Back in her room, Felicia finished a call with Miranda and the others before turning on her laptop.
The campus forum was flooded with praise for Riley.
Her fingers curled tightly.
Damn that Riley… why does she have to take everything from me?
Her eyes darkened.
With a sharp crash, she swept everything off her desk.
***
The next morning, Felicia went straight to Clearbrook Estate to find Riley.
When she arrived, Riley was still asleep.
The spacious, gleaming living room. The delicate pastries laid out neatly.
Felicia's nails dug into her palm.
All of this… should have been mine.
What right does Riley have to enjoy it?
Yet she conveniently forgot that she had been the one who refused the marriage in the first place.
She glanced at the time, forcing a polite smile as she turned to the servant nearby. "Could you please go upstairs and wake Riley? Just tell her I'm waiting."
The servant gave her a cold look. "Madam is sleeping. She'll come down when she wakes. We already made an exception letting you in without an appointment."
The message was clear—
Don't ask for more.
Felicia's anger flared, but she didn't dare show it.
She still remembered what happened last time—the same servant had made her carry Riley's schoolbag.
Power forced her to swallow her pride.
Fine.
I'll remember this.
She silently added another mark against Riley.
After what felt like forever—
With her phone buzzing from impatient messages, footsteps finally sounded from upstairs.
Riley came down, hugging her stuffed bunny, yawning as she walked.
When she saw Felicia, she looked surprised.
"Felicia? Why are you here so early? What's going on?"
Felicia had been waiting for over an hour. She was already seething. Seeing that innocent expression only made it worse.
"I wanted to take you out today—it's the weekend. Who knew you'd sleep this long?" she said, forcing a smile. "Come on, it's getting late. Let's go."
Without waiting for a response, she grabbed Riley and dragged her out.
***
They arrived outside a park.
As soon as they got out of the car, they saw a group waiting nearby.
"Sorry, everyone! We're late," Felicia called out as she ran over, her tone apologetic. "My sister just woke up, so we came as fast as we could. Drinks on me later!"
The group, already impatient, turned their displeasure toward the girl walking behind her.
"Felicia, isn't this supposed to be our hangout? Why'd you bring this fool along?"
Even Evan frowned slightly, irritation flickering in his eyes.
He had asked Felicia out alone.
He hadn't expected her to bring a whole group.
Felicia looked troubled. "I'm really sorry. My sister found out I was going out last night and begged me to take her along. I didn't expect her to oversleep either. Anyway, it's late—let's go."
So that's what happened.
The group's impression of Riley dropped even further.
Felicia glanced at Riley without the slightest guilt.
She's just a fool.
Once she's here, I can say whatever I want.
Who's going to believe her over me?
There were eight people in total.
With Riley, that made nine.
Only—
She was the extra one.
And there were only three cars.
Evan shot Riley a cold look. "My car's a sports car. Only one passenger. I'll take Felicia first."
The implication couldn't have been clearer.
Riley wasn't even worth a seat.