Chapter 5: Elisia Lim

Sherly’s days went by, and it became more hectic than before. With school projects left and right, she didn’t know what subject she should do first. However, she manages to hang out and do so much in a few days. She stops going to the club for a moment, which leads her to receive a lot of messages from her club friends asking when she’ll come. Of course, she said she would come but did not tell them when.

The university’s hallway sure is nice and noisy. It was always abuzz with different kinds of activities as the students hurriedly went to their own respective classrooms. However, right now, it’s different. As Sherly walks by in the hallway, with her confident walks that make everyone look at her and envy her, as she moves through the crowd, she notices the gaze of everyone. As part of the underworld society, she knows what it means. She knows each and every glance everyone throws at her, and having those eyes isn’t new to her. In fact, it was a common occurrence in the underworld. Thus, it gave her nothing to feel about.

The curious glances of the people around her while she was walking and their hushed whispers have nothing to do with her. Thus, she did not react to it. However, she was sure that something had happened to make them act like this. She doesn't care, but that does not mean that she wasn’t curious. It would take her only a minute to know what’s going on. After all, she had a friend who lingered with everyone.

As Sherly walked, her eyes followed her, as did the movement of their mouths, giving rippled whispers to the person beside them. Some exchanged knowing glances, which were very familiar to Sherly since she and her best friend, Solace, always did it. Whatever happened that made them act like this is surely related to her. Sherly was sure of that.

Unfazed, Sherly continued to walk towards her classroom and maintained her composure. It wasn’t that bad anyway, so why would she lose her composure? After all, she didn't encounter a situation that made her lose her composure.

When she pushed the door open, leaving the chatter noise in the hallway, everyone in the room was quiet. The room momentarily went silent as her classmates looked at her. Yet, for Sherly, she paid no mind to the hushed whispers that echoed in her ears. Even though the thing they are talking about is bad, it does not matter. However, once it was about her family, she wouldn't take a second thought and would go to confront the person who did this. Since they are all looking at her and no one talks to her, they are one hundred and one percent sure that it was all because of her.

She took a seat with her calm demeanor and graceful movement and opened her textbook. She has no idea what’s happening, but once her friend comes to this room, she’ll know it. It would only take her a few minutes of waiting.

Not long after Sherly focused herself on her textbook, the door flung open, and a woman ran towards Sherly. She put her two hands on Sherly’s table and then started to throw questions that made the other people inside the classroom perk their ears to listen.

“What the heck is that rumor about, Sher?” Alice asked.

Alice is a normal college student. She isn’t that smart, but she isn’t stupid either. She isn’t rich, but she is not poor either. In short, she’s an average person. However, when it comes to gossip, no one could match her.

“Hmm?”

Alice rolled her eyes. “They are all looking at you, and you don’t even care? Hell! You won't believe the rumors I just heard about you just now!” Alice exclaimed. If she does not restrain herself, she’ll expose her enthusiasm so much.

Alice may not have a good family background, but she knows Sherly. Even though she’s not always by her side, she knows her family and her habits. Thus, when she heard about the rumors, she almost died holding her laughter.

Sherly stared at her friend and raised an eyebrow as she responded, “Rumors?” she asked innocently. “What kind of rumors are we talking about, Alice? There’s a lot, right?”

Alice nodded her head many times, as quickly as she could. “Yes,” she answered. Alice leaned in, and her eyes were sparkling with anticipation as she said, “You now, the kind that everyone talks to. The juicy scandalous stuff.”

Sherly, being unaware of the real deal of the rumor, feigned her ignorance and played along with her friend. “Scandalous stuff? Do tell, Alice. I’m all ears. I want to know what kind of rumors they told about me again. I will surely go to slap them tenfold with the truth.”

As Alice finished her recounting of the person who told her about the rumor, she looked at Sherly, eager for a reaction. After all, the person in front of her is the person involved in the gossip. “Well, Sher, apparently, this wild story is about you being spotted at a hotel with some mysterious, good-looking man. Can you believe it?” Alice said, obviously teasing Sherly.

Sherly did not miss anything and burst into laughter, which made everyone look at her. “A hotel? Me? Are they serious? What’s next? Am I secretly running a prostitution business? Oh goodness, what kind of news is this? Don’t they think of something else? Like me getting pregnant or something?”

Alice's eyes widened. “Are you?”

Sherly stared at her friend in disbelief. “Don’t tell me you really took it to your heart?” Then when Alice did not speak, Sherly’s jaw dropped. “It’s a lie. If I am pregnant, then I won't be here. My brothers and my father will surely kill that man.”

Alice nodded her head and joined in the laughter. “Right? I don’t know who comes up with this stuff, but I wanted to give that person a round of applause. It’s quite a little different from before.”

“Well, if they wanted to create rumors about me, they are very welcome. However, this kind of rumor isn’t new at all. Didn't they do something similar when we were in freshman year? ”

Alice pondered for a moment and then slowly nodded her head. “Oh, right. I remember that. It was that third year who hated you for being the crush of her crush. Isn’t that rediculuse?”

Sherly only shrugged her shoulders and did not speak anymore. Instead, she read the textbook and started to memorize some of it.

Out of curiosity, Alice asked, “Are you not bothered by it? I mean, they are trying to ruin your reputation. Isn’t reputation as important as study? ”

Sherly slowly looked up and stared into Alice’s eyes, and then she saw Sherly's sly smile, which made her feel a chill run down her spine. “And why would I care? "She asked, looking like an innocent woman who did nothing but was not innocent as well. She shrugged her shoulders. “Alice, you know better than, right? ”

Alice nodded her head, grinning mischievously. “True, true. But, where’s the fun? You really are no fun at all. You know I’m your best source for all things scandalous. So, won't you humor me? "She teased.

Sherly shook her head and chuckled. She really did not know how they became friends. Besides Solace, this person is much harder than anyone else to deal with. “You do have a point, Alice. I’ll give you that. But let’s not get too wrapped up in those hoaxes, alright? ," she said, letting everybody hear it. “We’ve got more important things to focus on,” she continued.

Of course, Alice knows what Sherly is talking about. Thus, she did not tease her anymore. The rumor about her is half truth and half lie. Well, Sherly does indeed go to a hotel with a different man every time. However, she doesn’t go to those who are famous for being easily sighted. Mostly, she’ll go to the hotel where there's high security. Thus, it was partly not real at all.

With Sherly and Alice's laughter echoing in every corner of the classroom, the people around them seem infected by their laughter. They wanted to ask Sherly but had no guts to do so because they knew Sherly was a cunning woman. They witness her being cunning and witty not only once or twice but more than ten times. She could humiliate you without spouting nonsense or being direct. Thus, they are kind of afraid to ask her.

When they heard the conversation between Sherly and Alice, their curiosity finally wore off. They all shared the common thought that this was all a hoax, seemingly and purposefully made to ruin Sherly in their eyes. They know Sherly, and even though they didn’t know that she did those kinds of things, Sherly isn’t the type of person who wants everyone to see her acting like that. Then they let go of the absurb rumor.

On the other hand, Elisia, who was watching the things happening inside Sherly’s classroom, clenched her fist. She doesn’t want her to be able to raise her head again, but her face is much thicker than she imagined. She didn’t even waver from the rumors.

When Elisia was about to go, she caught Sherly’s eyes. Then a chill ran down her back when she saw her smirking.

What does that mean? Why is she smiling like that toward her? Did she know it was she who spread those rumors and who tried to ruin her reputation? However, it was impossible for Sherly to know about it. After all, she posted it to their forum on an unknown account.

That’s right, she couldn’t.

Elisia brainwashed herself into thinking that Sherly did not know anything about it, so she quietly went out of that area and went home.

When Elisia Lim walked into her family’s home, her father, Mr. Lim, a prominent businessman in the country, summoned her to his office. This isn’t the first time she was summoned, which made the other illegitimate children look at her in envy, but she knows herself that calling in her father’s office isn’t a good thing.

Those bastards wanted to get a call in her father’s office, but they don’t have any idea what kind of hell that place is. Funny.

Upon entering her father’s office, Elisia found her father reading a paper. A stern and strict expression is on her father’s face. Ever since her father’s business bloomed, she rarely saw her father smile, unlike before.

“Elisia, sit down.” Her father did not even look at her.

Elisia did what her father told him; she took a seat. The feeling of uneasiness and anxiety in her heart grew even stronger. “What’s the matter, Dad?” she asked, trying to be as calm and cautious as possible.

She doesn’t want to trigger her father’s bad mood. Thus, she needed to behave as well as possible.

Her father looked at her for a moment and narrowed his eyes. “I asked you to befriend Sherly Montenegro, right? Have you done what I requested? Did you become her friend already?”

With those questions, Elisia started to sweat in her hands. She hesitated for a moment before responding to her father’s question, “Well, Dad, I did talk to her. We’re not exactly close, but we’ve had some conversation. I could say we’re acquaintances already at this moment.”

Mr. Lim’s face darkened. After he knew that her daughter was in the same university, course, and year level as Sherly, she told Elisia to befriend her. Also, when he investigated her reputation at the university, it wasn’t low. All the professors looked at her with high regard for her ability to memorize and analyze. Thus, this made Mr. Lim more eager to let her daughter take a chance to become Sherly’s friend.

Sherly hasn’t been mentioned in public yet. However, everyone in the country knew about Hideous having a daughter. Only a few people know about Sherly, and he is one of those few people, which made him feel a little special. Not only that, both Kyle and Keisley like her and pamper her so much. They always look at her with soft eyes, which is different when they are talking to other people. Keisley being next to his father, even though he is a playful person, he knows who to be friends with and who is not. Lastly, Kyle, the chairman of M Group, one of the fastest companies to reach the top, As a businessman himself, Mr. Lim knew how much power Kyle had.

“Elisia,” he called her name with disappointment, which made her stiffen. “Didn’t I tell you how important this operation is to our family? To me? It’s also befriending her, not just exchanging pleasantries. This is important to our family business, do you understand? You have to be her friend, not just an acquaintance. If you can't do it, I’ll let Josephine do that work for you.”

Elisia bit her lower lip and tried to explain herself. “Dad, it isn’t easy to do. Yes, she may look like an easy-going person, but, Dad, she’s not the easiest person to befriend. She feels... different.”

Because of her words, Mr. Lim’s face flared up as he retorted, “Elisia, you know how crucial it is to our family. We can't afford to not do everything when an opportunity is right in front of us, alright? I expect you to establish a relationship with Sherly as soon as possible. Do you understand? I want that kind of relationship wherein we can use it for our own gain.”

Feeling the weight of her father’s expectations of her, she only nodded her head in response. “I understand, Dad. I’ll try harder.”

Still displeased, Mr. Lim let his daughter go.

Indeed, Montenegro isn’t easy to deal with. From their father up until the youngest child, it isn’t easy. They all know how to read people.

Thinking about it, Mr. Lim put all his hope in his daughter. If Elisia did not succeed, she could use his other daughter, who studied at the same university as Elisia. It was Josephine. Although that daughter does not care about wealth and money, she is still going to listen to his order.

With plan B, Mr. Lim finally calmed down and started to do his work once again.