Chapter 3 Be School Bullied

Alice went to the cafeteria for dinner, always hearing some murmurs behind her.

Highly sensitive people can always sense the strange atmosphere in the crowd.

She turned around and made direct eye contact with those people. They immediately averted their gazes, as if they were the ones who had done something wrong.

The cafeteria mostly served Western dishes-mushroom and egg rolls, baked baguettes with apple cheese, baked rice with pasta, tomahawk lamb chops...

Alice didn't like these, but she disliked the rancid salty fish rice from Little Fish Island even more...

Compared to that, baked rice was better.

So... tonight, she had no choice but to go.

Alice had thought of other ways, like telling Sunny that the matter was resolved and tricking her into sending the photos.

If Sunny's IQ was on par with Georgia's, she would probably believe her, but if she kept her guard up and contacted Stuart to confirm, Alice would never regain her trust.

No, she couldn't take that risk.

When Alice stepped out of the cafeteria, Georgia called her, smugly announcing,

"Don't bother coming back tonight. I told my dad, and he's really mad. You'll never set foot in The Thomas family's door again!"

Alice hung up the phone and stood in the cold wind for a while.

She opened the pinned conversation on Facebook and her fingers hovered over Charles's name.

After hesitating for a long time, she still didn't press it.

Charles hadn't contacted her voluntarily, which was clear-this was something she had to resolve herself.

After thinking it over, Alice sent a long message to her uncle Henry from The Thomas family.

After finishing, she didn't send it. Instead, she deleted it word by word.

In the end, she only sent a few words,

"Uncle Thomas, I didn't steal anything. I will prove my innocence."

After a while, Henry replied,

"Don't tarnish the reputation of the Group's charity foundation."

Years ago, Charles persuaded his father Henry to bring her from the small fishing island.

She became a sponsored student of The Thomas family group and was fostered by them. She also became the first poor student funded by the Group's charity foundation and was established as a model for the foundation.

Henry's attitude solidified Alice's resolve.

She didn't want to let all her hard work over the years go to waste. She was determined to stay with The Thomas family, no matter what, and stay by Charles's side.

...

At the foot of Yunling Mountain in the city center, there were many villas belonging to celebrities to the west.

To the south, the houses were fewer, and the area had a panoramic view of the sea bay. It was the residence of London's elite aristocrats.

The Imperial Villa was located here.

As the Bentley shuttle carrying Alice drove along the inner mountain road, the misty mountain rain seeped in through the car window, pressing against her eyelashes.

The temperature in the mountains was lower than at the base.

Soon, the shuttle stopped in front of a grand villa.

Although Alice had seen many wealthy homes in London, she was still stunned by this European-style castle-like mansion.

This was London, where every inch of land was worth a fortune, in the expensive celebrity district of Yunling Mountain...

This estate was incredibly large.

After getting out of the car, the rain had lessened.

The well-dressed, handsome butler seemed to have been waiting for her. He held a solemn black umbrella and respectfully led Alice into the estate, guiding her to the back garden, which resembled a green maze.

In the distance, Alice saw Stuart.

He looked completely different from the elite, professional figure she had seen this afternoon in a white lab coat.

He was dressed in a warm white home shirt, sitting lazily under the eaves, casually swirling a tulip crystal glass filled with crimson liquid.

When Alice was led inside by the butler, he slowly looked up.

Alice noticed the cage beside him, where three short-haired black guard dogs were kept. Their bodies were small but exceptionally fierce, with clearly defined muscle lines.

She wasn't very familiar with dogs and didn't know their names, but the sturdy iron cage told her that they were definitely not the docile Golden Retrievers or Huskies.

Sure enough, as she approached, the three beasts began pacing restlessly around the cage.

Probably fearing their owner, they didn't dare to bark but let out low growls of warning.

Alice walked up the steps when suddenly, one of the black dogs lunged at the cage, causing it to rattle loudly.

Alice was startled, almost stumbling and falling at the edge of the stairs.

"Be careful," Stuart said, raising the corner of his mouth, kindly warning her. "They're very hungry."

Alice noticed the empty food bowls.

The butler, holding fresh beef, placed it in the dogs' bowls. The three dogs immediately began to fight over the meat, tearing at it.

At this moment, Stuart suddenly commanded, "Stop."

The three dogs immediately stopped tearing, sitting obediently without even looking at the meat.

"Well-trained," Alice thought.

The Thomas family also had a Labrador in their backyard, which Alice liked quite a bit. She had tried food refusal training, but it had failed miserably because the dog was just too greedy.

At that moment, the butler walked over with a tray full of more beef, and the three black dogs suddenly turned toward him, their moist noses twitching.

"This is Wagyu beef, airlifted this morning," Stuart casually pointed at the armrest.

The butler placed the Wagyu beef in the labyrinth garden's shrubbery and opened the dogs' cage. The dogs remained obedient, sitting still until Stuart gave the command.

"Hunt."

The three dogs, like shadows in the dark, shot off into the woods.

Soon, they found their food and began tearing into it frantically.

Alice instinctively turned away, feeling physically sick at the scene, clutching her chest and fighting the urge to gag.

Stuart, however, remained still, watching her.

His narrow, black eyes had a metallic sharpness.

The dogs finished their meal quickly, and the butler led them back. Clearly, the Wagyu beef hadn't satisfied them, and they gazed up at Stuart with hungry eyes.

Stuart turned to Alice and asked, "Are you afraid of dogs?"

Alice looked at the three eager dogs and nodded.

"Let's play a game," Stuart snapped his fingers, and the butler handed her the tray with fresh Wagyu beef. "I'll give you ten minutes to hide this meat in the garden. If my dogs can't find it, you win."

Alice quickly asked, "If I win, you'll delete the video, right?"

"Yes."

Without hesitation, Alice grabbed the tray from the butler and walked toward the maze-like garden.

The black dogs in their cage... were already restless.

She entered the maze garden, surrounded by carefully trimmed green bushes and tree stumps, some about half her height, making it easy to get lost inside.

Alice noticed a shovel nearby, so she decided to dig a hole in the grass to bury the fresh Wagyu beef.

After about five minutes, she was sweating and out of breath, but a deep hole had appeared before her.

Stuart watched her, his eyes full of mockery. "I forgot to mention-if you lose..."

Alice turned to look at the man calmly sitting in the chair.

He spoke slowly, his words deliberate, "I'll... have you feed the dogs."

Alice felt a shiver run down her spine from his gaze.

Without questioning the seriousness of his words, she turned her head, focusing on the deep hole before her.

She was unsure.

She remembered a legal program she had watched where well-trained police dogs could sniff out the smell of a body from deep underground.

No, they'd find it.

They would!

The butler kindly reminded her, "Miss Alice, two minutes left."

She couldn't lose.

She needed to stay, to prove her innocence!

Alice looked at the tray of fresh Wagyu beef and made a decision that surprised everyone.

She grabbed the beef and started eating it, bite by bite...

The butler's eyes widened in disbelief, not expecting the girl to go this far!

Stuart stood up, watching her desperately devour the beef... and his eyes finally showed something other than dead calm.

He smiled, coldly.

The butler, seeing the twisted look on the young master's face, knew his interest in the girl was growing.

Alice nearly threw up several times while eating the raw Wagyu beef!

Finally, in the last second of the timer, she swallowed the last of the beef.

Her stomach was filled with raw meat, and the nauseating sensation kept rising.

Hold it in, hold it in...

At the same time, the cage door opened, and one of the black dogs shot out, sniffing around the maze-like garden.

It came over to Alice and sniffed the empty tray.

Alice moved aside, terrified, as the dog sniffed the tray and then approached her.

There had never been a situation like this, and the butler was also starting to worry.

The dog slowly approached her, its body covered in beef blood.

As the dog got closer, Alice kept backing up, grabbing the shovel...

Suddenly, it lunged at her, and the butler rushed forward to grab the leash. But it was too late; the dog charged forward, throwing the butler into the flower bed.

In a split second, Stuart darted forward, grabbing the hunting dog by the neck and, with all his strength, dragged it back a meter.

When he let go, the once violent dog obediently lay on the ground, not daring to resist.

The pain she had expected never came, and Alice finally opened her eyes.

She found Stuart looking down at her, the dog now docile at his side, wagging its tail.

The butler let out a sigh of relief but was also somewhat incredulous.

It was rare for the young master to show mercy, and he never expected that he would actually go so far as to save her.

But this girl... she was really clever!

Meanwhile, Alice, holding the shovel, angrily walked toward the young man on the steps.

The sharp sound of metal scraping against the ground echoed as the shovel dragged behind her.

Seeing the anger in her eyes, the butler hurried to his feet, trying to stop her.

"Miss Alice!"

Stuart raised a finger to signal him to stop.

Alice, gripping the shovel, walked up to him with an imposing air, her fury almost uncontrollable.

Stuart calmly met her gaze, waiting for her next move...

However, the thought of smashing his head with the shovel only lasted for about ten seconds before she gave it up.

She needed something from him.

After coming so close to the edge of life and death, it wouldn't be wise to throw everything away now.

With a heavy thud, she threw the shovel in front of Stuart, a radiant smile suddenly lighting up her face.

There was blood on her lips, making her smile appear both seductive and captivating.

"Stuart, did I make you happy?"

Her voice was soft and delicate, sending shivers down the spine.

Stuart observed her, watching the sudden shifts in her emotions in just a few seconds, and he couldn't help but feel... intrigued.

"Not bad," he said. "Do you feel happy?"

"I'm very happy to play games with you, Stuart."

The butler stood respectfully, impressed.

Sure enough, you couldn't attract the young master without a little bit of a twisted spirit.

Stuart turned to the butler and asked, "Who left the shovel there?"

"It might have been the gardener. He finished up with the flowerbeds this afternoon and forgot to take the tools back to the garden room." The butler quickly passed the blame. "I'll give him a good talking to!"

"No need." Stuart said indifferently. "Tell him not to come tomorrow."

The butler swallowed nervously.

At that moment, Stuart's phone rang.

He turned to answer it and spoke a few words in a low tone, "Come now."

After hanging up, he turned and went back to his room to change. "Tell the driver."

Alice saw that he was leaving and hurriedly caught up to him.

"Stuart!"

"I have something to do now. Go back first."

"If you don't delete the video, I won't leave!" Alice was determined to stay. She clung to the ornate pillar and said, "Delete it, and then I'll go!"

Stuart stopped in his tracks and glanced at her coldly.

She was soaked through, her slim yet curvy body wrapped in wet clothes, her hair damp, and her lips trembling slightly.

There was a kind of disheveled, broken beauty about her.

The way she clung to the pillar... strangely, it was even a little cute.

"You don't want to leave?"

Stuart raised an eyebrow and turned to the butler, who was standing silently by.

"Take her to the bath."

After giving the order, he ignored her and strode out the door.

His dark silhouette disappeared into the misty night.