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    As soon as they stepped out of the infirmary, Leni’s legs began to tremble again. She cast a wary nce at the nearly deserted path and said in a shaky voice, “Briar, I can go back to my dorm by myself. You don’t have to walk

    me back…”

    Briar, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped and turned around, fixing Leni with a cold, emotionless gaze

    that felt as if she were being cut to pieces. “I never intended to walk you back.”

    Leni asked in fear, “So… Can I leave now?”

    “Go ahead,” Briar replied, still standing there without moving an inch.

    Leni felt a flicker of relief, hoping that Briar would truly let her off the hook this time. “Thank you! I appreciate it. Don’t worry, I won’t mention anything about what happened today…”

    “Nothing happened today, got it?” Briar said with a slight click of her tongue.

    Leni was startled and quickly corrected herself. “Yes, yes, nothing happened today.” Without daring to look at Briar again, she limped away.

    As soon as Leni disappeared from view, Robert came running up. Spotting Briar standing on the path outside the infirmary, he let out a harsh snort, brushed past her, and hurried inside. Less than two minutester, he burst

    out again, blocking Briar’s path and urgently asking, “Where’s Beatrice?”

    Briar regarded him with cool detachment. “How would I know?”

    “How could you not know? Didn’t youe to the infirmary together?” Robert eximed, reaching for Briar’s arm,

    but she easily sidestepped him.

    Briar scoffed. She asked, “When did you see us walk in here together?”

    Robert stammered, “But, y–you left the stadium together.”

    “So just because we left together, we have toe here together too?” Briar retorted.

    Robert was left speechless. Briar noticed how Robert seemed lost entirely and let out a mockingugh before turning to leave. He tried ito /istop her, but the moment he met her piercing gaze–eyes that seemed to see right. through him–he froze in ce.

    ‘Did Briar figure something out?‘ he wondered. He stood there, staring as Briar walked farther and farther away, so lost in thought that he didn’t even notice when someone approached him from the side.

    “She seems to be acting quite strangely, doesn’t she?” Sawyer’s voice had a hypnotic quality to it.

    “Dr. Hemsley?” Robert eximed, startled, but he was quickly captivated by the subtext in Sawyer’s words. “What do you mean by that?”

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    Sawyer, dressed in a pristine white coat and appearing entirelyposed, said, “Don’t you agree that she’s nothing like a typical college student?” His tone lingered just enough on particr words to gently steer Robert’s thoughts where he wanted them.

    Robert followed Sawyer’s lead and considered it, his expression gradually darkening. “Yeah, you’re right. She

    doesn’t seem like a typical student at all.”

    Briar was calcting, had a violent streak, and her lifestyle was anything but proper. She didn’t fit the mold of a

    typical college student; if anything, she resembled a former troublemaker just pretending to be nice. She was the type who bullied Beatrice every single day–truly bad to the core, inside and out.

    Sawyer smiled. “I just heard you were looking for Beatrice?”

    Robert’s anger quickly shifted to concern. “Why isn’t she here? I saw her leave with Briar and the others.” It was all his fault–he had gotten caught up with a few bodyguards and ended up wasting valuable time.

    A flicker of unease crossed Robert’s face as he remembered the bodyguards blocking his path. ‘Did Briar pay them off on purpose?‘ But then another thought struck him, ‘How could she have known something would happen to Beatrice? ording to the n, Briar was supposed to have the ident.‘ Robert had a persistent feeling that he

    was overlooking something significant.

    Sawyer let out a profound sigh. “I know it’s probably reckless to make assumptions like this, but when Briar

    brought that injured student to the infirmary earlier, I noticed a whiff of blood on her. You know how it is–doctors

    like us are especially sensitive to the smell of blood…”

    Robert blinked, looking bewildered. “Blood?” he thought. ‘But Briar didn’t have a scratch on her. How could she

    smell like blood? And why didn’t I notice anything?‘

    “So, my advice? You should hurry and find Beatrice. What if something did happen to her?” Sawyer patted Robert on the shoulder, appearing tofort him, but in reality, he was merely nting the thought in Robert’s mind that something bad had happened to Beatrice.

    Robert started to panic. “What should I do? I’ll call my brother right now. Yes, I’ll call him–he’ll know what to do.”

    Having aplished his objective, Sawyer paid no further attention to the frantic Robert and turned back into the

    infirmary to continue his work. Yet, no one noticed the cold, sinister smile that crept across his lips–unsettling and chilling.

    Meanwhile, Robert was frantically calling Richard. “Brother, what should I do? Beatrice is missing! It has to be Briar -she must have done something! What can I do? I can’t find Beatrice anywhere!” He didn’t even notice when Sawyer had left.

    On the other end, Richard sounded frustrated. “What nonsense are you talking about now?”

    Robert’s voice trembled with emotion. “I’m serious–Beatrice is missing! But I know I saw here to the infirmary with Briar…”

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    “What? Beatrice is missing?” Richard’s voice shot up, full of rm.

    Before Richard could say anything further, Halle and Camden rushed over, both anxiously searching for Beatrice. Upon hearing Robert’s words, Halle grabbed his arm in distress. “How could Beatrice be missing?”

    As she tugged at his arm, the phone slipped from Robert’s hand and crashed to the ground, shattering the screen and abruptly ending the call. Halle felt a moment of awkwardness but quickly pushed on, asking, “Robert, what did you just say? What do you mean, Beatrice is missing? And how does this rte to Briar?”

    Halle and Camden had witnessed Beatrice getting hurt from the stands, and after finally figuring out how to reach the infirmary, they hurried over. However, before they could even enter, they overheard Robert talking ion /ithe

    phone.

    Robert was on the verge of losing his temper when his phone was suddenly knocked out of his hand. However, when he realized it was Beatrice’s mother who had bumped into him, he made an effort to suppress his frustration. “Mrs. Jennings, please don’t worry. I’m still uncertain if this has anything to do with Briar or not…”

    “It must be her!” Halle interrupted Robert angrily. “She’s always been bullying Beatrice. Now that Beatrice is hurt, she has probably just abandoned her somewhere. How could she be so cruel?”

    Camden had alreadye out of the infirmary. “Mom, I checked. Beatrice isn’t inside. The doctor said she never

    came in at all.”

    Halle’s eyes welled up with worry. “Where is she? Where could she have gone?”

    Camden turned to Robert. “Where’s Briar? Let’s go ask her where Beatrice is.”

    Robert pointed in the direction Briar had just gone. “She left not long ago, but…”

    Before he could finish speaking, Halle and Camden took off running in the direction he had indicated.

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