Chapter 5 Snow's Counterattack

It was the peak lunch hour, and many students noticed the commotion at the intersection and stopped to watch.

Rose and her girlfriends were walking out of the cafeteria and also saw the confrontation between Snow and Richard.

She had no idea what Snow had done to upset this notorious guy, but with so many people watching, as the older sister, she felt she had to step in and help her little sister out of the situation.

It was also a good opportunity to speak to Richard-someone she secretly liked, though she dared not let anyone know.

"Richard, my sister's still young and doesn't know better. If she offended you, I apologize on her behalf."

Rose kept a composed and respectful tone.

Nobody in the school dared to cross Richard-people usually avoided him altogether. But Rose deliberately chose to be different, hoping Richard would take notice of her.

Richard shifted his gaze past Rose and ignored her entirely, still staring at Snow. "Well? What do you say?"

Snow asked softly, "What do you mean?"

He raised an eyebrow and sneered, "You asked me what I wanted to do. I answered. Do you agree or not?"

"......"

A few boys nearby chuckled maliciously.

That kind of thing, and he was asking for consent-what a goddamn genius.

Although Richard's words were directed at Snow, Rose blushed with embarrassment, interpreting them through her own lens. Richard, with his rough charm and wild aura, always managed to fluster her with his provocative remarks.

"Richard, stop saying nonsense or I'll tell the teacher!" Rose tried to sound calm and authoritative.

Her protective older sister act won admiration from the crowd. To them, Rose had always been a radiant role model of positive energy.

Richard finally grew impatient and shot her a glance. "Who the hell are you? Get lost."

No one had ever spoken to Rose like that, especially not someone she admired-Richard.

She looked as if she'd been grievously wronged, eyes reddening, even though she wasn't the one being bullied.

Some girls came over to comfort her.

Richard, irritated by the unsolicited drama, felt the moment lose its flavor.

He stepped up to Snow, grabbed her by the collar and yanked her closer. In a low, raspy, almost tender voice, he said coldly-

"If you don't want to deal with me, then stay the hell out of my sight. Otherwise, every time I see you, I'll 'mess with' you."

Frightened, Snow shrank back and nodded repeatedly.

Richard let her go and even helped straighten her collar before turning to leave.

Watching his tense and simmering figure walk away, Snow breathed a sigh of relief-but her heart was weighed down by more complicated emotions.

She didn't want to provoke Richard. It would interfere with her plans.

That afternoon, Rose posted a tweet-

"My little sister provoked the school's bad boy and got bullied. I was so angry, I stood up for her but got yelled at too. Ugh. Someone comfort me 😭"

The comments flooded in,

"Baby Rose is such a wonderful big sister."

"Yeah, our Baby Rose has such a warm heart."

"Why would her sister even mess with the school's bad boy?"

"No idea. But if you play with fire, you get burned. Poor Rose has to clean up her mess."

"Sending hugs to Baby Rose!"

Snow had also started managing her own tweet account. Though it had no popularity-actually, no followers besides a few acquaintances-it might one day become her secret weapon.

She casually took a photo of the dusky school field and posted,

"Treasure your health, be grateful for opportunities. Snow will strive to live well! The future is bright! 💪"

Getting a second chance at life wasn't easy, and she would treasure it.

On the field, Richard was playing basketball. It was the restless heat of late summer, and the boys were drenched in sweat.

Richard was physically relentless, attacking hard like he had infinite energy. Several boys were already winded and collapsed to the side, panting.

Under the hoop, Adam scrolled through his phone and suddenly said, "Yo, someone just took a picture of us."

Carlos leaned over to look. "Damn, that's a good shot-Brother Richard mid-air dunk!"

The angle was from the opposite teaching building, catching Richard's leap at the perfect moment.

It was likely the photographer hadn't even realized what they'd captured.

Carlos asked, "Where'd you see that?"

Adam pointed, "It's in the 'People Nearby' feed-posted two minutes ago. Talk about timing."

Carlos read aloud, "'Treasure your health, be grateful for opportunities. Snow will strive to live well, the future is bright.' Tch. Sounds like a dramatic girl, like she's on her deathbed. I bet a bag of spicy sticks she's a sentimental softie."

The tweet's avatar was a cartoon of Star Butterfly. Adam tapped into the account-username "Little Snow, Snow Princess."

"This girl looks like a Rose fan. She's only retweeted Rose's posts and only follows her."

"Damn, she even retweeted that post where Rose trashed us!"

"What? Rose trashed us?"

The boys dropped their basketballs and crowded around Adam's screen.

"Open the comments-what are people saying?"

"They're saying we're school bullies. We've never bullied anyone at school-how is that bullying?!"

"Not before, maybe, but what Brother Richard did today... yeah, people could see it that way."

"Richard really went too far-he hit that girl with a bike. That's messed up."

"For real. Way too much!"

The boys started turning on Richard.

Suddenly, a basketball slammed onto the court beside Adam, startling everyone. Richard said coldly, "Are you done?"

They all fell silent.

Richard grabbed Adam's phone and scrolled through the comments.

Adam held his breath, worried Richard might fly into a rage and beat Rose up.

But fortunately, he didn't say a word.

That night, Snow noticed she had gained a new follower.

She only noticed because the new follower's profile picture was also Star Butterfly.

Her account name was "Little Snow, Snow Princess." The follower's avatar looked like a matching couple icon with hers.

But since many people used Star Butterfly as their avatar, she just shrugged and didn't think much of it.

**

Two days later, during gym class-

Angela mocked Rose for being frail. Rose, angry, insisted on competing in high jump and ended up falling and cutting her knee. Blood flowed uncontrollably.

Since she had hemophilia, any injury could be life-threatening. If the bleeding wasn't stopped quickly, it could become fatal.

She was rushed to the hospital, where doctors said she'd lost too much blood and needed an infusion immediately.

Snow, still in class, was called urgently by her parents to the hospital for a blood draw.

The whole thing was unexpected. Snow was unprepared but was taken to the medical room and had 200cc of blood drawn.

Though she was unwilling, she had no choice. Rose's condition was critical. The bleeding had stopped, but without the blood transfusion, she might stay unconscious.

Between ages seventeen and twenty-three, Rose was usually healthy and rarely had relapses. So Snow hadn't had to give blood often. But Rose had brought this on herself by insisting on a jump-off.

A disaster of her own making.

By 8 p.m., Rose woke up. Her parents hovered around her, showing deep concern.

Snow, dizzy, sat weakly on the couch-completely ignored.

"Are you okay, sis?" Rose asked with feigned concern.

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking."

Seeing the sisters getting along so well, their parents looked pleased. Sally even came over and stroked Snow's face.

"Still dizzy, Snow? Let Mommy rub your head."

In her last life, whenever this happened, Snow would angrily scold her sister for being reckless, dragging her down.

And she'd always be scolded by her parents for being heartless and ungrateful.

Time after time, she disappointed them-until even their last bit of guilt toward her disappeared.

Not this time. Snow had learned, the child who cries gets the candy.

She closed her eyes. "It always makes me dizzy. I'll feel better soon. Don't worry, Mom."

Sally, guilt-ridden, said, "You've had a hard time. I'll cook something nice for you tonight."

"It's okay. Let's see what Rose wants to eat."

"Snow is such a good girl."

Rose's smile froze. She looked at Snow, face full of mixed emotions.

Snow suddenly looked up, meeting her gaze. The bottomless darkness in her eyes sent a chill down Rose's spine.

She quickly recovered, smiling and joking, "Snow's still a baby, clinging to Mom."

Snow snuggled against her mother and casually said, "Mom, I heard today that Sis insisted on competing with Angela in high jump, which is how she hurt her leg."

Sally's face changed. "Is that true?"

Rose had told them she tripped accidentally. Now that Snow exposed her, her expression faltered.

"Y-yeah, that's what happened..."

Their father Bill looked angry. "Rose, you know your condition. How could you act so recklessly with friends? Thank God Snow made it in time. What if she didn't? You could've died from blood loss!"

Rose was rarely scolded this harshly. She broke down in tears. "It's not like she couldn't come! She was just at school-it was one call away. Why are you yelling at me?!"

Her tears had always worked like magic. Anytime she cried, her parents' hearts would soften and they'd console her.

But this time, Snow spoke first, "Sis, I did make it and gave you blood. But every time I donate blood, I feel awful. I just don't understand why I have to pay for your mistakes."

As she spoke, tears welled in her eyes.

Rose was stunned. Snow was crying.

She never cried-even when she was scolded harshly as a child, she would bite her lip until it bled, never shedding a tear.

Now she was crying?

Like rain in the desert, rare and shocking.

Her tears and Rose's had completely different effects.

Her parents panicked, suddenly realizing how serious the situation was.

"Rose! Stop making excuses!" Bill stood up and shouted, "Your sister gave you blood because she cares, not because she has to fix your mess! If this happens again, we won't help you-you'll be on your own!"

Though those were angry words, they were exactly what Snow wanted.

Rose stared in disbelief. She had never been scolded like this-usually, she'd watch as their parents berated Snow.

Now, the roles were reversed.

"Dad, how could you say that? I... I might as well die!" Rose cried even harder.

Snow frowned. "Mom, my head hurts."

Sally, annoyed by Rose's tantrum, snapped, "Stop crying. Your sister's not feeling well."

Realizing things were turning against her, Rose quickly changed tactics, stopped crying, and glared at Snow.

Snow met her gaze calmly. She had to make it clear-

She was no longer the pushover Rose could manipulate.