Right after leaving St. Gabriel Reform Academy, Emily was nervous all the time. Every stare felt like a weight, croads made her freeze-up, and a matter what she tried, she couldn’t shake the feeling of being on edge and uncomfortable.
Friends and family had tumed their backs on her, treating her as a and helped her malize she wasn’t as bad as everyone saki.
is a disgrace and a joke.
The only one who stuck by her was Austin, who believed in
Suddenly, Emily understood that her life wasn’t the total wreck she had convinced herself it was
At her darkest hour, she found a group at St. Gabriel Reform Academy willing to risk everything for each other. When she hit rock bottom, Austin showed up. And Charles and Bob never gave up on her.
Perhaps seeing a reflection of herself in Lily, Emily softened her tone. “Don’t be nervous. I’m just here to ask a few questions.”
She had already done her homework on Lily, so she know exactly what she was dealing with now. After the Norris family’s bankruptcy, her father, an Norris, died in a car accident. Her mother, Elaine Norris, survived but lost a leg.
Elaine and Lily, burdened with millions of dollars scraped by with whatever jobs they could find. Lily, who used to spend freely on outings, had been worn down by life.
Now, facing Emily, the one she used to pick on in the past, Lily just lowered her head and nodded, with none of her old pride left.
Emily set aside her emotions and got straight to the point. “Back in high school, you were always by Yvonne’s side. You must know quite a bit about her, right
Lily suddenly litted her head, her nervous vibe flipping into a glare filled with hate. The change was so sudden that Emily’s words got stuck in her throat.
She had always known just how close Lily was to Yvonne. When the Norris family went bankrupt and debt collectors came after them, it was Yvonne who helped pay off the debts.
Emily wondered, “Why did Lily react so strongly at the mere mention of Wonne?
While Emily was still puzzled, Lily suddenly said, “What do you want to know about Yvonne? it was as if she couldn’t wait to spill everything she knew.
Emily didn’t dig into what happened between her and Yvonne. She asked instead, “Do you know a girl named Qulana who jumped off the roof the day before the SAT?””
Lily’s eyes suddenly widened, panic flashing through her face. “Why do you want to know?”
Emily had been watching her closely, and seeing her reaction, she couldn’t help but tighten her gip on her coffee cup
She thought, ‘Could Lily be involved in this too?‘
She leaned forward slightly, voice low but direct. “Quiana killed herself because you guys bullied her, right?”
“It wasn’t me. It was Yvonne.” Lily suddenly grew emotional, her voice rising enough to draw glances from other customers in the café,
Emily stared at her, face blank and totally unfazed by the outburst. She was thinking hard, and she had got the answer she wanted, but the more questions.
She asked, “What exactly happened back then? Why did Quiana commit suicide?”
She thought, “With the SAT just a day away, what could push Quiana to that kind of desperation?”
Lily’s face went pale, and she avoided Emily’s gaze as it reluctant to revisit those memories, However, before Emily could press further, she said, “Quana was driven to death by Wenne.”
Chapter 224
She took a deep breath and slowly revealed i
full truth
Quiana was the only student admitted to Shandell High School with scholarships, but from freshman year onwards, Yvonne started picking on her alot No one knew exactly why, but Yvonne’s harassment became constant.
It began with making her get water and breakfast, then tearing up her homework and throwing her books, and finally turned into hitting her and locking
her in the restroom.
The cruelty of school bullying was never just what TV dramas portrayed.
Quiana endured this torment and humiliation from freshman to senior year. Yet, she kept the top grades, like none of them had hurt her.
That was when Yvonne’s bullying got worse, even up to a month before the SAT, Somehow, she pretended to be Quiana’s friend and went to see her grandma.
That was the first time Quiana fought back. She slapped venne. However, things only got worse. Instead of backing off, Yvonne became even crazier
She dragged Quiana up to the rooftop, had people tear at her clothes while filming it, and then uploaded the video to an adult website.
After visiting Quiana’s home, she even stole her diary, which clearly showed she liked someone named Zack.
Zeke was a kid adopted by Quiana’s grandma, later taken back by the Windrose family of Xalativa. That was the same Zeke Erally knew.
Zeke and Quiana weren’t related, but Yvonne didn’t know, and she wouldn’t care even if she knew. What mattered to her was that Quiana had fallen for her own brother.
After finding this big secret, Yvonne seized the chance to ruin Qulana completely
She threatened Quiana with the diary, forcing her to cheat on the SAT and get caught on purpose. Otherwise, Yvonne would leak the diary online and show the video to her grandma,
Even after three years of being bullied, Quiana held the top spot in her grade, showing just how much the test meant to her. The test was her only hope. She thought once the test was done, things would get better. However, Yvonne used her biggest secret at the worst time and involved her grandma, too. Three years of suppressed agony and injustice finally broke Quiana. In despair, she went to the rooftop and leapt to her death
Lily continued, “After Quiana died, Yvonne freaked out. She deleted the videos, burned the diary, and warned every one of us never to talk about her bullying Quiana.”
Lily gripped her coffee cup tightly, face pale, recounting each detail. “Quiana’s grandma didn’t believe she would kill herself, so she went to the school for an explanation, but she was kicked out and then disappeared.
“They told everyone that Qulana dropped out. I knew it was Yvonne’s doing. She once said she was bored with tormenting Quiana and meant to quit after the SAT, but she didn’t expect her to be so fragile that she would kill herself
“Yvonne said Quiana was too boring and spoiled her fun, and almost got her into trouble.”
