Chapter 165

Merry turned her head and saw Latham approaching, his face stern and his presence imposing ashe stepped directly in front of her, blocking her path. He turned to Leila and demanded, “Why wouldyou do something like that?”

Leila, taken aback, watched as her previous malice melted away, leaving only a pitiful expression, “Iwas just giving Merry some water, Latham. What’s wrong with that?”

“What’s wrong?” Latham fumed, “Don’t you know that Merry is scared of water?”

Today, as soon as class began, Cordelia had given Latham a heads–up. She had also carefullycollected all the transparent drinking glasses from the surrounding students.

She had noticed that as long as the water glass wasn’t clear, without the ripples and light reflectionson the surface, Merry seemed to cope just fine.

Cordelia had detailed this observation to Latham. But now, there was Leila, holding a glass,cornering Merry?

If this had been before, Merry would have lashed out by now. But the current she was grapplingwith a big psychological issue.

Leila’s eyes widened, incredulous, “Merry, are you really afraid of water?”

Merry hid behind Latham, avoiding a glance at the water in Leila’s hand. But still, Leila lifted theglass higher, “But you have to drink water, don’t you? Are you afraid of that too, Merry? You can’t belike this. Let me help you overcome it, and if you can’t even drink water, that’s a big deal.”

Finishing her plea, Leila stepped around Latham and placed the glass in Merry’s trembling hands,“Here, Merry, don’t be afraid. This is the water all of mankind needs to survive.”

Merry took the glass, and seeing the water sway within the transparent confines, she panicked andpushed it away forcefully. The glass fell from the third floor.

“Crash.” The clear glass shattered on impact.

Merry’s eyes widened in horror as she stared down below.

Latham also rushed to the edge, relieved to see that the area below was nearly empty. It could’vebeen disastrous had someone been hit.

After the incident, Leila stood with her mouth agape, “Latham, when faced with challenges, we can’talways run away. We have to confront them. If Merry is afraid of water, then she should be exposedto it more. People need to be strong.”

For other matters, of course, strength and confrontation were necessary.

But when it comes to psychological barriers, brute force wasn’t the answer. It could lead to evenmore severe mental health issues.

11:23 Latham spoke up firmly, “Leila, you’re just a student. It’s not your place to worry about these things.Please go back to class.”

Leila turned away, her lips twitching into a sneer, but she nodded calmly and left.

Once Leila was gone, Merry’s eyes began to well up.

Latham sighed and suggested, “Let’s go back to the classroom.”

Merry nodded.

The morning passed without further incident, except for members of the Flame Union checking inon Merry during the break. Soon it was lunchtime, and although the school cafeteria boasted a fishtank filled with many fish, it also contained water.

So Cordelia proposed, “There’s a nice pasta joint by the school gates. Let’s go there.”

Merry thought about it and then agreed, “Sure, it’s on me.” She confidently waved her bank cardand declared, “I’ve got money now.”

When Cain gave her the money, he had a private word with her, “I understand that you don’t wantto go home, and I know that the hurt Paulina and I have caused can’t be mended with words. Takethis money, and stay with the Delaney family, but don’t always rely on their finances. Buy Cordeliasome gifts.”

So Merry genuinely wanted to treat Cordelia to lunch, not sure how else to express her gratitude forbeing saved by Lia.

They left the school for the restaurant, aided by a note from Latham, who knew about the cafeteria’ssituation and allowed them to leave during lunchtime.

The restaurant was quiet when they arrived.

They chose a corner table and sat down across from each other. Cordelia ordered a beef pasta,while Merry chose a tomato meat sauce pasta.

Soon, the food was served.

Cordelia silently observed the sparse beef on her plate when the owner came over with anadditional plate of beef.

Cordelia was puzzled, “Did you order this?”

Merry shook her head, “Not me.”

They both turned to the owner who smiled and explained, “That gentleman over there added a plateof beef for you.”

At a nearby table sat a man in a black turtleneck looking effortlessly cool, his long legs awkwardlyplaced due to the low chairs and cramped space. His sharp eyes were narrowed in a smile as helooked over at them. It was Everard.

That morning, after Cordelia had taken a pill to suppress her heartache, she hadn’t taken Merry 11:23 to see Everard. Instead, they had eaten at home and gone straight to school.

So they hadn’t seen each other all day.

Cordelia blinked, surprised, and before she could react, Everard had already stood up and walked over to sit beside her, “Sweetie, I didn’t expect to meet you here.”

Merry silently swallowed her pasta, flavored with the bittersweet taste of witnessing Cordelia’sromance, and looked down. Everard was really cool and good–looking.

Cordelia took a bite of the beef, finding it unexpectedly sweet today. After swallowing, she suddenlyrealized that despite knowing Everard for quite some time, she had no idea what he did during theday.

What did Everard do after their morning meals at Midnight Scent? Where did he have lunch? Did healways come to this place?

Lost in thought, she was brought back to reality when Everard tapped on the table in front of Merry,leaning in to say, “I have a surprise for you.”

Merry looked up, confused.

Everard gestured subtly towards the farthest corner of the restaurant.

Merry’s gaze instinctively flickered in that direction, and then her eyes went as wide as saucers.

The man sitting there was incognito, his face obscured by a mask and a baseball cap, swaddled inlayers that screamed anonymity. But to someone who knew him as intimately as she did, he couldhave been turned to ash and she would still recognize him in a heartbeat.

It was her idol, Bland Sullivan!

She rose abruptly, her plate in hand, “Lia, you guys enjoy. I need to head over there.”

But as she walked over, a nagging thought struck her. Wasn’t it odd how Everard seemed to bebrushing her off, almost as if he were carving out the paradise just for them?

Meanwhile, after polishing off his lunch, Latham returned to his office.

He mulled over the morning’s events and decided to make a call to Cain. As soon as the callconnected, he dove straight in, “Mr. Jordan, I’m reaching out not because of any issues with Merry,but due to a matter concerning Leila. She cornered Merry in the hallway today, insisting she drinksomething, and her demeanor was quite threatening.”