Pamela and Irene looked at her in disbelief.
She’d been the one bad-mouthing Elena to them. They’d stood up for her-and now she was flipping the script?
“Sarah! You were the one who said Elena transferring was an embarrassment to our class! What’s with the holier-than-thou act now?!”
“Yeah! You told us you couldn’t punish her yourself because she’s your sister! That’s the only reason we stepped in!”
The girls’ faces flushed red with fury as they tore into Sarah.
They’d just been forced to eat vomit-inducing garbage-and now this?
Sarah was stunned. She never imagined her own cronies would turn on her.
“I-I never told you to bully her! What’s wrong with you?!”
The three of them broke into a full-blown fight, voices rising with every insult.
Elena didn’t bother watching the drama. She turned and strolled back into the classroom with the rest of Class Six.
“Elena, I didn’t expect it-you’re tougher than you look,” Henry said with a grin, ruffling her hair.
She chuckled dryly. “I was bluffing. Who knew those Class One airheads would fall for it?”
Henry squinted. “That sounded pretty legit to me.”
Just then, Nolan returned.
He was holding two boxed lunches.
Elena had thought he’d skipped out. She hadn’t seen him during the commotion.
But he walked in and silently placed one of the boxes on her desk before heading back to his seat.
Henry nudged her. “Boss brought that for you.”
“Where did it come from?”
“Swiped from Class One,” Colton said as he returned.
“Let them starve. That’s what they get for being jerks.”
Henry happily dug into his lunch, waving his chopsticks. “C’mon, eat up! We’ve got gym later. You’ll need energy.”
Elena glanced at the boxed meal… then at Nolan.
Why is he helping me? And he didn’t press about the test switching either…
But before she could sort her thoughts-
The classroom door flew open.
Zayden stood there, expression dark and stormy.
“Elena! Get out here. Now.”
Zayden rarely lost his temper-but every time he did, it was because of Sarah.
Elena’s eyes darkened where she sat.
She knew it. Zayden was definitely here to throw a fit.
“Zayden, this is Class Six. Not the place for you to play the hero.”
Henry set his fork down. The rest of the class stared at Zayden with open hostility.
Class One students were notorious for thinking too highly of themselves and looking down on the others.
Zayden was the poster child for that.
“I wasn’t talking to any of you.”
Zayden’s voice was cold. He walked straight over to Elena and yanked her out of her seat.
“You’re coming with me.”
His tone left no room for argument.
Elena said nothing.
In her past life, she’d given Zayden too much leeway.
Whatever he did, she’d always put up with it without a word.
But now? She wasn’t going to be that stupid again.
“Zayden, I’m not in Class One anymore. If you’ve got something to say, just say it here.”
Zayden’s eyes grew colder when he saw her calmly pull her hand away from his.
“Elena, getting moved to Class Six gave you an attitude, huh?”
“Think what you want.”
Elena met his gaze without flinching. “This isn’t Class One. I don’t have to follow your orders.”
“Because I’m your fiancé! You’re the future daughter-in-law of the Holt family. If I tell you to come outside, then you come outside!”
The room fell silent.
Even people outside the classroom froze when they heard that.
Fiancée?
Zayden has a fiancée?
And it’s Elena?
Nolan’s eyes darkened.
Elena, on the other hand, found it laughable.
Zayden had never acknowledged their engagement before. In fact, he’d warned her never to mention it at school, afraid it would embarrass him.
And now here he was, blurting it out like it was no big deal.
“Zayden, what century do you think this is? It was just an arrangement. It can be called off any time. Don’t talk to me like you own me-I’m not your property.”
Zayden felt a flash of anger rise in his chest.
He knew that line all too well.
He’d said almost the exact same thing back when Elena used to trail behind him like a shadow.
Now the roles were reversed.
Elena was the one denying the engagement.
Zayden gave a cold laugh. “Fine. Then let’s talk right here.”
He pointed toward the door. “Did you force that Class One student to eat the food that fell on the ground just now?”
“So what if I did?”
“Elena, do you even realize what you’re doing?”
Zayden was clearly trying to keep his temper in check. “She’s from Class One. Do you even have a heart? What if she gets sick from that food?”
“And what if I got sick?”
Elena stared him down. “She and her friends gave me a lunchbox full of dead rats and cockroaches. Where were you then?”
Zayden snapped, “Then you could’ve just not eaten it! Why force them to eat it instead? You get off on making people suffer? Elena, when did you become so twisted?”
“So I’m supposed to just take it and keep quiet?”
Elena gave a cold laugh.
That shut Zayden up.
The look in Elena’s eyes was pure disgust and contempt-tinged with deep disappointment.
He’d known her since they were kids and had never seen her look at him like that.
Back then, even when she was wronged, she’d smile and brush it off like it didn’t matter.
Eventually, Zayden had assumed she’d gotten used to it-that maybe it didn’t even bother her.
But he’d forgotten: she was human too.
No one wants to be treated like that forever.
“Zayden, here’s a heads-up, you’re the class president, right? Then keep your classmates in check. Don’t let them mess with me again. Next time… it won’t end this simply.”
She didn’t even look at him as she went back to her seat.
Henry stepped forward, blocking Zayden’s path. “You hear what Elena said? Get out. This isn’t a place for you to throw your weight around.”
Zayden stared hard at Elena.
She didn’t look up. Just kept eating like nothing had happened.
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