"Really? She agreed to withdraw the lawsuit?" Saira exclaimed with delight.
"Yes, she agreed. In the future, if anything happens, tell mommy, and I'll take care of it," Dalia said softly, stroking her long hair.
"Okay."
Once Dalia left, Saira sent this good news to the group chat. Natalie, upon receiving the news, was feeling quite smug when her door was pushed open. Her father walked in and sat across from her.
"When did you learn to do such things?" he questioned coldly.
"Dad, what are you talking about?"
"You don't know what you did?"
"That's the truth. If she dares to do it, why can't I talk about it? She doesn't feel ashamed for doing it; why should I be afraid of saying it?" Natalie retorted stubbornly.
"You foolish girl, even if she did those things, it's not your place to gossip about it online. Your Uncle Lin called to question me, and you've embarrassed me completely. Tomorrow at school, you will apologize to her. And this matter will be over."
"I won't apologize," Natalie said defiantly, her neck stiffened.
She believed she wasn't wrong. If she wasn't wrong, why should she apologize?
"If you don't apologize, then your bags, clothes, shoes, and your credit card will all be cut off. Don't think about asking anyone else for help. When you come to your senses, you'll get them back."
"Dad!" Natalie pouted in dissatisfaction.
Her father remained unmoved.
Seeing that he was serious, Natalie finally lowered her head. "Fine, I'll apologize."
The next day, Saira got up half an hour early as usual, asking the driver to take her to school first. Zuri drove her eye-catching blue sports car to school as usual.
Upon seeing her, Natalie said, "Come with me."
The two walked to a corner, and Natalie, with a stiff neck, said, "I'm sorry."
"What did you say? I didn't hear it."
Natalie was furious. This damned girl was definitely doing this on purpose.
"I'm sorry," Natalie said through gritted teeth.
If it wasn't for the allowance, she wouldn't bow down to this malicious woman.
"So you're apologizing."
"Alright, I've apologized."
As Natalie turned to leave, she heard a faint voice behind her.
"I don't accept this apology. I want you to apologize to me in front of the entire school."
If she didn't do this, Zuri would never wash away those stains.
"Don't push it too far," Natalie glared at her, "You dream of me apologizing in front of all the teachers and students!"
"It's fine if you don't apologize. We'll continue with the lawsuit. Anyway, I have evidence against you. As long as we go to court, you will lose," Zuri said calmly.
"You..." Natalie was fuming, her eyes glaring at Zuri with malice. "Fine, I'll apologize. Just wait."
Natalie stormed off.
"Come out."
Zuri suddenly spoke to the seemingly empty surroundings.
From the tree above, a nimble figure landed gracefully.
"You noticed me," Azura leaned against the tree trunk, a lollipop in her mouth. "Are you sure that girl will apologize to you in front of everyone?"
"She won't," Zuri replied without hesitation.
Azura was intrigued. "If you know she won't, aren't you afraid she'll do something else?"
"Afraid?" Zuri smiled faintly, her eyes deep. "I just fear she wouldn't dare."
Azura's eyes lit up.
This is going to be good!
After the morning classes, all the teachers and students gathered on the playground for the radio exercises. Today was also the monthly speech day, and the speaker was the student council vice president, Arthur.
Looking at the spirited Arthur on the stage, Zuri's bright eyes gleamed with a hint of bloodlust.
"Do you like Arthur?"
Suddenly, a voice appeared quietly behind her.
Azura, at some point, had joined their class and was now standing behind her.
Azura seemed to have remembered something. "Almost forgot, you are the eldest daughter of the Lin family. The one with the arranged marriage must be you. So, that preening peacock on stage is your fiancé."
"Tsk tsk, what a beautiful flower stuck in cow dung."
Azura looked regretful.
Before Zuri could respond, Shaina spoke quietly from the side, "Azura, it's not nice to call Zuri cow dung right in front of her."
Azura's lips twitched, giving Shaina a look as if she were an idiot.
Zuri smiled silently.
Such low-level instigation!
"Are you blind? If your eyes are bad, get them treated," Azura retorted bluntly.
"You..."
Shaina wanted to snap back but was silenced by Azura's cold, sharp gaze.
On the podium, Arthur's arrogant gaze swept over the girls below, seeing their faces and eyes full of admiration and reverence, he felt both proud and disgusted.
When his eyes met the infatuated gaze of a chubby girl from Class 7, he almost gagged.
Admiring glances from beautiful girls were enjoyable, but when ugly girls looked at him like that, it was revolting.
Farah excitedly grabbed the girl next to her, "Arthur just looked at me! Arthur is so handsome, so handsome."
He wouldn't be interested in you anyway.
The girl next to her rolled her eyes inwardly. Arthur cursed her as a pig behind her back, and she didn't even know it.
Arthur finished his speech, and the audience erupted in applause, his admirers clapping fervently.
Arthur, like a gentleman, placed one hand on his chest, bowed, and walked off the stage gracefully.
"Ah, I love Arthur so much."
"Arthur is my prince charming. How can he be so perfect?"
While the girls were still immersed in Arthur's dazzling charm, Natalie quietly took the stage, gripping the microphone, her gaze sweeping over the crowd before finally landing on Zuri.
The students were surprised to see her.
"Why is Natalie on stage?"
"What is she going to do? Give a speech too?"
"Oh my god, I don't want to waste more time listening to another crappy speech."
The students murmured. They were already fed up with the monthly speeches. Listening to two in a row was pure torture.
"I'm here today to say something to Zuri," Natalie began.
The previously listless students perked up.
This was going to be interesting.
"Zuri, if you have the guts to do such things, you should have the guts to admit it. If you dare to do it, don't be afraid of people talking. Your whole body is filthy. Who knows if you have some dirty disease? You act all high and mighty. I'll never apologize to someone as dirty and despicable as you!"
"How outrageous! Get her down from there," the principal fumed, his face red with anger.
Director Wang immediately led two teachers over, but two boys stood firmly on the steps, blocking their way.
The students below whistled and many eyes turned to Zuri, leaving them unsure of who was truly innocent in this situation.
Seeing that her goal was achieved, Natalie prepared to continue humiliating Zuri, but suddenly found that her microphone had been cut off.
At that moment, a clear conversation began to play over the school's PA system.
"I'm sorry."
The voice was unmistakably Natalie's, full of previous fervor.
"What did you say? I didn't hear you."
"I'm sorry."
"So you are apologizing," came Zuri's voice.
"Alright, I've apologized."
This exchange was repeated over and over.
Each "I'm sorry" echoed like a curse, ringing through the ears of every student and teacher.
Every single "I'm sorry" was like a slap in the face, each one landing hard on Natalie's cheeks.
Her face swelled with embarrassment as laughter erupted from the crowd, their derisive voices filling the air.
Natalie's face turned crimson with shame. The mocking voices felt like sharp knives, stabbing at her pride, leaving her mortified and wishing she could disappear.
"Hahaha, this is hilarious."
"She was just boasting about not apologizing, and now we hear her apologizing repeatedly. This is too funny."
"Natalie thought she could make fools of us, but she's the one ending up as the clown."
"Someone who vows revenge behind your back and then quietly apologizes? If I were her, I'd never show my face again."
Every mocking voice, every scornful word, drilled into her ears.
Unable to bear it any longer, Natalie fled the stage, covering her face as she dashed through the crowd.
Saira and her friends glared at Zuri before running after Natalie.
Principal Fang's face turned a vivid green with rage.
"Go to the broadcast room and find out who's behind this. Get it cut off immediately."
The teachers hurried to comply, while the students were abuzz with excitement.
Azura gave Zuri a thumbs-up, her face full of admiration. "That was amazing! How did you do it?"
Zuri just calmly took out her phone, tapped a few times, and the broadcast stopped. The teachers who had rushed to the broadcast room were left standing in stunned silence when they heard the sudden silence.
When they opened the door, the student who was supposed to be on duty was missing, later found in the restroom with an upset stomach.
"Arthur, your fiancée is quite formidable," one of the boys said, "Isn't it tough dealing with her?"
Arthur shot him an irritated look. "She's not my fiancée."
"Oh, are you dissatisfied with her? Or have you fallen for Saira instead?"
"I think she's way prettier than Saira. You're lucky to have upgraded to a more beautiful fiancée, yet you're still unhappy?" The other boy was baffled.
Arthur sneered.
"What's the use of beauty? A woman who grew up in a slum in the West End, who knows how clean she is. I have no interest in marrying damaged goods."
As Zuri and Azura passed by and overheard their conversation, they shared a knowing, disdainful smile.
To hear them talk, you'd think they believed every woman was theirs for the taking.
They must really think they're money, beloved by all.
"Some people need to take a good look in the mirror and see what they really are. Not every woman likes you," Azura taunted.
Arthur and his friends were startled to see the two girls standing behind them.
Zuri's cold gaze fell on Arthur's overly self-assured, narcissistic face.
In her past life, he had looked down on her, but too cowardly to defy his family and break off the engagement, he teamed up with Saira and Damian to ruin her reputation.
A man like Arthur, whom Saira cherished as a treasure, was worth less to her than the stray dog outside the school gate.
"Being a narcissist is a disease. Get treatment early," Zuri said coolly as she walked away.
Azura gave Arthur and his friends a dismissive hand gesture.
Arthur's face darkened with anger.
What an ill-mannered woman! No matter how pretty she is, she's not fit to be his fiancée.
Ever since that day when Azura saw Zuri manipulate the school's broadcast with just a few taps on her phone, she had been sticking to Zuri like glue, constantly trailing behind her.
Everyone had gotten used to seeing Azura around whenever they had a break.
Azura chased away the student sitting in front of Zuri, took his seat, and rested her chin on the back of the chair, her smoky eyes watching Zuri intently.
"Tomorrow is the preliminary exam. I heard you made a bet with Samara and her gang. Do you have the confidence to win?"
Zuri continued working through her practice problems, ignoring her.
Azura didn't seem to mind.
"I've heard that Samara and her group are planning to get back at you for Natalie. They're all geared up for this exam."
After that broadcast incident, Natalie had been recovering at home, absent from school. Saira had been dutifully visiting her every day. Things had been peaceful, with no new tricks from them aimed at Zuri.
Shaina and Nyla, sitting nearby and eavesdropping, exchanged gleeful glances.
Shaina whispered, "Farida and Colin are both in the top ten in our grade. And she, with her 280 marks, dares to compete with them? She's really overestimating herself."
"Not overestimating, she's just clueless," Nyla corrected.
They giggled softly.
In the noisy classroom, their low whispers didn't escape Azura's sharp ears. She was about to get up when Zuri's slender, fair hand gently held her wrist.
"No need."
"Aren't you angry at them?"
"What do you think?" Zuri's eyes sparkled with a smile as she looked at her.
Those clear, smiling eyes reminded Azura of how Zuri had watched Natalie from the sidelines during the assembly.
As the exams on Thursday and Friday concluded, everyone was keenly awaiting the results of Zuri's bet with Samara and her friends.
Someone even started a betting pool on the school forum, with 99.9% betting on Samara's group winning, and only two bets on Zuri.
"Who do you think those two who bet on Zuri are?" someone asked in the forum, stirring things up.
Replies came in quickly.
"Isn't it obvious? It's definitely Azura and Zuri themselves."
"How pathetic, betting on themselves."
"Betting on her is a sure loss. Who's dumb enough to bet? Not like we're swimming in money."
Just as everyone was getting into a mocking frenzy, a user named "king" jumped in.
"I made that bet! Not convinced?"
Azura's account was well-known, but this "king" account was a new player.
This arrogant tone instantly incited the prideful students of Windsor.
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