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Winona's lips pressed into a tight, angry line just hearing the story.

Natalie took a long breath, fighting to pull herself out of the dark memories. "Luke was always the quiet type. He never wanted me to worry about him. Plus, as a guy, getting relentlessly bullied by a girl was probably humiliating for him to admit. After that, he told me to stay out of it, claiming her hits didn't even hurt. But it broke my heart. Why did he have to endure that kind of abuse? Thankfully, we had good grades and got into Capital University. But then Cleo ended up there too, through some arts program. Our campuses were far apart, so college was mostly peaceful. Later on, I heard her family went bankrupt. Talk about karma."

There was a vindictive edge to her voice as she finished her story, right as they pulled up to the hospital.

Winona stepped out of the car. As they hurried down the adjacent corridor, her gaze suddenly snapped toward a spot in the distance.

Last night, she had bumped into a young couple making out right here, and the woman's voice had sounded exactly like Cleo.

Her brow furrowed in thought.

Natalie grabbed her uninjured arm, her tone urgent. "What are you spacing out for? Let's get that hand treated."

Winona nodded, following her inside.

While the doctor carefully treated the severe blisters on her hand, she turned her head away, using conversation with Natalie as a distraction. "What did that Cleo woman mean by the things she said today?"

Natalie frowned, wincing as she watched the doctor pierce the blisters. "I don't know. Luke and I aren't the helpless, broke students we used to be. If she wants to play games now, she needs to weigh her options carefully. But from the looks of it, she's hooked up with Sienna. She was always Sienna's lapdog back in the day. Now that her family is bankrupt, she'll do absolutely anything to suck up to Sienna again. You need to be careful. Cleo is a total thug, and she's got millions of followers online."

Winona lowered her gaze, offering a soft "Mhm," her mind still racing over whether the woman she saw last night was indeed Cleo.

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