Chapter 39: Manipulation Amongst Friends

"How dare you? How dare you face me and tell me that I am telling you what to do? Do you know how I try to advise you? If we had not advised you, then you wouldn't have even done anything, right? You'd have continued to hurt that boy. You'd have continued to hurt Alex. Despite how he treats you, right? Despite how he always makes sure that everything goes the way you want it to be. All of a sudden, you are acting like you are so good. You are not good at all, okay? And I just want Alex to know the truth. I am tired of watching you deceive him. I am tired of looking at you making this boy a fool. That was the reason why I stylishly said those words. I wanted to know. I wanted him to know if he would understand and if he would listen and want changes and want to investigate. Now you have robbed him with your fantasies, robbed him with your lies. And now he believes you and does not see anybody or anything that anybody says to him," Rachel exclaimed.

"What was—" 

"Accept what you want!" Rachel tried to argue, but Isabella was not in the mood.

"I am not in the mood to argue with you, and I'm not going to drag this any further," Tricia warned Rachel. "You two know what she is doing is wrong. Yes, you guys were the ones who advised me to do this. Now I am trying to make changes. If you were in my shoes, I would also not intervene. But Rachel decided that it is up to her to intervene in my own relationship and tell me what to do. You can never tell me what to do. Rachel, it is over. You don't have control over me. The last time I listened to you guys' advice, I lost everything. And I became so stuck in a situation I could not leave," Isabella yelled as she stormed away, leaving them.

Meanwhile, Tricia was already angry at Rachel. But Rachel was still possessed by an unknown affection for Alex. 

"You see what you just caused, Rachel? You've seen what you have done. I hope you are very glad and happy that you got what you wanted. I don't know why you don't listen. I don't know why you don't observe and know what to do. Stay away from this. You did not—yay! You tell me what exactly is drawing you close to her relationship? Stay away from Alex. Nobody is sending you to help her amend our relationship. She likes her relationship the way it is, and let it be that way. Do not fall for anything," Tricia also warned before walking away, leaving Rachel there as she was angry.

Meanwhile, Lily was getting ready for lectures, which was Professor James's course. As she made sure to wear her prettiest dress, even Beatrice was surprised when she stepped out of the bedroom looking all hot and sexy. Even her hair, she had made sure to do her hair in a perfect way, something she had not done for ages. 

"Wow, somebody is trying to fall in love with a lecturer. Despite all her claims that it's wrong, all of a sudden you are also doing it. And you seem to even be doing it worse than Isabella because Isabella did not tempt him by dressing this sexy. I think you need to change, or else everybody would easily notice that you are trying to tempt him," Beatrice tried to warn Lily, but she scoffed.

"It is none of your business, okay? I know what I want, and I am going to get it. You just stay out of my way. Don't get involved. Do you understand?" she warned and stepped out. 

Beatrice knew from the way Lily was acting that things wouldn't go right because Lily was so bad at keeping secrets. Lily was so bad at keeping things inside. So she decided to follow her to her class and make sure to keep an eye on her, so she wouldn't make any mistakes. 

They soon got to lectures, and just as Lily was about to enter, Tricia and Rachel were also about to enter. Lily decided to ask them about Isabella. 

"I have not been seeing her in class recently, but yet she is doing all her course assessments and submitting them on time. Isn't that weird? Are you guys snitching and helping her out?" Lily questioned, but Rachel was still very angry and did not answer as she just stormed away, leaving Lily and Tricia. 

Tricia looked at her from head to toe and noticed the changes in her dressing. Even her hair had been styled differently; even her walking posture was different. Tricia could not help but laugh as she already understood what was going on. 

"I just hope you don't turn out like Isabella," she warned silently before walking away. 

Beatrice looked at Lily, hoping that those words would make a change to her, but she did not even budge as she rolled her eyes and stepped in. 

Everyone was already patiently waiting for Professor James to arrive, but funny enough, he did not come. Just then, another lecturer came in as everybody groaned angrily. Yes, aside from Isabella, there were other female students who also had an eye on Professor James. Not seeing him felt like their dreams had been shattered, mostly Lily. 

The new professor sat down and arranged his things before introducing himself as he turned that he would be a substitute teacher for Professor James since he had gone back home for an urgent matter. Lily felt so enraged and angry, thinking it was all Isabella's plan. 

After the lectures had ended, she stormed directly to Isabella's hostel, ready to face her. This time around, she was not going to believe that something had happened. Instead, she was going to pour the blame on Isabella because she was also angry that when she finally wanted to make a move, he was nowhere to be found.