Chapter 4 A Stratagem To Escape

The next day, after breakfast, Lily, Claire, and Eden went to the school by car.

Lily actually knew these two in the previous life, even before Lucia took them to their house. The brother and sister were so outstanding in school that they achieved some kind of popularity.

Claire was famous for her flamboyant personality, while Eden was relatively calm. He stood out because he was handsome. Girls were also fascinated with his detached aura.

Of course, the main reason was that she was in the same class with Eden!

As soon as they entered the school's gates, Claire was stopped by two girls, talking and laughing as they carried their bags. They were followed by three other girls.

Eden seemed to be used to this. He ignored them and headed straight for the classroom building.

Meanwhile, Lily smiled faintly at them. She knew the two girls leading the group. They were Yasmin Yu and Sheena Zhang, and these two and Clair were the birds of the same feather. However, the difference was that the two tended to be a bit more like followers.

She remembered that these two caused her a lot of suffering in her previous life; they were mainly responsible for why her reputation was ruined.

As for the other three girls, they merely followed them and did everything they were asked to do.

"So, Claire, why did you come here with the daughter of a home wrecker?" Yasmin Yu curled her lips as she asked in disdain.

"I agree. Aren't you scared of losing more of your worth?" Sheena added, "Don't get too close to her. She's nothing but a bad impact on your image. What will others think of you after this?"

"Hey, how can you say that?" Claire frowned and looked at them with annoyance. Angrily, she said, "I know her mother is a mistress, but she is still is my half-sister. We share the same father though we're born from different mothers, so I still won't appreciate you saying bad things about her."

Lily felt extreme disgust upon hearing Claire's words. She had slandered her so many times in the school. Now, she just spoke more boldly under the pretense of defending her.

At this point, their voices were already attracting a lot of attentions from the other students. Many stood to watch as more and more them passed by.

Feeling that they were causing a commotion, Lily raised her head and smiled, uncaring at the strange looks that they got from the other students. "Clair," she said, "I didn't expect you'd stand up for me like this. It really moves me. But I would like to point out that my mother is, in fact, my father's straight-up wife. They are the ones that are legally married."

After stressing the words "legally married," Lily walked towards the classroom building, head still held high. She left Claire and the other two in a bad mood.

Claire was so angry watching her half-sister leave. Lily had always been weak, so Claire was surprised that she talked back. Besides, considering Lily's performance yesterday, she thought that she never really should underestimate her half-sister.

"A mistress' daughter and that's all she is. How could she still deny it?" Still looking at Lily, Sheena spat with disdain, "Shame on you!"

"Exactly! Claire, don't be mad. There is no need for you to get involved with such a person," Yasmin quickly comforted Claire. "As the daughter of a mistress, she's really arrogant, you know..."

While she said this, light glimmered in Yasmin's eyes. She looked at Sheena, who also met her gaze, and together they nodded, as if in understanding. They instantly knew that they thought of the same idea.

"Anyway, Claire, let's take the test first. After that, we will help you punish her." They took Claire's hands and headed for the classroom building, laughing and joking as they walked.

.

In the examination room, Lily was taking the test. She was reborn, after all, and the test was now very easy for her. She wrote faster than usual, but with absolute care.

Of course, it would be better if she could take the test without people giving her those strange looks.

After she was done, Lily looked at her watch, took note of the time, and walked out of the examination room. She was the first to finish the exam.

Everyone, including the supervisor, seemed to be used to this. No one really said anything, but some people did give a light and almost mocking laugh.

Lily heard them, but chose not to indulge. She just smiled and quickly walked away.

However, she was surprised to see Yasmin and Sheena as soon as she walked out of the exam room. It seemed that she couldn't avoid her enemy.

"Hello, Lily," Yasmin said arrogantly. "Come with us to the bamboo grove in the mountain. I have something to tell you."

Lily was stunned; she didn't expect that things would go this fast. In the previous life, they had asked her to go to the bamboo forest after the exams. This time, she actually met them before the exam period was finished!

"What is it?" Though still in shock, Lily remained calm. She was trying to figure out how to buy more time.

"It's about Claire. I know you don't like her. Actually, we don't, either," Sheena said mysteriously, disgust apparent on her face. "She has done a lot of bad things at this school. There are a lot of people here, you know, and if someone hears us decides to tell Clair, we'll all have a hard time. You know how her temper is."

After hearing what Sheena had said, Lily found herself in a dilemma. "I want to go with you," she replied, "but my head teacher wants to talk to me. Can I just see you later?"

"That's alright. See you," Sheena agreed without thinking. She patted Lily on the shoulder, smiled, and left with Yasmin.

As she watched them leave, Lily sneered and then headed for the school shop. She would definitely make Claire pay for all the pain she had suffered in her last life!

With two ice creams in both her hands, Lily saw Claire exiting as she walked to the gate of the exam venue.

"Claire." Lily walked towards her, smiling. "I happened to be waiting for you. I didn't expect for you to come out this early. Here you are. Your favorite chocolate ice cream."

She handed one ice cream to Claire.

Claire looked surprised, but Lily caught a hint of disgust in her half-sister's eyes. Claire reached out to take the ice cream and said, "Thank you, Lily."

As Claire was about to hold the ice cream, Lily loosened her grip and the ice cream spilled on Claire's chest.

"What?"

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry..."

Lily hurriedly apologized and reached out to wipe the stains on Claire's clothes.

"Go away! This is your fault!" Claire pushed Lily away and glared at her. "Look, you've ruined my clothes! How can I go out now? This is so embarrassing!"

"Sorry, I really didn't mean it," Lily said, apologetically. "I know I made a mess. If you don't mind, we can switch our clothes."

"Your clothes are so cheap..." Claire looked at her with scorn. She wanted to say no. However, she thought that it was better to swap clothes than to wear something dirty.

Seeing that Claire was unconvinced, Lily said, "If you don't like it, I'll let it go. But that large stain on your chest is so eye-catching."

"It's all your fault." Claire rolled her eyes. "You stained my coat, so you should be the one to wear it."

"I know that. I'm taking responsibility." Lily nodded. She took Claire's arm and said, "Come on. Let's go to the bathroom and swap clothes."

Claire gave in and followed Lily to the restroom.

While they were changing, Claire received a text message from Yasmin. She was asking her to go to the bamboo forest to watch a drama. As she read the message, she saw Lily take a glance at her with a cold smile.

"I have to go. Ask the driver to wait for me when he comes to pick me up," Claire said. She had no idea what kind of drama was waiting for her.

"Okay." Lily nodded and watched her leave as the same cold smile never left her face.

She ignored Claire's request, though, and chose to follow her half-sister secretly.

As today was set for their mid-terms, all of the students were walking towards the gate after finishing their exams. The bamboo forest behind the school was very quiet, and there were barely any people around.

Lily continued to follow Claire, going as sneakily as she could. They were always about fifty meters apart. She didn't actually find a good place to hide until she entered the bamboo forest, where it would be hard for other people to notice her.

Claire straightened her outfit after entering the bamboo forest. She felt awkward wearing Lily's clothes.

Still tidying her attire, she saw a black cloth fall from above. She fell to the ground almost instantly, and she felt a sudden pain on her back.

"Ah!" Her scream resonated throughout the whole bamboo forest.

"Ouch, ouch! Stop! Stop it!" Everything was black, and she had no idea what was going on. Claire could only shout as she covered her head with both hands.

Her attackers didn't pay attention to her screams. They kept hurting her.

"Kick! Just kick hard!" one of the girls shouted angrily as she heard the person on the ground howling in pain.

Apparently, these three girls were the ones who were following Yasmin and Sheena earlier.

"You deserve it!" another girl said in a very hateful tone. "Your mother is a home-wrecker. You actually dared to go to school with Claire in the same car? Shame on you! Hit harder!"

"I never really liked her. She is just a bastard of a shameless mistress. Humph!" another girl said as she gave her a hard kick.

"Shameless!"

"You deserve it! Take it out for our Claire!" the first girl said with a look of righteous indignation.

Lily was watching all of this, knowing that it was Claire who was being kicked by those three people. She smiled.

It was not because she was unnecessarily cruel; she saw herself as a woman of principle. She would not attack unless she was attacked. But if she was assaulted first, she would certainly retaliate.

Lily never saw Yasmin or Sheena anywhere near the beating, but she knew they were hiding somewhere. Like in the previous life, of course they would want to evade suspicion. What they didn't know was that this was no longer the past and things had changed.