Chapter 97 Her beauty was the kind that took your breath away.
“It's gone! I haven't even used it yet! It was in my purse!” Claire lunged at Cristiane, her eyes blazing with rage. “You were the only one out here. If it wasn't you, then who was it? A ghost?”
“I saw you putting on lipstick in secret, you thief!” Mirela accused, pointing her finger.
“With that face and that body, you should worry about losing weight before trying to paint yourself.
”Haha! Does losing weight help fix your height?“ the boy laughed. ”She'll still be an ugly cow. And worse: a thief! They say her parents are cut from the same cloth. Thieves breed thieves!"
Finally, Cristiane lifted her face. Her eyes were flooded with tears, but a spark of dignity shone deep in her pupils. “I didn't steal anything!” Her voice was weak but full of pain. “Please... don't talk about my parents!”
Cristiane was small, barely over five feet tall, and her chubby body made her an easy target for those predators in school uniforms. They pushed her against the fence with cowardly ease. Claire, blinded by materialism, began to search Cristiane violently, pulling at her clothes and rummaging through her pockets.
“Give it back! Where did you hide it?!” Claire shouted.
Nothing was found, but the humiliation was complete. Mirela, irritated by the lack of evidence, gave her one final push with excessive force. Cristiane stumbled, her small body ricocheting off the metal fence. The sound of her head hitting the iron echoed in the silent hallway.
“Hahahaha!” The group burst out laughing, reveling in the girl's physical pain.
They didn't notice that, a few feet away, the temperature had dropped dramatically. Katherine stood motionless, her aura of indifference replaced by an invisible, suffocating pressure. Her eyes were no longer just apathetic; they were the abyss.
She took a step forward, the sound of her shoes on the floor silencing the laughter of her attackers like an omen of storm.
The air seemed to freeze in the schoolyard. Cristiane, small and vulnerable, felt the impact of humiliation burn in her chest. Being short, she knew that even if she was pushed, she wouldn't hit the ground hard, but what hurt wasn't the physical fall—it was the weight of contempt on her shoulders.
Suddenly, a sharp crack interrupted the cruel laughter. A water bottle flew through the air with surgical precision, hitting the cheek of the boy who was laughing the loudest.
“What's so funny?” a velvety but icy voice cut through the silence.
The group turned, their faces pale with shock. There she was: Jessica Mendes. With a smug smile that didn't reach her almond-shaped eyes, she exuded an aura of danger and magnetism. Jessica wasn't just a student; she was an urban legend, whose connections to the underworld made even teachers look away.
Beside her, like an unbreakable porcelain statue, stood Katherine. Her beauty was the kind that took your breath away—deep eyes, translucent skin, and an indifference that seemed to raise the oxygen level around her. If Jessica was the fire that burned, Katherine was the ice that cut.
“Jessica... Katherine...” someone stammered in the group, desire and fear fighting on the boys' faces.
Jessica stepped forward, twirling an empty bottle between her long, elegant fingers.
“Repeat the joke. I also love to laugh at pathetic things.”
Mirela Crispim, sensing her territory was threatened, stepped forward, her face twisted with envy.
“That girl, Cristiane, stole one of us,” Mirela retorted, trying to keep her voice steady. “That's none of your business, Jessica. Solve your problems and let us take care of ours.”
Jessica tilted her head, her short hair shining in the sun like strands of black silk. She looked at Katherine, a spark of amusement dancing in her pupils.
“What do you think, Kath? I'm so bored today... I think I'm going to meddle, yes.”
Katherine remained silent. Her presence was magnetic, an aura of mystery that made her inaccessible. She just watched, like a queen watching a peasant revolt.
Jessica walked up to Cristiane and sized her up.
“You're in my class, Class 8. Why are you letting this trash walk all over you?” Jessica's tone was harsh, but there was a hidden spark of protection. “Did you steal it or not?”
Cristiane felt her heart pounding against her ribs. She looked up, meeting Jessica's challenging gaze.
“I... I didn't steal anything,” she whispered, her voice trembling but determined.
“Then lift your head up!” Jessica ordered. “You may be small, but you're not invisible. If someone hits you, hit them back. Why live in the shadows when you can fight?”
The words hit Cristiane like an electric shock. She clenched her fists, feeling a spark of courage for the first time.
“Jessica Mendes, have you gone crazy?!” Claire intervened, her voice shrill with indignation. As the heir to an influential family, Claire couldn't stand being ignored, especially by Jessica, the woman who had been the reason for her latest breakup.
“What does that loser have to do with you? Do you want to tarnish your reputation by defending a piece of trash? Get out of here with Katherine and don't waste our time!”
Jessica let out a short, dark laugh.
“What did you call me, Claire?”
“I called you crazy!” Claire fired back, hatred overflowing. “You and your foul-mouthed friends are all the same. And you, Katherine...” Claire pointed her finger, venom dripping from her words. “Everyone knows you cheated on that test. A girl like you would never get a perfect score. Mirela knows you well, she knows you're a fraud. You can fool the teachers, but we see who you really are!”
The silence that followed was absolute.
Jessica chuckled, almost pityingly, and looked at her friend beside her. In Katherine's previously indolent eyes, a new gleam appeared. A dangerous interest. A trace of darkness that promised a cruel fate for anyone who dared cross her path.
The game was just beginning.