Chapter 166
Aubrey’s POV
Mariana wants to see me? Interesting.
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Finished
I closed the Advanced Pharmacology textbook in my hands, my fingertips tapping lightly on its spine. That woman, now demoted to Omega, should be lying in the infirmary recovering.
“Aubrey, be careful. I think she might be up to something!” The female classmate who called out to me couldn’t help but warn me when she saw how calm I looked. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ Findnøvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access s of novels early and in the highest quality.
After the family recognition banquet, word spread through the Shadowmoon Pack about how Mariana had stolen credit for saving my life. Students at Ocean University also learned they had wrongly blamed me before. Now, they either avoided me out of guilt–afraid I’d use my identity as the alpha’s sister to take revenge–or they bent over backwards to please me, hoping to be my friend.
But I don’t need any of that.
I glanced at her. “Thanks, I know.”
I was about to leave when she quickly caught up, walking beside me with an easy grin. “Aubrey, my name’s Tammy Birkin! Can I be your friend?”
My steps faltered. The word “friend” immediately reminded me of Mariana. She had fooled me so badly before, but I’m no longer that naïve little girl. I know how to judge people now.
This Tammy looked simple and straightforward, her bright eyes fixed on me without any hint of malice.
“Friend?” I tilted my tone slightly upward.
“Yes, yes! Friend!” Tammy looked at me with open anticipation.
“Sorry, I don’t need one.” My lips curved faintly. Leaving her with a cool smile, I turned and walked away.
By the time I reached the school square, it was already packed with werewolf students–because Mariana was on the ground.
She really was a clever woman. She knew that without making a dramatic sacrifice now, there would be no way to salvage her situation.
Head lowered, she seemed deaf to the whispers and pointing fingers around her. Her long white dress spread out across the ground, her long curls hanging down, making her look fragile and pitiful.
In front of her was a sign with large, bold words: “Aubrey, I’m apologizing to you. Please let me go! Ask the alpha to restore my beta rank!”
“Who’s this Aubrey, to push someone this far?” one uninformed werewolf asked.
“Poor thing–demoted to omega and now forced to grovel in public. That’s worse than killing her outright.”
Someone else who knew the story chimed in from the side.
“Aubrey’s the alpha’s former omega fiancée–now his sister! She’s using her position to bully others…”
It wasn’t hard to guess who had sent them to twist the story like that.
11:12 Sat, 30 Aug
166 An Audience in the Square
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A few onlookers sneered. “The moment she gets power, she humiliates people like this? That omega Aubrey must be incredibly petty.”
“Exactly. We’re all women–why make things so hard for another woman? Just for one mistake, she stripped her of her beta status, demoted her to omega, and now makes her grovel in the square? That’s too much!”
“Right? Who doesn’t make mistakes? Holding onto it like this is just cruel.”
By the time I arrived, that was all I heard–Mariana milking her victim act for all it was worth. Add her pretty face to the mix, and she was stirring up plenty of protective instincts. In the end, despite her being the one in the wrong, somehow I was the one who should feel guilty for not forgiving her?
Amusing. Even her apology is a trap.
“Aubrey’s here!” someone shouted. The crowd immediately parted to make way, and I walked forward without hurry.
The werewolf students‘ sharp, judgmental stares amused me. Most of them were barely twenty–one or twenty–two–too young to have seen the real world. Their thoughts were still idealistic, the kind that made it easy to criticize when it wasn’t their problem.
But it didn’t matter. I’ve never cared what others think of me. All I care about is whether I’m satisfied.
So I looked Mariana in the face, studying her with a playful smile, and asked,
“You were looking for me?”
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