She Was the Treasure All Along novel Chapter 360

It was Cyrilla. She had knocked over her juice glass, and the dark red liquid spread across the tablecloth like a glaring wound. She bit her lower lip so hard it trembled, her chest heaving as she glared at Loyce with pure, undisguised venom and jealousy.

Lucian didn't seem to hear the noise. He didn't even glance in her direction, his focus remaining entirely on Loyce, waiting for her answer.

The entire restaurant's attention was fixed on this small corner, the air thick with anticipation.

Rumors had been circulating among the Victory High students for a while that Cyrilla was in a secret relationship with the illustrious heir of the Shapiro family. But now, that very heir was publicly pursuing the girl who had exposed Cyrilla's lies, right in front of everyone. How could this be?

"Cyrilla, didn't you say you were dating Mr. Shapiro? How could he pursue someone else right in front of you? Were you lying?"

The questions rained down on Cyrilla like arrows. Her eyes, fixed on Lucian, began to fill with tears, but a lie tumbled from her lips automatically. "It's just because I turned down his marriage proposal. So he's going after someone else."

"Marriage proposal?" The students around her exploded.

"Mr. Shapiro already proposed to you? Then why would you reject him?!"

Cyrilla tore her gaze away, her voice tight with suppressed emotion. "Because I want to finish my education first, to make myself more worthy of him. I don't want people to say he only married me because I'm young."

She was starting to believe her own lies. Unable to bear the judgment in everyone's eyes, she pushed her chair back and fled.

Her best friend stomped her foot and stood up. "Honestly, Mr. Shapiro shouldn't be using tactics like this to pressure Cyrilla! That's just mean!"

"Cyrilla, wait for me!"

At the teachers' table, everyone watched to see how Loyce would respond. She unlocked her phone and handed it to Lucian. "Mr. Shapiro, let's exchange contact information. We can get to know each other first."

They were already contacts, of course, but the teachers didn't know that. Thinking a romance was budding, they all broke into grins, murmuring that the two of them looked quite compatible together.

Lucian's lips curved into a smirk. He took her phone and, for show, pretended to type in his number, pulling up their existing chat thread. He pinned the conversation to the top and handed the phone back to her. "Then let's talk more in the future."

Loyce nodded. "Okay."

Loyce glanced at the kitchen door. "I see. In that case, could you please pack a dinner to go? A student is arriving late, and it's for her."

"Oh, of course! Just leave her name with me. When she gets here, she can come straight to the restaurant, and we'll prepare a fresh meal for her. The food should be served hot. We can't have her getting a stomachache."

Loyce thanked him and left.

After dinner, all the students gathered on the soft, grassy field and began setting up their tents in small groups. Tonight was practice for their survival in the forest tomorrow.

Harvey and his men stood by, watching and occasionally offering verbal guidance. They ignored any pleas for help from the girls, as this camp was part of the students' comprehensive evaluation scores and favoritism was not allowed.

Loyce sat on the grass a short distance away, bored, when her phone buzzed twice.

It was a message from Lucian, telling her to come to his Jeep.