Rebirth: Love me Again

[EVE]

Heat rose in my cheeks as my mind spun in a whirlwind of confusion. Above all else, one question plagued me: was Cole in the audience? Had he seen the kiss?

He'd mentioned being busy today, clearing his schedule to make time for the remaining days. But even if he wasn't here, his bodyguards were. I could sense their presence, even if I couldn't see them.

And they would surely report everything back to Cole!

Wonderful. Just great.

I didn't know why Daniel had kissed my forehead—whether it was the heat of the moment or something driven by the scene—but whatever his reason, I'd have to deal with it later. Right now, my priority was clearing my name.

Before I could gather my thoughts, the group's energy shifted.

Lily stepped forward with her friends by her side. They exchanged a look before her gaze flicked toward me.

"Oh, please." Lily's sneer sliced through the playful atmosphere like a knife. Her sharp eyes locked onto me, brimming with disdain and jealousy. "I saw the whole thing. Eve was the one who tiptoed, and Daniel's lips barely brushed her forehead. She's the one who wanted to kiss him."

I froze, the accusation so absurd it felt like a punch to the chest. "What? I never—"

"Right. I saw it too," one of Lily's friends chimed in, stepping forward with an eager nod. "It was faint, but she did."

"I saw it too."

The crowd, moments ago filled with laughter and lighthearted teasing, grew tense and uneasy. Murmurs began to spread as classmates exchanged skeptical glances.

My throat tightened, the pressure of their scrutiny pressing down on me.

Daniel shifted beside me, his expression darkening as if ready to intervene, but Lily wasn't finished. She took a step closer, her voice dripping with venom.

"For all we know, Eve did something to Sophie to take the main role for herself so she could be close to Daniel."

"What?" The word barely escaped my lips, my shock rendering me almost speechless. "That's not true!"

"Oh, isn't it?" Lily continued, her smile cold. "It's a little too convenient, don't you think? Sophie mysteriously disappears, and suddenly, you're in the spotlight."

Her words hung in the air, poisonous and heavy. The murmurs intensified, doubt creeping into the faces of those around us.

My heart pounded as I searched for the right words to defend myself, but my voice felt trapped under the weight of the accusations.

"Enough." Daniel's voice cut through the tension, his commanding tone silencing the murmurs. He stepped in front of me, his tall frame shielding me from Lily and her friends' piercing gazes. "The kiss is on me. Eve had nothing to do with it. If anyone is to blame, it's me."

A stunned silence followed his declaration, broken only by Lily's sharp laugh. "You don't have to protect her, Daniel," she said, her voice dripping with mockery. "We all saw what really happened."
Experience more on empire

"That's right," someone else chimed in, emboldened by Lily's confidence. "I saw it too."

"Daniel is just so nice."

"It didn't make sense for him to suddenly kiss her like that. It's completely out of character."

Another voice from the crowd added fuel to the fire.

"Daniel's one of the campus heartthrobs, and he's never shown interest in anyone here. In fact, isn't it rumored that he's dating a model or some popular celebrity?"

"Exactly," another said. "There's no way he'd actually like her."

The words struck like daggers, each one cutting deeper than the last. My stomach churned as their stares bore into me, judging and dissecting.

"After all," Lily continued, her tone now cruel, "she's just an adopted daughter. She doesn't even have a real family or a name of her own."

The murmurs grew louder, the crowd feeding off her venom.

"I thought the same," someone muttered, barely audible but enough to sting. "Daniel's way out of her league."

I clenched my fists, my heart pounding in my ears. Every word felt like a slap, each assumption tearing at my person.

"Hey! Aren't we the ones who put Eve as Cinderella in the first place?" Riri's voice rang out, frowning at everyone.

She stepped forward, her glare sharp as she faced the group. "And so what if they kissed? What's the big deal? They're single, and it's none of our damn business. Daniel already said it wasn't Eve's fault, so why are we even having this conversation?"

Her bold defense made my heart ache with gratitude.

Riri stood like a shield between me and the others. But Lily wasn't about to back down. The venom in her gaze only deepened, her lips curling into a cruel smirk.

"Shut up, Riri," Lily snapped, her voice laced with contempt. "You don't even know the kind of person you're defending."

She turned to the group with a big smirk on her face, as if she held some grand, irrefutable truth. "Everyone," she began, her voice rising for dramatic effect, "it's late, but Sophie just sent a message. She explained everything about what happened to her—why she's absent today."

Lily held up her phone, the smile on her face widening as if she'd just delivered a crushing blow. "It turns out," she announced, her voice dripping with malice, "that Eve pushed Sophie down the stairs at their home. And now Sophie's in the hospital."

"What?"

"No way!"

"Is that true?"

"Oh my God, is Sophie alright?"

The murmurs turned into an uproar as everyone clamored for their phones, scrolling furiously for answers.

The growing noise felt like a suffocating weight pressing down on me. My fingers trembled as I unlocked my phone, dread pooling in my stomach.

There it was—Sophie's post in the GC.

The image on the screen hit me like a slap. Sophie lay in a hospital bed, her leg encased in a thick cast, an expression of sorrow carefully crafted for the camera. Below the image, the caption read:

[I'm sorry, everyone. I couldn't come today because of an accident. I fell from the staircase and suffered a serious leg injury. But it wasn't an accident . . . I was pushed. By someone close to our family—someone we took in and cared for, only to be repaid like this.]