of the hickeys on Alice's neck, hinting at a wild nightlife.

The rest was pure speculation, calling her promiscuous and suggesting she had multiple partners.

"Esme, Alice!" Ophelia came running over, phone in hand. "Check this out."

"We've seen it," Esme said. "Aren't you supposed to be at your part-time job?"

Ophelia nodded, looking worriedly at Alice. "I was, but everyone was talking about this after class, and they mentioned Alice's name. I just found out."

Esme started texting a friend, "I'll get to the bottom of this. Ophelia, go to work. Don't worry, we've got this."

Ophelia looked like she wanted to say something to Alice but held back. She nodded and left.

Esme, still texting, dragged Alice to the cafeteria. "Who has this much free time? Seriously."

She laughed, and Alice just shrugged. "Whatever. If I wasted my energy on this, I'd be done for. They should spend this time studying for finals instead of studying me."

Esme gave her a thumbs up. "Genius thinking, as always."

By the time their afternoon class rolled around, the post was deleted, and the culprit was found. It was one of Clara's old friends, probably couldn't stand Alice being so quiet lately and decided to stir the pot. They thought it would blow over in a few days, but they got caught and punished in less than a day.

The drama died down quickly, and everyone was relieved they hadn't jumped on the bandwagon. If they had, they might've been in trouble too.

Before school ended, Alice texted David, saying she was busy studying for exams and wouldn't be able to keep him company at work.

David reminded her to eat well.

Alice and Esme hit up the arcade, and the staff cleaned a table for them, grumbling, "Are you two nuts? Studying for finals here instead of finding a quiet place?"

Esme replied, "Quiet places make it harder to focus."

The staff rolled their eyes, turned to leave, then suddenly remembered something, turned back, and asked, "Are you having dinner here? If so, I'll order more food."

Alice and Esme confirmed they were staying for dinner, and the staff generously ordered a lot of food and drinks.

Dinner arrived quickly, and the staff called Alice and Esme over to eat.

Esme stretched, rubbed her sore neck, "I'm going to the restroom."

Alice also went to the restroom and ran into someone she knew on the way out.

"It's really you!"

Alice looked at the person, not recognizing them at first.

The person said, "We met at the entrance of Starry Sky Restaurant, remember?"

Alice suddenly realized. At that time she only noticed Lila, but didn't see what the other woman looked like beside Lila.

Lila had a high ponytail, dressed youthfully, with light makeup now. Lila stared at Alice coldly. Lila said, "You go ahead; I'll be there right away."

The person said to Lila, "Okay, hurry up. Our table is in the front."

As the person left, Lila started washing her hands.

Alice turned off the faucet, took out two paper towels to dry her hands, and was about to leave when Lila called out to her, "You know, I really hate you."

Alice stopped, looked back, and smiled slightly, "Ms. Green, I hate you too!"

Lila suddenly put down her hands. She turned to stare at Alice, a mocking smile on her lips. "Does David know you're like this? So your usual sweetness is all an act."

Alice shrugged and spread her hands, looking helpless. "We're about the same. You're not much better. You've been broken up with David for over three years, but you still think about him, who is now my boyfriend. Ms. Green, are you planning to be a mistress?"

Lila's face immediately darkened, glaring at Alice, "I never intended to be a mistress. When I left David, I had my own reasons. If I hadn't stepped back, do you think you could have taken my place so smoothly?"

"What did you say?" Alice dug her ear, seemingly in disbelief, "You said I took your place?"

"Isn't it?" Lila continued, "At that time, David and I were already at the point of getting married. If it weren't for my health issues, I wouldn't have left him. I did it not just for myself, but for our future happiness. I didn't want him to stay by my side forever because I was always sick."

"But what happened? When I got better and came back, I found he was already with you." Lila smiled bitterly, "I don't blame him, because even I wasn't sure if I could recover at that time. Instead of letting David wait with slim hope, it was better to let him start a new life."

Alice, tired of the story, was about to leave.

"But now, I'm healthy again." Lila said as Alice was about to leave, "I thought about all the possibilities on the plane. I know he will hate me, blame me, ask why I left. I even plan to tell him the whole truth, and beg for his forgiveness!"

Lila looked a bit lost. "I didn't expect... He fell for someone else, and that person is you."

"Actually, this isn't taking your place." Alice looked at Lila, expressionless, "I didn't take anything from you. David isn't an object. Three years ago he might have been your boyfriend, but now he's mine. You're just a thief trying to take him from me."

Alice returned to the restaurant looking upset.

Nathan, holding a plate of pasta, looked at Alice curiously, then looked at Esme, communicating with his eyes.

Nathan,' What's going on? Why does she look constipated after coming out of the restroom?'

Esme blinked,' How would I know? I didn't go with her; you're asking the wrong person.'

Nathan rolled his eyes at her and buried his head in his pasta.

Alice leaned back in her chair, her fork stuck in a disposable lunchbox, eyes fixed in a certain direction.

"Alice, what's wrong? What happened in the restroom?" Esme couldn't help but ask.