Even Harper Sullivan joined in the merry-making.Gerald could hardly stay out of it. “A toast to Cassandra!” he announced, raising a glass.“Oho, so you were here, Gerald? It’s like you’re always there whenever something’s going on. I didn’t spot you earlier—where were you at?” Although Cassandra still held little regard for Gerald, through sheer force of habit—nevertheless, she was no longer as cold to him as she used to be, considering he’d helped her out before, in his own way.“Ahaha, are you asking about him, counselor?” Yvonne cut in. “He’s been hiding in that corner the whole time! When Jake burst in here with all his guys, Blondie and the others stood up to them, but Gerald just sat there! Gosh, he’s more helpless than us ladies!”Earlier, when she’d slipped away, she also happened to pass by where Gerald was seated, and had noticed him there.“That’s right! Anyway, were you really expecting this guy to be any help in a fight?”“Now, I’m sure Gerald would have stood along

Word about this whole incident, with the maiming of Damien Rye, was guaranteed to get out.The question was how Damien himself would spin it.“Do you know them, Gerald?” Seeing all these powerful people gathering outside the hospital, Queta stood beside, feeling anxious.“I know them; but they don’t know me.” Gerald smiled wryly. “They’re just here to visit somebody. Never mind about it!”“That gave me a fright! I thought that woman had summoned a bunch of thugs!” Queta gave a long sigh of relief.After one last look at them, Gerald turned to go. He drove Queta back to her place.Zack Lyle had some dirt on Damien Rye, so the latter would probably hesitate to stir up further trouble.Along the way, Gerald didn’t forget to bring up that other matter, concerning a change in employment for Queta.“By the way, Queta… interested in changing jobs?” he asked with a smile.If she wanted to, she could have her pick of any position in Mayberry International. It wasn’t out of the cards to

Queta and Gerald walked in, dressed plainly.The sight of them elicited disdainful scowls from many of the women in the restaurant.“Isn’t that Queta Smith? She came here, to Surati?”Next, a group of four or five girls and guys entered as well. As they walked past the table where Gerald and Queta were seated, some of them stopped in their tracks to stare at Queta in surprise. A playful spark flitted through those eyes.“Linda…oh, hey, everybody…” Queta blushed as she greeted them, setting her food down and clutching her dress nervously.Linda was fetchingly made-up and wore a form-fitting little black dress that only barely covered her butt.Her female friends were clad in similarly risqué fashions, while the guys had piercings which announced their considerable social statuses.It should be fair to assume that these were Queta’s classmates.They had such teacher training courses at Gerald’s university too. You get all sorts in there.Some were rich brats who’d failed to qual

“Violence, you say? Heh! You were lucky you escaped the hospital when you did, let me tell you…otherwise, you would’ve been admitted there that night!” the young woman cackled. “I’ve been searching for the two of you so I can get my revenge—how nice of you to allow me to find you here instead!”“Miss Liara, is this the punk who was bothering you last time?”“Pfft. Just a couple of losers. And here I thought it might be someone special and that’s why we couldn’t track them down. You must be tired of being alive, huh? Trying to start something with our Miss Liara!”Several men were posturing hopefully for Liara’s approval.“Miss Liara, I know these two! The girl is one of my classmates. Her name is Queta Smith. That guy seems to be her boyfriend!”Linda finally understood what was going on here. One moment they’d been welcoming Miss Liara, and the next, she was pointing at Queta and shrieking for someone to grab her.And then, Miss Liara slapped Queta right across the face.So… Qu

Yancy Zimmerman was an august personage in this campus and Aiden Baker even more so.And they’d come in here with a veritable army to rescue this Gerald person.What was the connection, here?What’s more…they were actually taking orders from him?“What are you waiting for? I want the stuffing beaten out of her!” Aiden roared.Yancy dragged Linda away and barked for the guys to start smacking her about.“You’re totally barking mad! Aiden Baker, are you really going to make an enemy of me…for the sake of these two nobodies?” This turn of events had happened too abruptly for Liara to make any sense of it.Aiden…how dare he treat her like this?“Hah!” Aiden sneered coldly. “That’s right—and what can you do about it? You’re just another whore under Rye Group!”“No way! You dare insult me?”Smack!Humiliation turning to rage, Liara lunged forward to attack Aiden, only to be knocked back to ground with another ringing slap.Blood was trickling from a corner of her mouth, now.Lia