Chapter 145
My heart raced as the two men squared off, their mutual animosity threatening to spill over. I opened my mouth to intervene, but before I could, the crowd around us began murmuring, speculating about our relationship.
Whispers floated through the air like smoke, impossible to contain.
“That’s Ryan from the Stardust Pack, isn’t it?”
“Looks like Lirian’s protective of her. What’s their story?”
“Do you think she’s caught between them?”
The murmurs grew louder, creating a ripple of speculation that seemed to fuel the tension between Ryan and Lirian.
Then, a shrill scream pierced the air, breaking the escalating standoff.
“Ryan, what are you doing?”
Linda rushed toward Ryan, her face streaked with tears and her eyes red and swollen, as if she had
been crying for hours. Her voice, sharp with frustration, pierced through the quiet murmur of the
crowd.
“Ryan!” she exclaimed, gripping his arm tightly. “You can’t just leave me like this! Why are you ignoring me?”
Ryan’s irritation was palpable. He shook her hand off with an impatient glare, his jaw tightening. “Linda, what are you doing here?” he demanded, his voice low but cold. “I told you not to leave the
villa. You had no reason to show up here.“
Linda’s face contorted in anger. “I got into the venue by telling them I was your girlfriend!” she snapped. “And I came to bring you something you needed, not that you care!”
I stood quietly, observing the scene as a chill ran down my spine. It wasn’t just the spectacle before me; it was the haunting familiarity of it.
In my previous life, I had been in Linda’s shoes–desperate for Ryan’s attention, only to be discarded like I meant nothing. My memories came rushing back, unbidden.
called the day I brought Ryan breakfast at his office, wanting to surprise him. But instead of
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gratitude, I walked in on him with Linda.
My heart had shattered then, and when I confronted him, he dismissed me with a wave of his hand, ordering security to escort me out as if I were a nuisance.
Now, watching Linda’s humiliation, I felt a bitter pang
of d
déjà vu.
The tables had turned, and Linda was enduring the rejection I had once faced.
Ryan turned to me abruptly, his tone defensive. “Sophia, listen to me. Linda and I are not involved–there’s nothing between us.”
But Linda was far from done. Her voice rose as she glared at me with thinly veiled hatred. “Of course, you’d say that,” she spat.
Sophia and I were classmates, you know. She’s always had a thing for Ryan. When he didn’t like her, she blamed me for it! She couldn’t stand that Ryan preferred me, so she bullied me, making my life miserable!”
Her words stirred a murmur among the crowd, drawing curious glances and whispers. Her pitiful demeanor seemed to evoke sympathy from some of the onlookers.
My chest tightened at her accusation, but before I could respond, Ethan, who had been standing nearby, intervened.
“Shut up, Linda,” Ethan snapped, his voice cutting through the noise like a blade. “Everyone here knows you’re just stirring up trouble.”
Linda’s face flushed with embarrassment, but her gaze shifted to Lirian, who had been silently observing the scene with an unreadable expression. Her lips curled into a sneer as she addressed him.
“Why is she so lucky?” she said loudly, gesturing toward me.
“How does someone like Sophia end up with a man like you, Lirian? It doesn’t make sense! The truth is, Sophia never loved you. She was obsessed with Ryan for years.”
Everyone at school knew it. Ryan even lived in her house! She only turned to you because she knew Ryan would never want her.”
The crowd’s murmurs grew louder, and my heart pounded in my chest. Linda’s words, laced with malice, were stirring doubts among the guests.
Just then, the former Iron Claw Alpha David, a dignified older man whose presence commanded
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respect, stepped forward and looked at me with curiosity.
Is what she says true, Sophia?” he asked, his tone neutral but firm.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped forward, meeting his gaze with unwavering resolve. “No,” I said firmly, my voice carrying across the room.
“I am with Lirian because I want to be with him. It has nothing to do with Ryan.”
I turned to the crowd, speaking clearly and deliberately. “As for Ryan, he was the son of a servant in my family’s household. That is why he lived with us for a while. But that was years ago, and he has
no connection to my life now.”
The
