?Chapter 654:

    They had just parked and were heading toward the entrance when a familiar voice suddenly called out.

    “Eloise?”

    The moment Eloise heard that voice, her body stiffened. She couldn’t move. She felt frozen. She knew that voice too well—it belonged to Kole Delgado, the boy who used to bully her.

    “It is really you! I thought I was mistaken,” Kole said, stepping closer as his eyes swept boldly over her. He noticed the change right away. Her hair was brushed back, revealing a clear forehead where an unsightly mark once sat. She looked different. More confident. More alive. Like someone who had shed her old skin.

    “Kole, is she really the mute we used to know?” Cassie Delgado, Kole’s sister, walked over, her tone full of doubt. From behind, they thought the girl only resembled Eloise. But her presence felt unfamiliar. Then they saw her face—and it clicked. That ugly mute girl!

    “Hey, dummy, how did you change so much? What happened to that huge mark? Did you get stic surgery?” Cassie fired off her questions like darts. The change in Eloise stirred up something bitter inside her—jealousy. But when she remembered Eloise couldn’t speak, she felt smug again.

    Eloise trembled. Her body reacted before her mind could catch up. Years of bullying had carved deep scars. The fear was hard to shake off. She wanted to stand tall, she didn’t want to flinch, but her body had a mind of its own. After being bullied for so long, fear seemed etched into her being, triggering an involuntary response whenever she encountered her tormentors.

    Christina frowned and squeezed Eloise’s hand gently. “Do you know them?” she asked in a soft voice.

    The question caught the siblings’ attention. Their eyesnded on Christina—and they froze. She was stunning.

    Cassie bit her lip, burning with envy. She wanted to ruin that beauty, to pull this stunner down into a mire from which she’d never escape.

    Kole, however, was clearly impressed. His lustful stare roamed over Christina.

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    “Of course, she knows us. We’re her friends. What’s the point of asking her anything? She’s mute,” Cassie said with disdain.

    Eloise took strength from Christina’s quiet support. “I’m not mute. And you’re not my friends,” she said clearly.

    Cassie’s jaw dropped. “You can talk now?”

    Kole looked just as shocked. “When did you get cured? Must have cost your parents a lot, right? Didn’t they not care about you? Why would they spend a fortune to treat you?”

    “It’s none of your business,” Eloise said, holding tightly onto Christina’s hand. “Christina, let’s go.”

    Her past with them was something she wanted to forget. Her adoptive parents had treated her poorly and moved from ce to ce. The siblings had bullied her early on, and after moving somewhere else, she hadn’t seen them again—until now.

    Eloise didn’t want to dig up the past, especially not for people who had hurt her. But they had no intention of letting her go. They still thought she was the same girl from before—unwanted, overlooked, a doormat.

    “Stop right there! Who said you could leave?” Kole barked, storming in front of them, wounded pride burning in his eyes.

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