Chapter 229 - 227: How Is This Any Different from a Gladiator Pit?

Cecilia Sterling shot Vivian Sheridan an amused glance and scoffed, "To be honest, I wasn’t planning on coming."

She had heard everything clearly at the door just now. Between the lines, Vivian Sheridan had been guiding everyone to think about the situation in the most sordid way possible. Combined with everything that had happened before, she now saw completely through her "friendship" with Vivian.

Vivian Sheridan caught the hidden meaning in Cecilia’s words. Recalling that she was the one who had "accidentally" told Lisa Upton that Cecilia was back, her expression turned a little awkward.

Meanwhile, Lisa Upton, who was seated right in the middle, had let her eyes roam over Cecilia from the moment she appeared.

’She’s even more beautiful than she was two years ago.’ Although Lisa Upton was seething with jealousy, she couldn’t deny it. And Cecilia’s clothes and accessories... now, even Lisa couldn’t hope to compare.

But Lisa Upton didn’t let any of her feelings show on her face. Instead, she put on an enthusiastic act and called out to Cecilia, "Glad you could make it! Everyone, shuffle over and make some room for Cecilia."

As soon as Lisa finished speaking, the old classmates started to move. Someone stood up and offered, "Cecilia, you can sit over here!"

Cecilia gave a small smile, walked over to the nearest empty seat by the door, and sat down gracefully. "I’m fine sitting here."

As she spoke, she nonchalantly glanced around. Surprisingly, after a moment of thought, she found she could recognize most of the people there and could even call them by name.

"Please, continue your conversation. Since the person you’re talking about is here now, you can ask me directly if there’s anything you want to know. It’ll save you the trouble of making wild guesses."

Her every word and action seemed casual, but they were laced with barbs and undisguised sharpness. This was a far cry from the Cecilia everyone remembered from high school.

Back then, she had a face that was the epitome of innocence and allure, and she spoke in a soft, gentle voice. She had never shown such a cutting side.

Seeing this, Maya Marshall, who was sitting next to Lisa Upton, instinctively piped up in a passive-aggressive tone, "Well, well. Haven’t seen you in two years. Cecilia, what happened to you? Your personality’s so different now. I guess going to university in Lorcain really changes a person, huh? Judging by your airs, you must be doing pretty well for yourself."

This Maya Marshall was Lisa Upton’s little sidekick. Because Lisa’s family was well-off, she had always been high-profile, and those around her were used to acting powerful by association. In high school, Lisa had considered Cecilia a rival in love, and Maya had often said nasty things on Lisa’s behalf to humiliate her.

Back then, Cecilia truly hadn’t dared to mess with them, so she had always just put up with it.

But now...

Cecilia immediately shot a glare in her direction, her eyes glinting so coldly that it sent a chill down Maya’s spine, making her freeze instinctively for a moment.

Then, they heard Cecilia let out a derisive laugh as she looked at her. "I have changed, it’s true. You, on the other hand, haven’t changed a bit. Still love rushing to the front to be someone’s dog!"

"What did you say?" Maya Marshall’s eyes widened, her face a mask of shock, as if she couldn’t believe Cecilia would dare to insult her in public.

A male classmate on the other side quickly held Maya back, about to offer some words of comfort, but to his surprise, Cecilia looked right at her and repeated, "I said, you’re a dog!"

"Cecilia!" Lisa Upton couldn’t stand by any longer. When Cecilia insulted Maya, she was insulting Lisa by extension; how could she not realize that? She quickly intervened, putting on the air of being the bigger person. "We’re all classmates here. You’ve gone too far!"

Cecilia blinked, a look of pure innocence on her face. "This is too far? Weren’t you all just bad-mouthing me a moment ago?"

With that, Cecilia covered her mouth and let out a soft laugh. "Oh, I’m sorry. I thought the theme of our reunion was bad-mouthing people. Or is it that you can only do it behind someone’s back, not to their face? In that case, I’ll stop!"

Maya Marshall glared daggers at Cecilia, but remembering that this was Lisa’s event and she couldn’t make a scene, she forced herself to swallow her indignation.

Lisa Upton’s expression turned even uglier. From the moment Cecilia had walked in, her every word and action, while seemingly unrelated to Lisa, had in fact been a direct humiliation.

After all, Lisa was the one who had organized this gathering. Cecilia was clearly making pointed, indirect attacks on her.

Seeing how tense and awkward the atmosphere had become, someone quickly tried to change the subject. They looked at Hector Mason, who was sitting next to Lisa Upton, and asked, "Hector, didn’t you say last year that you wrote a novel? How’s it coming along? Think it’ll get published?"

Hector Mason was already on edge. Or rather, he’d been nervous ever since he found out Cecilia would be coming today. The moment he saw her appear, his thoughts had dissolved into a complete jumble.

She was the girl he had always idealized—his white moonlight. She was the great unrequited love of his youth, and even now, the thought of her brought an undeniable pang of regret.

But he was with Lisa Upton now. So he was doing his best to remain calm and keep his eyes and attention off Cecilia, lest he make Lisa unhappy.

So when the conversation turned to him, Hector deliberately avoided looking at Cecilia and said, feigning a casual air, "I’ve sent it to a few publishers, but I haven’t heard anything back. It’s probably still too unpolished."

Cecilia’s gaze fell upon Hector Mason, a faint smile touching her eyes. The smile held no particular meaning; she just found the situation inexplicably amusing.

If asked which of her high school classmates she knew best, she might have once said Vivian Sheridan. But now, she wouldn’t dare claim to know her at all.

So, besides Vivian, it had to be Hector Mason. After all, he had pursued her for two whole years.

He had written handwritten love letters, electronic ones, and filled his social media with status updates and posts—hundreds of them, some hinting at his feelings, others outright confessing them. There were too many for her to remember the specifics, but Hector Mason’s writing style was something she remembered vividly.

Because it was genuinely awful.

’It would be a miracle if his novel ever got published.’

But how could the faint, knowing smile in Cecilia’s eyes escape Lisa’s notice? Seeing Cecilia look at her boyfriend that way, especially knowing how desperately Hector had once chased after her, Lisa’s competitive streak flared.

She reached out and intimately took Hector’s hand, which was resting on the table. Her voice was deceptively sweet as she said, "Hector, you should show your novel to Cecilia later. I remember back in school, Cecilia’s essays were always the best. She even won a bunch of awards. You should let her give you some pointers!"

The moment Lisa said this, knowing looks appeared on everyone’s faces.

Who there didn’t know the history between the three of them from high school?

Lisa’s move seemed magnanimous, but in reality, she was willing to sacrifice her own boyfriend just to embarrass Cecilia.

How was this any different from a Gladiator Pit?

Cecilia’s expression remained unchanged. Hector, on the other hand, was completely taken aback that Lisa would voluntarily throw him and Cecilia together like this. Snapping back to his senses, he quickly said, "Let’s not bother others with it. I only wrote it for fun, as a hobby."

The word "others" was music to Lisa’s ears. She couldn’t help but curve her lips into a smug smile. "Oh, come on. How is Cecilia ’others’? We were high school classmates, after all!"