After Death, Love Unveiled

Chapter 17

Seeing Asher just sit there, silent and not even bothering to defend himself. Elara curled her lips into a smirk. Wha seriously thought that after pouting for a few days, I'd come crawling back to make peace with you?" She knew exactly what was going through his head, though.

You

She had been raised in luxury, pampered all her life. Getting kicked to the curb with nothing but the clothes on her back had left scars.

If one always lived humbly, they could manage, but falling from a life of wealth into poverty? That was a pain they didn't forget.

Back then, she'd spend every day lying in bed, lost in her fantasies, dreaming that Asher would finally come to his senses- realize she was innocent, apologize, and beg her to come back.

But all that waiting amounted to nothing. She waited and waited, right up until the end, never once seeing him believe her. Instead, what she got was news of his marriage to someone else and the harsh truth: he had set her up from the start.

And now. Asher probably wasn't living any better than her. She had propped him up for so long, after all.

"No need. Asher snapped, his voice cold and sharp.

Elara let out a soft, sarcastic laugh. "Oh. please. If you think I'd ever come back to stroke your ego, you're fucking delusional. You want me back? You better start begging. And maybe-if I'm feeling really generous-I might toss you a couple of bucks." Her words were playful but deep down, she felt nothing.

She wasn't dumb enough to think he'd actually beg. But she wanted to see it-Asher, on his knees, pleading for her forgiveness.

His arrogance pissed her off. After everything he'd put her through, there was no way she was going to let him get off easy this time. Giving him a bit of false hope? Yeah, that felt just right.

"Never," Asher shot back, cold as ice, refusing to even look at her.

Elara didn't mind. She wasn't in any hurry. After class, she headed straight to the teacher's office.

a new

dean and a couple of other teachers

the last exam. Maia gave her a curious look. "Looks like you didn't cheat after all. But I've got to ask-why were your grades so awful before?" Thinking back to how stupidly she'd thrown herself into chasing after Asher, Elara replied, her voice soft, "I was young and dumb, didn't care about school. But we changed tutors at home recently,

finally got it-only people who had faced the harsh realities of the outside world could truly understand how precious school really

of the few places where busting their ass actually paid off. But once one stepped out into that cold,

the classroom just as Maia and the dean finished announcing the results of their investigation. When they confirmed she hadn't cheated, Lizzie looked like she'd been slapped in the face. "Wait, what? How the hell did she not cheat?"

turned her gaze to Lizzie, her voice calm but laced with mockery. "Didn't you say you'd drop out if I didn't cheat?

Chapter 17

stammered, "1... well,

go making bets you can't follow through on next time,"

couldn't stand by anymore and stepped forward to defuse the situation. "Come on, classmates here. There's no need to take things this far. Lizzie was just concerned, okay? She didn't mean any harm. Cut her some slack. With Daphne jumping in, the rest of the

room full of suddenly righteous faces. Funny

icy glare to Daphine. "You're that worried about

her lips pressing into a thin line as tears started to well up in her eyes, playing the victim perfectly. And, just as expected, the rest of the class rushed to

nice to you. Why drag her

Elara's smile didn't budge. "Nice to me? Seriously? If I were the one getting

jumped in without missing a beat. "Of course I would! I've always told people

"You don't wanna drop out? Fine. But you're still a liar who can't keep her word. So, how about this-run twelve miles instead." Lizzie's jaw dropped.

if you can't handle that, then drop out, Elara added, leaning back in her seat with a

decision didn't matter much to her, but there needed to be consequences. People had

spat, "Fine! I'll

scream your apologies the whole time. Tell

she stammered, her voice shaky. The idea of being humiliated

to what you did?" Elara's voice was ice-cold. "Trust me, I'm letting you