The Cold Beauty's Rebirth

Ruolan sat frozen, her fingers trembling slightly as she clenched her skirt beneath the desk.

She had lost this round.

Again.

But she wasn't going to accept it.

Not when she had spent years carefully building her image. Not when she had ensured that every move she made was deliberate, crafted to make others favor her.

Not when Qingxue and Qiuhan kept tearing it apart so effortlessly.

Her mind raced as she forced herself to look up, letting her eyes glisten as though she were holding back tears. She didn't need to fight back directly—not yet. There was always another way.

Slowly, she stood. "If that's how you feel, then… I understand." Her voice was soft, broken. "Maybe I was wrong to hope for something that was never real."

A few students shifted uncomfortably. Some of them had been willing to turn against Qingxue and Qiuhan when they believed the rumors, but now? Now, they weren't so sure.

Ruolan knew she had to retreat, just for now.

But she wouldn't forget this.

She walked out of the classroom without looking back.

Qingxue watched her leave, her silver-blue eyes calm.

"She's plotting," Yiran murmured beside her.

"Of course she is." Qingxue closed her book. "But she's running out of options."

Qiuhan smirked. "Which makes her more dangerous."

Lihua folded her arms. "She's already desperate. The next time she strikes, it won't be subtle."

Li Shen leaned back in his seat, watching the door Ruolan had disappeared through. "The question is—who will she use this time?"

Because Ruolan never attacked directly.

She always used someone else to do her dirty work.

And if she was desperate…

She was going to do something reckless.

Something they wouldn't expect.