Funny, isn’t it?
People might think that with a family background like the Synders, life would feel like a paradise. With money, everything could be solved. Honor and power could make everyone bow before them, the world would be entirely at their rcy.
But in reality, all of that only applied if Synders’ blood flowed through a person’s veins. Recognition alone wasn’t enough—Kyra was a pri example of this.
Even though the Synders family openly acknowledged and showed affection toward Kyra, there were still those who tested the limits of this noble family’s tolerance toward their adopted child.
They believed that an adopted child was rely an adopted child. As long as they didn’t cross the line, they could treat Kyra however they pleased. And nothing was more satisfying than belittling soone who was held high.
Because of this, Kyra’s campus life was far from comfortable, even if there wasn’t any direct bullying. Sure, they might not physically touch her, but weren’t words just as painful as physical blows?
This situation was further exacerbated by Kyra’s attitude of choosing to ignore those people. To the students on campus, Kyra’s behavior seed like a provocation and arrogance. Who did she think she was, acting so proud when she was just a foster child?
Even though the Thorne family had once been highly respected, it had fallen apart after "that incident."
Even so, Kyra was still treated like a princess by not only Jas but also the other heirs of the prominent families, Anthony, Orlando, Harvey, and Oliver. It wasn’t uncommon for campus students to see their campus alumni picking up Kyra or attending campus events as her guardians.
On top of that, the university itself granted Kyra special privileges, such as not being required to live in the campus dorms. At the ti, the official reason given by the university was that Kyra suffered from social anxiety, which made it difficult for her to interact or live with strangers.
As a result, she beca the only student in the university’s history allowed to live off-campus. Rumor had it that Creighton himself had personally negotiated with the university’s board for this arrangent.
This was why many envied Kyra, especially the female students—like Gladys, for example. Gladys was the campus darling, one of the top achievers, and ca from a respectable family, yet she didn’t receive such treatnt. To make matters worse, so male students from prestigious backgrounds secretly admired Kyra and often compared Gladys to her.
What was so special about a stiff and socially awkward girl like Kyra who always looked plain? All she ever did was sit quietly and read books in the library. In what way was she superior to them? What on earth did those n see in Kyra?
Feelings of envy and resentnt slowly crept into Gladys’ heart, corrupting her thoughts and turning them malicious. At that ti, she thought, "Isn’t it because you all see Kyra as a kind and gentle girl that triggers your protective instincts?"
So, she decided to shatter the beautiful image they had of her. But before doing so, Gladys poured oil into the flas of gossip. The higher their expectations, the greater their disappointnt would be when Gladys twisted the facts.
It all culminated during a field trip. Gladys enlisted the help of so n who admired her to stage an incident that would tarnish Kyra’s reputation. Ultimately, it all ca down to the angles of photos taken, and Kyra beca the talk of the campus afterwards.
However, Gladys carefully controlled the situation to avoid the attention of the Synders family or arousing Kyra’s suspicion.
As a result, all Kyra received were vague text ssages she dismissed as spam and a few whistles and inappropriate comnts on campus, which she chalked up to the usual bullying she faced daily.
She had no idea she was being indirectly harassed. The thoughts of her fellow students had already sullied her na, imagining indecent things about her.
Suddenly, mories from Kyra’s college days began flooding back. The ssages with inappropriate videos and images she received late at night. The leering stares from male students that once made her so uncomfortable that she skipped classes for several days.
She never understood why they had suddenly started targeting her so aggressively unlike before.
The climax ca when a campus delinquent, her senior, approached her and bluntly asked how much it would cost to spend a night with her. At the ti, Kyra didn’t think much of it. Many new students had been teased by him, and Kyra thought she was just another target.
But now, after Hazel’s confession, everything began to make sense. Why hadn’t she been more suspicious? It was impossible for a few harmless pranks to escalate into such bold actions. After all, she was Kyra Thorne Synders.
Kyra’s entire body trembled, her temperature dropping as her eyes filled with disbelief, locking onto Gladys. Her heart pounded as sha and anger overwheld her. Stamring, she asked, "I-Is it true?"
Hazel smirked, her gaze fixed on Gladys, who had turned as pale as a blank sheet of paper. Turning back to Kyra, Hazel nodded, "It’s true. I still have the evidence."
Gladys flinched, staring at Hazel in disbelief. Yes, she had been wrong for not helping Hazel earlier when Jas was pressuring her. But that was a trivial matter compared to what Hazel was doing now. Did Hazel not realize that this secret was far heavier than her earlier mistake?
Well, of course, she wasn’t that foolish! Hazel was clearly doing this to save herself. This was the only way to divert Jas and Kyra’s attention away from her while simultaneously taking revenge on Gladys for her prior actions.
Valeria, too, was stunned by all of this. As Kyra’s best friend, she knew bits and pieces of what had happened to Kyra back then, but since their fields of study were different, their schedules often clashed. Because of this, Valeria had known the full picture and Kyra wasn’t the type to talk about her problems either.
Kyra pressed her lips together tightly. Her eyes blazed with fury, and in the next instant, she strode up to Gladys and slapped her hard without hesitation.
SLAP!
"What are you doing?!" Mia Parks imdiately rushed to her cousin’s side, steadying her to prevent her from falling.
anwhile, Jas was equally shocked by Kyra’s swift reaction. He quickly pulled her back to his side. His eyes caught the murderous expression on Kyra’s face—it was even more intense than when she had confronted Lila. Jas could only imagine how awful the treatnt Kyra had endured on campus due to the rumors spread by Gladys.
Mia frowned deeply as she noticed the bright red mark on Gladys’ once-flawless cheek. Turning to Kyra, she rebuked her, "No matter what Gladys did, I don’t think you have the right to slap her. Besides, even if this woman claims to have evidence, that doesn’t an the evidence is accurate or proves my cousin is guilty. What if it turns out Gladys is innocent? Will you take responsibility then?"
Hazel, feeling cornered, imdiately panicked. She jumped in to deny any doubts, exclaiming, "The evidence I have is accurate. I still have the chat history between and Gladys, where she sent ambiguous pictures of you. At the ti, Gladys also sent screenshots of her chats with the n in those photos. They were still talking about how they had spread the rumors and openly harassed Kyra."
Kyra’s anger flared even further at Hazel’s words. They reminded her of how she had clashed with the campus delinquent. After rejecting him, the student retaliated by sexually harassing her the very next day.
"Heh! What did you just say?" Valeria stepped forward, glaring fiercely at Mia. Though shorter than Mia, Valeria stood her ground with defiance. "No matter what Gladys did, Kyra doesn’t have the right to slap her? Well then, if I were to tell a man to sexually harass your cousin right now, does that an you wouldn’t have the right to demand justice or slap us later?"
At that mont, Jas and Orlando turned to Kyra simultaneously. Their eyes widened in shock, as Valeria’s words implied that Kyra had been sexually harassed.
Mia, too, was taken aback upon hearing this. Hadn’t Hazel just said earlier that the n had only sent inappropriate texts? So why was the conversation now about sexual harassnt?
But Valeria wasn’t finished accusing Mia. "And I can ask you the sa thing. You dared to threaten my best friend—can you take responsibility if it’s proven that your despicable cousin is the one behind what happened to Kyra back then?"
As if the situation couldn’t get any worse, Hazel added fuel to the fire. "Gladys also knew that the rumors she spread eventually caught the attention of the most notorious troublemaker on campus. She knew Jack offered to pay Kyra for one night. Gladys knew because she indirectly provoked Jack, who has never failed to bed a woman. In the end—"
"Enough!" Gladys suddenly scread, but the next second, she covered her mouth in shock.
Hazel, startled, fell silent but then smirked when she noticed Gladys’ anxious expression. Back then, when Jack harassed Kyra, Gladys had also panicked, fearing Kyra would report her to Jas, though deep down, she had felt satisfaction seeing Kyra humiliated.
Hazel glanced at Jas and swallowed hard. The man’s expression was terrifying. The sa went for Orlando, whose jaw was clenched in fury. Orlando was the first to speak.
"I hope your cousin is ready to face the consequences if she’s found guilty."
Mia pursed her lips tightly. She knew her family was now in deep trouble. Internally, she cursed Gladys for her stupidity. Why did she have to target Kyra so openly? And why had she been so careless about it? Worse, why had she associated with soone as reckless as Hazel?
"Can’t we resolve this peacefully? After all, this issue happened a long ti ago and Kyra has already slapped my cousin too," Mia asked hesitantly.
Her words were t with a sarcastic laugh from Jas. "If we don’t make her pay for what she’s done, then there would be another foolish person who thinks they can step all over the Synders."
He then turned to glare at Gladys, who was trembling uncontrollably. "It seems your cousin has grown far too confident in front of Kyra."
"Jas..."
"Save it, Mia. You’d better take her out of my sight and prepare yourselves. But surely, you have nothing to worry about if she’s truly innocent, right?"
Without waiting any longer, Mia grabbed Gladys and dragged her out of the store. Evelyn, unable to bear the tension, also left with Hazel.
Orlando let out a heavy sigh. "I’ll take Valeria ho."
Before Valeria could respond, Orlando grabbed her arm and led her away.
Jas glanced at Kyra, his eyes filled with disappointnt. But Kyra, who was having a hard ti controlling her emotions, didn’t even care about Jas. She walked ahead of him, and he followed her slowly from behind.
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