CHAPTER 29: YOU CRAZY WOMAN!

Meanwhile, back at the training center.

The moment Victoria arrived, she was promptly directed toward the students’ dormitory. There, she was informed that she would be sharing a room with the four other female recruits, while the remaining four male trainees would share the adjacent dorm.

By the time she reached the dorm, the other four girls were nowhere in sight. It didn’t take Victoria long to realize they were all at the dining hall already. After taking a moment to glance around the sparsely decorated room, memorizing the layout and taking note of the bunk she assumed would soon be hers, she made her way out and headed toward the dining area.

It was only her first day here, but she already understood that certain rules were not to be broken. One such rule was painfully clear, if you missed mealtime, you missed your meal...no exceptions. Victoria wasn’t about to test the limits of that policy. She hadn’t eaten anything since the night before, and if she wanted to survive the brutal training ahead, she would need every ounce of strength she could muster. Skipping breakfast wasn’t an option.

Though she still had her locket but Victoria had no intention of relying on it unless absolutely necessary. She could already feel the weight of too many eyes watching her every move. The last thing she needed was for anyone to learn its secret.

The moment she stepped into the exclusive dining hall, every head turned.

All eyes were on her as she quietly walked toward the counter, collected her breakfast...pancakes, rib meat, and a glass of chilled juice, water and carried her tray across the hall.

She spotted the table where the four girls she was meant to room with were seated and made her way over, silently hoping to avoid confrontation. With her tray balanced carefully, she lowered herself into the only empty seat among them.

The silence didn’t last long.

"Damn! I just lost my appetite!" a sharp voice exclaimed, loud enough for the sound to echo across the room. A fork clattered loudly against a porcelain plate, drawing more attention to the table.

Victoria looked up to see the speaker, a young woman with long, neatly styled blonde hair dressed in an elegant white gown. Her expression was of disdain as she glared directly at Victoria.

"Just get away from here and sit somewhere else," another voice snapped from her left. This girl, nearly identical in appearance to the first, narrowed her eyes in a cold stare. It was obvious they were twins, identical down to the curl of their lashes and the haughty tilt of their chins.

"You don’t deserve to sit at our table."

Victoria had already begun eating hence she doesn’t want to speak. She could only give them nothing more than a scoff. Without lifting her gaze or slowing her movements, she continued cutting her food.

"Are you deaf?" shouted a third girl, rising from her chair with a sudden clatter. Her hair was red in color and her face was flushed with fury. She pointed a finger directly at Victoria, trembling with rage.

"The Ashford family isn’t even that influential, not compared to the families of the real students here. If it weren’t for your eldest brother, who only holds the title of heir, you wouldn’t even be allowed through the gates. And let’s be honest....’heir’ is just a fancy word for ’errand boy.’ Everyone knows he’s nothing more than a servant to the three Alphas. He does all the grunt work while they collect the praise. If I were to give him a proper title, I’d call him what he really is....the Alphas’ slave."

The insult echoed through the hall, followed by a burst of cruel laughter from the other students.

Still, Victoria said nothing.

Another girl, this one with a thick braid of violet hair draped over her shoulder, leaned forward with a mocking smirk. "What else should we expect from a shameless family like yours?" she sneered.

Without warning, she picked up her half-finished plate....its contents now reduced to picked-clean rib bones and soggy pancake scraps and dumped it directly onto Victoria’s tray. Juice splashed over the side, staining the edges of her outfit.

The hall erupted with laughter once more.

"Since you insist on sitting at our table," the girl said coldly, "then this is what you get for disobeying us. Eat like the street rat you are.

"Fine, maybe we couldn’t do anything to your brothers and sisters, they were raised with money, after all, and at least know how to behave in public. But you?" One of the twins leaned in, her voice sharp. "You’re the runt who lived on the streets for years, begging for scraps, picking crumbs off the floor. This kind of food must feel like a feast to someone like you."

The other twin threw her head back and laughed as if it were the funniest thing she’d ever heard, prompting another round of cruel cackles from the group.

"Enjoy your meal, loser. Just seeing your face makes me sick," the red-haired girl sneered with a satisfied smirk. With a toss of her fiery curls, she turned on her heel and began strutting toward the exit, followed by the other three girls.

But they hadn’t gotten far.

Victoria, still seated and seemingly composed, extended her leg at just the right moment, catching the redhead’s foot and sending her, along with her companions, crashing to the ground in a loud, humiliating heap.

Gasps filled the air.

The four girls scrambled to their feet almost instantly, their pride stung far more than their limbs. No one wanted to look weak, especially not here, not in front of the watching eyes of Alphas, Betas, and possibly even Darius himself or worse, one of the instructors.

"How dare you, bitch?!" the red-haired girl exploded, her face contorted with rage as she stormed back to Victoria. She raised her hand, ready to slap her across the face.

But Victoria was faster.

With calm precision, she caught the girl’s wrist midair. Before the redhead could react, Victoria yanked her forward, slamming her head down into the edge of her own plate. Ketchup splattered across her face. Her shriek was cut off by a sharp gasp as Victoria shoved her to the floor again.

The dining hall erupted in shocked murmurs. Some of the male students leaned forward with wide eyes; others glanced at one another, unsure whether to be impressed or appalled. Even the servants looked stunned.

"Do you have a death wish?!" one of the blonde twins shrieked, lunging at Victoria.

Before the girl’s hand could make contact, Victoria stepped aside and twisted her wrist sharply, forcing a cry of pain from her lips.

"Let go of me, you psycho!"

Victoria didn’t respond. She shoved the blonde backward, sending her sprawling onto the floor beside the redhead.

Without missing a beat, Victoria marched toward the last two girls, who had yet to make a move. They shrieked and tried to retreat, but Victoria grabbed each of them by the hair and yanked them forward.

"Ahhh! Let go! Let go, you witch!"

Their cries didn’t faze her. With effortless strength, she dragged them both to her table and shoved their faces down into the half-eaten mess on her plate. Their shrieks of horror were drowned out by another round of gasps, laughter, and stunned silence.

"You really think you’ll get away with this, huh?!" one of the blondes shouted, coughing and wiping food off her face. "Who the hell do you think you are, you lowlife?!"

Victoria still wasn’t done.

She picked up a glass of juice from the table and splashed it across the blonde’s face, watching it drip down her already ruined gown. The girl screamed in outrage.

Then, to the astonishment of everyone present, Victoria turned and approached the male students seated. Two of them were watching her with open admiration, the other three with wary suspicion.

She smiled at the two who looked at her.

"May I borrow your juice, please?" she asked sweetly, her tone sugar-coated and pleasant.

The two boys, clearly taken aback by the change in her demeanor, quickly handed over their glasses.

"Of course, miss," they replied in unison.

Victoria nodded her thanks, turned on her heel, and walked back to the scene of the chaos she had caused.

Without hesitating, she poured part of the drinks over the already soaked and humiliated girls.

Then, to everyone’s shock, she poured the remaining over her own head. Juice dripped down her hair, soaking her outfit and plastering strands to her face.

"You crazy woman!" the redhead howled. "Just wait till I deal with you!"

But before anyone could move or speak again, the doors to the dining hall burst open with a deafening slam.

Victoria instantly collapsed to the floor, falling into the puddle of juice and food debris as if she too had been a victim in the chaos.