Chapter 201
Eliana pondered if the valve was triggered by accident.
If the valve hadn’t gone off, Willow would have been proven guilty.
“Forget it. At least the class funds weren’t lost. Today’s incident should serve as a warning to them. You can all head back now,” the instructor said with a resigned tone.
Eliana pressed her lips together.
Stella protested, “Is that it? Are we just letting it go?”
The instructor sighed helplessly. “What do you expect me to do?”
Shane stayed silent.
“We’re leaving.” Eliana said calmly before walking out of the office.
Stella followed behind Eliana.
She said angrily, “It’s not like he was the one wronged! Willow is suspicious. Letting this go will only embolden them. They’ll be even worse next time.
Eliana could understand the instructor’s stance. After all, he wasn’t the principal. He couldn’t do whatever he wanted.
The instructor was just trying to protect his own position, which was understandable.
Eliana said, “It’s understandable that the instructor is being cautious. We need proof to take action, but something must have triggered the deluge valve. Someone outside must have helped them.”
Stella asked, “So what do we do now?”
Eliana thought for a moment. “Let’s go check the hallway surveillance footage first.”
Meanwhile, on the school rooftop.
Wendy leaned against the wall, smoking. Willow and Shane stood beside her.
“That was close.” Willow exhaled in relief. “Good thing Shane happened to be passing by, or we’d have been caught.”
Wendy rolled her eyes. “You’d have been caught, not me.”
Willow bristled at her remark. “Wendy, you were the one who gave me Eliana and Stella’s locker keys. You’re just as involved in this as I am. If I get caught, you’re coming down with me.”
Wendy let out a cold chuckle.
She was indeed part of the scheme.
Wendy had figured out how to get the spare key to the girls‘ locker room, enabling Willow to unlock Eliana’s locker. Without that, they wouldn’t have been able to get the money.
However, they didn’t anticipate Eliana’s wariness.
Eliana coated the envelope holding the money with highlighter ink beforehand.
During the locker room confrontation, Wendy quickly texted Shane.
After their dance class, the boys‘ locker room, though separate, was right across from the girls‘ locker room.
When Shane got the message, he found a way to trigger the deluge valve outside with a cigarette butt.
That was why the sprinklers in the girls‘ locker room went off.
Without his help, Willow would’ve been doomed this time.
If Willow had been caught, the investigation would have inevitably led to the locker room key, exposing Wendy too.
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Chapter 201
In the end, their plan failed.
Shane frowned. “Wendy, stop stirring up trouble. Eliana doesn’t trust you anymore. She even prepped the envelope beforehand. What would you have done if I hadn’t helped you today!
Wendy scoffed. “What are they going to do if they find out? A disciplinary warning? That only works for ordinary students. I’m immune to that. Don’t forget the donations the Hall family makes to Isonstead University. If they challenge me, they won’t get the funding for the next gym
renovation!
Willow frowned. The Garcia family wasn’t part of Isonstead University’s board of trustees.
However, Willow’s parents had still bribed several school officials to ensure special treatment for her since she was attending there.
Even if things went south, the school would likely downplay the whole affair.
Still, Willow cared about her reputation. Getting publicly exposed would be humiliating.
After the competition incident where Willow’s past school bullying was exposed, she faced significant fallout at Isonstead University despite timely PR efforts.
To mitigate the impact, she treated several forum administrators to a week’s worth of meals, persuading them to delete related posts. This helped reduce the issue’s visibility on the school forum.
However, while forum posts could be erased, countless discussions about her bullying history remained on Twitter. Willow knew that if anyone wanted to dig into her past, they would easily find dirt.
Worried sick, Willow spent her days reporting critical posts on Twitter. However, her efforts were futile, like an ant trying to shake a tree.
Willow’s resentment toward Eliana only deepened.
Though there was no proof, she firmly believed Eliana was behind this.
Willow fumed. “Eliana was the competition’s biggest winner. Shang, Wendy, those club members manipulated you. You didn’t even get second place! Ruby and her friends mocked you. The club claims nobody bribed them, but I bet Eliana’s hiding something. She must have cheated!”
The mention of the competition reignited Wendy’s anger.
Since Eliana was the biggest beneficiary of the competition, Wendy couldn’t think of anyone else who would do this.
She cursed, “That bitch! She’s annoying and despicable!”
Wendy had planned to gain fame and establish her persona through the competition. Now, everything was ruined.
Frustrated, she turned to Shane. “Shane, I’m not picking a fight with Eliana. She’s the one making my life miserable. I’ll make sure she drops out of school!”
Shane frowned. He was about to say something.
Then, Wendy continued, “Have you forgotten how we were bullied back in Whartonburg? Being nice gets you nowhere. People only respect the strong. Eliana and I are enemies now. If she enters the entertainment industry someday, she’ll be my competitor for sure.”
She added, “Rather than wait for her to challenge me in the future, I might as well take her down now and end the threat forever!“)
Shane stayed silent.
Willow lowered her gaze, concealing the cold calculation in her eyes.
She thought, ‘Good. Let them fight. The deeper the feud between Wendy and Eliana, the better.’
Meanwhile, Eliana and Stella were reviewing the hallway surveillance footage outside the locker room.
After watching the video, everything seemed normal.
It was just a group of boys walking down the hallway.
Stella frowned. “It all looks fine. Eliana, did you notice anything? Could Willow be that lucky?”
Eliana’s eyes remained fixed on the screen. She zoomed in on one of the boys‘ faces, Shane.
The more she watched, the more something seemed off.
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Replaying the footage again, she finally spotted the inconsistency.
Ehana asked. “Where did Shane’s cigarette go?
Stella responded, “What
Eliana pointed to the cigarette in Shane’s mouth when he appeared in the footage. He was smoking in the designated area. He hadn’t finished the cigarette. He just turned around, and suddenly the cigarette was gone. Where did it go?
Stella’s eyes widened as realization dawned on her.
She exclaimed, “Wait! You’re right! Where was his cigarette?”
C
