Erica was in a perpetual bad mood for the past three days. She had taken Luna's warning to heart, but it was very unsatisfying.

As she was about to turn around a corner to go to the library, she heard two familiar voices that made her stop in her tracks.

"What exactly is that cream you gave to Rina? It worked wonders! There's not even a mark left on her arm!"

"I have my resources."

"Can't you at least give me a hint?"

"Why should I make things easy for you?"

"Heartless."

"Grow up."

Victor continued whining and bothering Lucas to no avail.

‘Some miracle cream huh… I wonder how it'd fare against my creation. Too bad I'll never find out.’

Just as she took a step forward, Victor changed the topic to something that made her stop again.

"Hey, hey, before you go, I just want to know if the families' downfall is all your doing?"

Lucas must have nodded because Victor followed up with another question. "Why?"

"They were the ones responsible for Rina's state the last time."

"What? It wasn't just one girl?"

"It's not even the girl you're thinking of." Lucas said in an especially dry tone. His patience was being tested at this point.

"What? Ugh... Man, as much as I hate to admit it, you're really good… I still don't like how my old man keeps telling me to learn from you though." Victor sounded incredibly displeased.

Erica's opinion of Lucas rose a little again. However, the frown stayed on her face. ‘If only he wasn't enamoured by Rina just like every other guy.’

She smoothed out her expression before she stepped out from behind the corner. The boys' attention was drawn to her, but she kept her head up high and back straight.

Right after she walked past them, Victor spoke in a volume that was obviously meant for her to hear, "I still don't like that girl though. She rubs me the wrong way. Did you know she called Rina useless? Who does she think she is? A jealous wannabe like her would never measure up to even Rina's toenail."

Erica's eyes bulged in anger. She gritted her teeth hard and clenched her fist, then turned her head back to stare daggers at Victor.

Lucas looked at Erica then turned his attention back to Victor. "Look. I won't control your flapping mouth but don't come looking for my help if trouble finds you because of it." Lucas walked off, clearly fed up with Victor.

"Hey-" Victor's voice got caught in his throat as his eyes met Erica's hateful gaze. He humphed, tugged on his blazer, then walked off.

‘I can't believe I once liked him. What exactly did I see in him?’ Erica continued to stand alone by the library entrance trying to compose her feelings before she went to find Luna.

‘Who cares if he’s the Principal’s son? Who cares if he’s the star of the school? He’s a scumbag!’ No matter how hard she tried, Victor’s infuriating face was stuck in her mind, continually taunting her. His insult echoed in her mind as well, and she could not take it lying down.

‘I’ll make you regret it!’

This time, Erica knew that she had to be extra careful. She could not raise Luna’s suspicions and get her involved. She did not want her dear sister getting hurt again.

Around three months later, unpleasant rumours about Victor ran rampant throughout the student body. His reputation and popularity crashed and hit an all-time low. The pressure from his peers and his father stressed him out. He was used to having things within the palm of his hand. His resulting angry outbursts and testy attitude only continued to feed the rumours.

When Rina tried to defuse the rumours, it also added fuel to the fire. Now, Victor was not only rumoured to be a flirt and sex maniac who was unjustly possessive and controlling of Rina, but he was also a coward who was willing to sacrifice the innocent weak lamb to save his face.

“How do the rumours even fit together?! They don’t make sense! How can anyone believe them?!” Victor exploded in anger.

The trio was now gathered in a private discussion room in the library.

Victor scowled and breathed hard. It was a look that everyone was used to seeing him with by now.

Rina sat beside him looking sad and pitiful with her teary eyes.

Lucas stood by the door near to Rina and was the only one looking annoyed.

"What should we do now...?" Rina asked worriedly.

"WE? I told you that you did not need to do anything! That I'll handle it! You just had to go and make things worse! Are you happy now?!"

Tears rolled down Rina’s cheeks. "How can I be happy? I was only trying to help! I couldn't bear seeing you like this!"

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"You'd help by not doing anything!"

Lucas's eyebrows drew even closer together than they had already been. "Hey, watch it."

"Is there really nothing I can do?" Rina continued to ask.

"No! There isn't! You're useless!"

Rina gasped in shock, while Lucas punched Victor squarely in his jaw.

Victor fell off the chair and onto the floor. His hand rubbed his smarting mouth. When he withdrew his hand, he found blood on it. Victor looked at Lucas with a mix of anger and shock.

"I warned you." Lucas growled.

Lucas's undisguised anger helped Victor regain his senses and he quickly realised what he had done to Rina.

Victor instantly got up on his knees to hug Rina who was already sobbing by the side. "I'm so sorry, so, so, sorry. I didn't mean that. You're definitely not useless. I'm the one who's useless. I couldn't fight these rumours on my own and I even hurt you now."

It took some time to coax Rina and once she was okay, Victor made her promise to stay away from him for the time being. He was afraid of hurting her again in his anger.

Although Lucas did not like the way Victor chose to push Rina away, he left it up to Rina, who ended up listening to Victor.

To their dismay, news about what went down in the discussion room traveled. As private as the discussion room was supposed to be, the walls had ears.

Rumours about Rina eventually entered the grapevine and floated around too.

Rina getting close and chummy with Lucas after her “fall out” with Victor earned her the ire of Lucas's silent fans and secret admirers. She quickly earned the reputation of being a bitch and a slut who only knew who to charm and seduce boys into giving her things she needs. Unlike Victor, Rina experienced a lot more harassment by individuals with different agendas.

While the lead couple was having what could be the worst time of their lives, Erica was at the sidelines, having a whale of her time watching everything go down. She had really done nothing much. All she did was dig a little into their lives, alter some information, doctor some images, and let those slip to some people in school. Truth and lies were mixed together. As news travelled down the grapevine, the lines naturally blurred and whatever story was weaved became the truth.

The speed at which people changed their opinions from one extreme to the other impressed and scared Erica. She took comfort in the fact that it all worked out in her favour.

Luna passed by Erica's room with an empty cup in her hand. She stretched her back which was stiff from sitting for too long, but she still had a long night ahead of her.

Her ears perked up when she heard Erica's happy humming. Her attention was drawn to Erica's jovial expression. Somehow, seeing Erica triggered her recollection of Lucas’s recent behaviour.

Lucas had been looking anything but happy and relaxed. He was stressed and hard at work. Since he had the habit of doing all his work in the library, Luna was privy to everything he did.

Luna sighed softly. She really hated to spoil Erica's mood, but she simply had to confirm her suspicions, so she knocked on Erica's door.

"Big sis? What's up?" Erica asked chirpily while bounding to her. She looked down at Luna's empty cup and her expression fell a little. "Working late into the night again? You should at least rest on some days... You don't even have tuition anymore."

Luna smiled a little and reassured Erica, "I’m just used to it. I don’t know what else to do with my time. Anyway, you seem really happy. Is there something up?"

"Hm?” Erica froze for a split second, then she recovered. “It's nothing much. Times are just good now, isn't it?" Erica smile looked stiffer than usual. Or was Luna just imagining it?

Meanwhile, Erica fretted inside. She did not want to be dishonest when answering her family, but she did not want to implicate Luna anymore.

"I hope it has nothing to do with Victor and Rina... Does it?"

Erica's smile faltered.

Eventually, she gave up and pouted. “That's not fair, big sis...”

Erica sighed unhappily. “Yes, I’m happy that everything’s a mess for them right now. Can’t I be happy about it?”

Luna looked apologetic and patted the top of Erica’s head. It looked a little weird since Luna was shorter than Erica but none of them felt that way. “I’m sorry... You can be as happy as a clam, Erica. I was just worried that you were somehow responsible for whatever is happening to them.”

Erica fidgeted a little.

Luna noticed Erica's discomfort and raised an eyebrow at it. “Erica?”

“Hm?” Erica looked as innocent as she could.

“Are you...?”

Erica bit her bottom lip. “Hm?”

“Are you involved...?”

Erica held on for a while more before she exclaimed in exasperation. “Fine, fine, I admit, I started it all. But all I did was spark a little something! Everything else ran by itself. So, it’ll be fine! Can't you be happy for me? I clearly won this round..."

Luna looked sorry again. She badly wanted to feel happy for Erica, but she just could not. Worry and fear for Erica’s life dominated her mind. "Erica... Your plan IS perfect. You DID do everything perfectly. It’s just...”

Luna sighed. “I really hate to be a jinx or a spoilsport but it's still too early to say that you've won."

"Why...?" Erica looked at her with puppy dog eyes.

Luna sighed again. "...It's Lucas. Lucas is still in the picture."

"What's he got to do with this?! He didn't step in when Victor got bashed up so badly. If he cared about Rina enough, he would have helped Victor out, because Victor getting hurt would hurt Rina! Am I wrong?"

Luna shook her head. "As long as Lucas is involved, you won't be able to bring them down. Victor, Rina, and Lucas are meant to flourish in this school. They'll win, without a doubt. If you want to ruin them, at least wait until all of us graduate safely. Maybe when the world expands, there'll be stronger parties coming into play and the story will change. You have to be patient."

Erica frowned deeply. "Why're they meant to flourish? What STORY are you talking about? I don’t understand what you’re saying."

A still silence hung in the air.

Suddenly, Erica's phone rang and made them both jump.

Erica went to check her phone and frowned when she did not recognise the number. Not long after she rejected the call, a notification sounded, informing her that she received a text message. It was from the same number.

"I could ignore it when it's Victor since he brought it upon himself. Your mistake was touching Rina when she did nothing to deserve this. It's time to settle the score. For the previous incident in the canteen too."

Luna noticed Erica's pale face, so she walked forward and took the phone from her to read the message.

Erica simply stood there frozen in shock. ‘How was I found out? How?’

Suddenly, she felt arms wrapping around her.

"Big sis… How...? What will he do…? What should I do…?" Erica had been so confident that her brain stalled. It refused to accept the reality of her loss.

"I'll take over from here. You don't have to worry."

"Huh? How...?” When her brain properly registered Luna’s words, Erica’s speech became coherent again.

“No. No. Don't get yourself involved. I don't want you to get hurt because of me again. I created this mess. I'll clean it up myself." Erica was adamant.

Luna calmly responded, "I may not be much. I may not have any strengths. But will you let me be your older sister? Can you trust me?"

Erica looked wronged. How could she reject Luna when she put it like that? “Big sis... Why are you so unfair to me...?”

Tears gathered in Erica’s eyes as she gripped tightly on the hem of Luna’s shirt. “I want to say no...”

Luna hugged Erica tightly. “I’m sorry...”

Erica shook her head violently. “There’s nothing for you to be sorry about. Please... Just promise me that you won’t sacrifice yourself for me?"

Luna squeezed her tighter in response without giving her a proper reply. She had a feeling that if she let things be, Erica would only end up like the canon fodder she read about in fictional stories. ‘I won't let you get reduced to that.’