Chapter 8 Lies.

One week later, everything on the campus seemed back to normal. People seemed to have accepted Ellina's change, which was far from expected. They always thought that Ellina used heavy makeup to cover up her beauty because she didn't want to be bothered by the row of men interested in dating her. And just like today, when Ellina opened her locker, the gifts fell scattered because they couldn't hold the weight anymore.

Ellina did not like that at all. Now she felt dizzy from receiving special treatment from the opposite sex. She had no friends, so she could only groan in anger when the presents wouldn't get less as the days passed.

"You got it again today?"

From behind the locker door, Nero's straight face could be seen. His glasses never left his face.

"Can you help me?"

He didn't answer, causing Ellina to say again, "Put all this in the trash!"

Nero followed Ellina's lead by throwing all the gifts and love letters into the trash bin. Just as they turned around, a red rose was held before them. Making Nero step aside until the flower was right in front of Ellina.

Ellina looked at Aaric, who had just arrived. Her hand did not move an inch to accept the flower from Aaric or reject it.

"For you."

"I don't like flowers."

"Is that so? From what I can remember, you really appreciate them for their beauty."

Ellina's lips curved upwards. She remembered how happy she used to be when she received those flowers. But that happened before she knew when Aaric gave her flowers, Lexsi would receive a beautiful necklace or expensive jewelry from Aaric. And this time, she wasn't going to be fooled.

"I don't accept cheap flowers." Nero, behind Ellina, gave a thumbs up in agreement.

"Then you will accept-"

"I only accept flowers made of gold or crowned with diamonds."

With that refusal, Ellina left, followed by Nero. Aaric froze. His girlfriend had completely changed. He didn't expect yesterday's 'break up' decision to be serious. As for Lexsi, who cared when she felt Ellina was more than everything.

On the way to class, Nero burst out laughing. Making Ellina squint uncomfortably.

"You're so cruel and heartless,"

Ellina snorted. "Then why didn't you accept the flowers?"

"They're not for me." The corner of his eye twitched as he stared at Ellina's expression. "You rejected it right here," his hand moved to his heart. "That must have hurt a lot."

"Stop mocking me," Ellina argued distastefully.

"Then won't you accept flowers from me either?"

Now Ellina and Nero's gazes turned to the figure who had just spoken.

"Alvian," Nero hissed in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

Ellina didn't flinch, choosing to walk away expressionless.

"You're a bad girl. You should at least accept it from a good person like me," Alvian pursued, aligning his steps with Ellina's. Nero followed behind them.

"People who claim to be good in front of others are worse."

Alvian chuckled. He knew Ellina was cold around him, but he did not think she would also be cruel to him. "I'm definitely better than your ex, right?"

"In my eyes? Nope."

"Hey, hey, how can you judge me that quickly? That's not fair,"

"Do you need justice? That means you're a bad person."

"Hey...!"

"Pfft," Nero laughed, holding his mouth before he went after Ellina and sat beside her. "You're great," he praised sincerely.

Without an answer, Ellina drowned herself in the laptop screen that had just come to life. She remembered that she already had money in her bank account. Her eyes sparkled as she stared at the man beside her. Meanwhile, the man shuddered in horror at the girl's gaze in front of him. He had a bad feeling about this.

"You, accompany me to try on some clothes."

Nero paled. That was the thing he hated the most. "No."

"Nero,"

"No," Nero shook his head. He knew very well that women were shopping monsters. And he didn't want to get stuck there.

"Just this once."

"I forgot that I have to visit my mom, who had an accident yesterday," Nero lied and ran away even though the class hadn't started yet.

Ellina was flabbergasted and snorted in annoyance. "His mom had an accident? Well, I hope he's really telling the truth."

***

The Reagan World Group was tense this afternoon. The white meeting room with the large long table in the center was silent. Not because it was uninhabited but because no one dared to speak. The tense look was shown on every face with a look of fear and overwhelming pressure. Everyone stared listlessly at their company leader for not speaking up even though the meeting was over.

"So, you're saying we've lost to Yu Blade Comunication?"

The cold, heavily-pressured voice made the atmosphere even more tense. The man had no other expression but to stare one by one at the people attending the meeting in the room.

"That, we're just guessing, CEO Ken,"

A nod of agreement was greeted as a voice answered quietly. Then,

Srakkk!

The sound of a stack of papers slamming on the table rang out loudly. Everyone shook in surprise and looked down in shock.

"Just a guess? Is this a joke to you guys!"

Everyone closed their eyes bitterly as they heard the man's anger peak. They all knew that their leader had been in a bad mood lately, but they did not expect that he would be the recipient of their pent-up anger.

"Mr. Kenzie,"

Kenzie's eyes turned wide as a voice called her.

"We've been doing things as ordered, but lately-"

"I order you to work! No messing around! If you can't meet the targets I'm asking for, then get out! The door is still there!"

Like a poisonous breeze, all faces paled. No one moved, argued, or breathed freely. The air seemed to taper off like crystallized ice needles. Cold and deadly. Just like their Ceo, Kenzie Alexis Reegan.

Notoriously ruthless and heartless. He doesn't care about the process but always sees the end result. The wealthiest and most handsome man in Z city, the man of every woman's dreams. But unfortunately, not a single woman had succeeded in getting close to him. Many have tried and returned in vain or died under his pets. Trying to get close to him is tantamount to putting yourself through hell.

Doesn't want to be defeated or accept defeat. Loves perfection and hates lies. Everything about him is everyone's dream. But with all the things he has, none can complete him. He was too perfect to need anything else.

Until her entire family set him up for marriage. As the eldest son of the main line of the family, he had to marry so that the next son could marry too. But Reegan's extended family could only get married if Kenzie is not single anymore. And that was disastrous for them.

Back in the meeting room, none of them moved after fifteen minutes had passed. Even they found breathing difficult since Kenzie's cold gaze did not melt away. Until the moment a voice from inside his suit pocket rang. It distracted Kenzie, and they were all grateful for that. But because of that, they all sharpened their hearing.

Staring indifferently at her cell phone screen, Kenzie brought her phone to her ear. "Mom, I'm in a meeting," he said, getting straight to the point.

"Leave that. It's not important. You have to come to this meeting. Don't forget to hurry."

Far away, on the other side, a woman's voice sounded soft and happy. No need to listen to Kenzie's rebuttal; the woman had already hung up.

Kenzie's face hardened. He had been holding back all this time. But all this seemed endless. And just this once, he wanted them all to leave him alone.

The atmosphere returned to silence. No one dared to speak and could only curse at anyone who called Kenzie for making their CEO's mood worse. They felt as if they were being judged to die today. So heavy and unbearable.

"Meeting adjourned!" Kenzie ordered them as he walked out of the meeting room.

Everyone reflexively stood up and breathed a sigh of relief, holding their chests and wiping away the cold sweat that was flowing. At least they were safe this time.

Elsewhere, it was warm in the best cafe in the city. A room had been covered with excellent and classy dishes. Two families were there, the Rexton family and the Reegan family. Aldric Rexton and Vania Vanessa smiled kindly at Raven Thian D' Reegan and Azzura Xaviera. The four of them waited on their children in polite conversation.

Soon the door to the room opened and closed again. Lexsi walked in with a bright smile on her face. The Reegan family welcomed her enthusiastically. But Aldric's face looked uncomfortable as Lexsi sat among them.

"Lexsi, where's your sister?" Aldric asked directly.

Lexsi's face turned pale. "Father, I've been asking her to join this meeting. But she doesn't seem interested. She said that it's not important.