The more Thalia thought about it, the more she felt that Lucas already knew something. ''Otherwise, he wouldn''t have kept quiet about it. Maybe he''s waiting for me to admit my wrongdoing.'' She bit her lower lip in frustration. She had thought that she had orchestrated the situation perfectly, but Lucas still noticed. Regardless, she was happy to learn that Melody''s online reputation had reached a point where everyone was calling for her cancetion.


    It did not matter whether Lucas knew or not; Thalia had achieved her goal as long as she could make Melody lose her dignity. As for what Lucas would think of her, Thalia was not worried at all.


    In all the years they knew each other, whenever Thalia mentioned udia in front of him, he would always soften. After all, it was something Lucas owed her, was it not? She had already nned how to garne his sympathy all over again.


    However, Thalia received an unexpected message from Quinn, who was far away in Molomia. The message asked her to call back when she had time.


    ''Quinn sounds anxious. What''s going on? Why is everybody looking for me at a time like this?'' thought Thalia.


    Since she already had a n in mind, there was nothing much to worry about anymore. Feeling rxed, Thalia made a video call to Quinn.


    "Hey Quinn, what''s up? Why do you sound so rushed in the message? Didn''t I tell you I won''t be returning to Molomia this semester? I thought I had an assignment due from the way you were urging me to go back."


    Thalia even felt in the mood to crack a joke, but Quinn seemed unable tough.


    "You sound happy. But then again, why wouldn''t you since you have so many people to rely on back in your hometown? How could you leave me all alone here?" asked Quinn.Ccontent ? exclusive by N?/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.


    Thalia keenly sensed that something was wrong with Quinn''s mood.


    Quinn appeared disheveled, with her hair in a mess and her clothes rumpled. Even herplexion was very pale, and her lips were dry and cracked.


    ''She''s usually all dolled up, so why does she look like this?'' wondered Thalia. She genuinely worried about her friend and asked with great concern, "What happened to you? Did you go out drinking against night? I''ve warned you countless times not to try to match the guys'' drinking, but you never listen. Now look at you. Feeling miserable, aren''t you?"


    Thalia, as usual, was joking with her friend, but she was taken aback when Quinn covered her face and started crying softly. She was so startled that she sat up from the bed, only to feel dizzy and fall back down again.


    "Ugh... I''m unwell now. What''s going on? Stop crying and tell me what happened!"


    Quinn continued to cry quietly, and Thalia helplessly urged her to speak. Fortunately, Quinn stopped crying after a while and sniffled before speaking.


    "It''s a long story. I should''ve listened to you. I shouldn''t have gone drinking with those guys."


    "What exactly happened to you? Why are you so upset?" Thalia asked.


    Quinn bit her lip, as if finding it difficult to speak, but eventually decided to confide in her friend. "I really don''t know. It seems like I offended a local big shot''s daughter. Last night, I went out with a group of people... Turns out that the guy I was drinking with actually has a girlfriend, and she came up and pped me twice. My face still hurts a bit. Look!"