When Vivienne and Bianca walked into the classroom, Julianne Whitmore and her entourage of lackeys were huddled together, aggressively gossiping over their phones. The moment they spotted Vivienne, they exchanged sharp glances, dialed back their volume, and subtly shifted their posture.
Julianne rolled her eyes, holding up her phone and waving it at Vivienne. "Hey! Vivienne, you're the one who posted that anonymous thread, aren't you?"
Vivienne dropped her bag onto her desk, looking across the two aisles at her. "Yeah? What about it?"
Julianne's face lit up with malicious glee. "Nothing. I just find it hilarious that someone is about to get completely destroyed. Don't say I didn't warn you—Kael is not someone you want to mess with."
Vivienne pressed her lips into a faint smile, turned around, and completely ignored her.
Julianne's face flushed with fury. She stood up abruptly and stormed out of the classroom, her lackeys exchanging nervous looks before scrambling to follow her.
"Julianne, class is about to start! Where are you going?"
Julianne shot a venomous glare at Vivienne through the doorway. "To find Kael."
Her entourage immediately shut their mouths. Everyone knew exactly what she was playing at. She claimed she was looking for Kael, but her real target was obviously Preston.
No one dared call her out on it, so they silently trailed behind her.
As the group reached the stairwell, they happened to run into Sophia Everhart coming up the steps.
Julianne paused, deliberately stepping into her path. "Well, well. How come you're not glued to Mina's side today?"
Sophia didn't look well. "Julianne, do you ever quit?"
Julianne's smugness only grew. "Oh, I get it now. Yesterday, your precious Mina dragged Vivienne off to skip school without you, and this morning I saw the two of them whispering by the flowerbeds. Looks like someone finally got dumped."
Sophia shoved Julianne hard out of the way.
The Blackthornes only had one daughter of marriageable age—Mina. Which meant if she didn't ruthlessly push Mina out of the picture, Preston might end up belonging to someone else.
Every time she thought about it, Julianne's blood boiled. Sophia completely looked down on her, so Julianne made it her mission to destroy the friendship between Sophia and Mina. Sophia was fairly favored in the Everhart family; if Mina and Sophia had a brutal falling out, Mina's pride would ensure she'd never agree to marry into the Everharts.
But she couldn't exactly explain all her scheming to outsiders. Julianne flipped her hair dismissively. "Preston doesn't care about her anyway. Let's go."
When Sophia walked into the classroom, she carefully reigned in her emotions. Her gaze drifted between Vivienne and Mina for a long moment before she slowly made her way to her seat.
"Morning, Mina."
Mina was busy packing her bag and didn't even look up. "Morning."
A wave of disappointment washed over Sophia, but she forced a casual tone as she set her bag down. "Mina, where did you go yesterday?"

Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Chaos Girl Rewrites the Script