CHAPTER 407: CHAPTER 407: KAYLEE

She gently pushed Mia back and said jokingly, "If you keep hugging me like that, who knows what kind of thorns I’ll attract during lectures."

Mia rolled her eyes and looked at Selena. "If anyone dares to taunt you, they’ll have to deal with me first!" she said proudly.

Selena raised an eyebrow, pretending to be offended.

"I haven’t even said a word, and I’m already getting blamed?" she said.

Then, turning toward Aurora, she added, "I really underestimated you. Every time I think you’re an angel, you show me you’re actually a devil."

Aurora chuckled softly. "If I don’t stir up some chaos in your relationship, I’ll feel heartache for losing my best friend," she said lightly.

Selena rolled her eyes, and just as she was about to reply, a cold, sharp voice interrupted from behind them.

"How strange," the voice said. "Some people are still playing house with their friends while their ex-boyfriend already has a new girlfriend."

Aurora turned around slowly. Standing there with a smug smile was Diana.

Aurora looked at her for a long second before chuckling lightly.

"Diana," she said calmly, "if you had even a bit of shame left, you’d stop stalking a boy who will never love you. But you... You went low, and when you can’t have him, you are harassing his ex-girlfriend. That’s really a low move, even for you."

Diana’s face twisted in anger. She pointed a shaking finger at Aurora. "You’re crossing a line!" she shouted.

Aurora chuckled softly and said, "I’m not crossing any line, Diana. In fact, I learned this way of talking from you."

Diana frowned and pointed her finger sharply at Aurora. "If you dare to keep crossing my bottom line, I will.."

Aurora interrupted her before she could finish. "You will what?" she said calmly. "I would love to see what you can actually do."

Diana froze, her words stuck in her throat. Aurora took a small step forward and said clearly,

"You can’t beat me in academics. You can’t beat me in extracurricular activities either. You can’t harm my family. So tell me, Diana, what else can you do?"

Diana’s face turned red with anger. She glared at Aurora for a few seconds before turning around and storming away without another word.

Mia, who had been standing beside Aurora, whispered softly, "I think a storm is coming."

Aurora smiled lightly, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "Let’s see what kind of storm she can call upon," she said confidently.

Mia looked at Aurora with admiration in her eyes and gave her a thumbs-up. "You’re amazing, Aurora. I really admire you," she said.

Aurora just chuckled and patted Mia’s head playfully.

Selena, who had been quiet until now, looked at Diana’s retreating figure with a cold expression. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and her lips pressed into a thin line.

After the lectures were over, Aurora, Mia, and Selena went their separate ways. Mia and Selena were still arguing playfully about something while Aurora quietly walked to the parking lot.

When she reached the parking lot, she was about to hail a cab when she suddenly heard laughter from a distance. It wasn’t the kind of happy laughter that came from friends...it was harsh, mocking laughter.

Aurora stopped and turned her head toward the sound. A few students were standing in a corner, surrounding a young girl. The one leading them was none other than Diana.

Aurora sighed softly and pressed her fingers to her forehead. She didn’t want to get involved, but when she heard Diana’s voice, her expression hardened.

"This girl looks just like Aurora," Diana said with a smirk. "If we can’t hit the real one, this one will do. She’ll make a good substitute."

Aurora’s eyes narrowed. She looked closely and saw that the girl really did look a little like her from afar.

The girl had red hair like Aurora, pale skin, and a slender figure. Her face was half-hidden behind her hair, and when she lowered her head, the resemblance was clear.

Aurora clenched her jaw and decided she couldn’t stay still. She started walking toward them.

"What do you think you’re doing?" Aurora’s cool voice rang out.

The laughter stopped immediately. Diana and her group turned around in surprise. Only the red-haired girl kept her head down.

Diana’s expression twisted. "What are you doing here?" she snapped. "Shouldn’t you have left already?"

Aurora ignored her completely and looked at the girl on the ground. She knelt slightly and asked gently, "Are you okay?"

The girl lifted her head slowly, and Aurora froze for a second. The girl’s face was striking but marked by a long scar running down the left side. It was the kind of scar that people couldn’t ignore, but despite that, her eyes were calm and steady.

For some reason, Aurora felt like she had seen this girl before. The face, the eyes, it all seemed faintly familiar. But she couldn’t remember where.

Before she could ask more, Diana laughed loudly. "Aurora, you really can’t stop acting like a saint," she said mockingly. "But this time, you’ll fail. You can’t help her."

Aurora stood up and looked at her with confusion. "And why is that?" she asked quietly.

Diana smirked. "Because I’m not bullying her. She’s being paid to do this. I paid her to take a few hits. She agreed to it. So technically, I’m not doing anything wrong."

Aurora’s expression darkened. "You paid her?" she asked slowly. "To hit her?"

Diana folded her arms. "Yes. It’s her choice. And I doubt she’ll go with you even if you bring the principal. So don’t waste your time."

Aurora looked at the girl again. The red-haired girl still didn’t speak.

Her head was lowered, and her eyes were on the ground, as if she didn’t even dare to breathe.

Aurora sighed softly and said, "If you come with me, I’ll give you one thousand dollars."

The girl didn’t move.

Diana burst into laughter. "One thousand?" she said mockingly. "You think she’ll go for such a low price? I pay better than that, Aurora. You can’t compete with me."

Aurora didn’t reply to her. She looked at the girl again, her voice calm. "Ten thousand dollars," she said.

The words made everyone freeze. The red-haired girl’s head snapped up, her eyes wide in shock.

Diana’s smile faded instantly. "You’re lying," she said quickly. "You don’t have that kind of money! Even I only get eight thousand a month! Stop pretending to be rich!"

Aurora didn’t argue. She simply took out her phone, turned to the girl, and said, "You can give me your account number."

The girl looked uncertain, but after a few seconds, she quietly took out her phone and showed Aurora her account number. Aurora typed it in and transferred the money right in front of everyone.

A moment later, a message popped up on the girl’s screen. Ten thousand dollars had arrived.

The girl’s lips parted slightly in surprise. She stared at the amount, then looked at Aurora and bowed deeply. "Thank you," she said softly. "I will repay this money to you."

Her voice was calm and steady, but something about it sounded tired...like she had been through too much.

Aurora smiled faintly. "Don’t worry about paying it back now," she said. "You can do that when you can afford it."

She then asked, "What’s your name?"

The girl looked at her and replied quietly, "Kaylee."

Aurora nodded. "Kaylee, why did you let them hit you for money?" she asked.

Kaylee hesitated for a moment before answering, "My mother is in the ICU. I needed money for her treatment."

Aurora’s eyes softened. "I see," she said. "But there are better ways to earn money. Why didn’t you try getting a part-time job?"

Kaylee looked down. "Many people told me this kind of work was easy. I thought I could earn fast money this way," she said honestly.

Aurora sighed and nodded. "At least now you know that it’s not worth it."

She paused for a moment and then asked, "What do you plan to do after this? Do you have a goal?"

Kaylee nodded faintly. "I want to become a fashion designer," she said in a soft voice.

Aurora froze. The name and the dream clicked in her mind. Now she remembered where she had seen Kaylee before...Kaylee was one of the people she had seen in her dream.

In that dream, Kaylee was Adriana’s biggest rival, the one who later became more successful than her.

Kaylee had admired Adriana once, even emailed her for advice and shared her designs. But those emails had never reached Adriana...they had reached Henry instead.

Henry had invited Kaylee, pretending to help her. But when she met him, he had tried to misbehave.

Scared, Kaylee had screamed for help. Adriana had rushed in, having seen the messages by mistake, but what she saw made her misunderstand everything.

Henry blamed Kaylee and said she was trying to seduce him. Adriana, without confirming the truth, scolded Kaylee harshly.

That day, something inside Kaylee broke. She had admired Adriana, looked up to her, wanted to be like her. But after that, her admiration turned into deep hatred.