That was why Isla only thought it was ironic when she saw Emmett putting on this act in front of her again.

She placed her wine glass down and left for the washroom. After splashing her face with some water, she felt more sober and pulled out a tissue from her bag to wipe her face.

As her vision was blocked, Isla did not realize that someone had come to stand beside her. She only found something amiss and glanced to the side when she heard Sadie's peculiar tone.

Sadie said, "You've been pursuing Emmett for so many years, Isla, and he never accepted you. Yet you still dared to show your face at his birthday party?

"Oh please—he doesn't like you at all. Can't you have some self-awareness? You're so cheap with your obsessive pining!"

She looked so well-behaved, yet her words were beyond vulgar.

Isla did not show any signs of displeasure upon hearing Sadie's words. She merely looked at Sadie calmly and asked, "Are you done cursing at me?"

Sadie was stunned as she wasn't expecting Isla to have such a small reaction. However, she refused to back down and planted her hands on her hips.

She continued, "Of course not! Do you know what everyone has been saying about you? You're the "obsessive pining woman that confessed 99 times"! Can you stop being this shameless? Everyone can tell that Emmett likes me. Why can't you just see that?"

Isla was still unperturbed seeing Sadie's shrew-like behavior. She simply shifted her gaze to look behind Sadie and said, "You might want to look behind you before you continue cursing me."

Following her gaze, Sadie turned around looking perplexed. She immediately noticed Emmett, who was standing outside the door. He seemed to have been standing there for quite some time. He likely witnessed everything that had happened.

The thought of it made Sadie panic instantly. Her expression quickly morphed into a pitiful look. All traces of her earlier arrogance disappeared.

She hurriedly walked over to Emmett and took his arm. She started explaining herself nervously, "It's not what you think, Emmett. Isla was the one who bullied me first—"

But Emmett seemed completely unfazed. Even though he had clearly witnessed Sadie cursing at Isla, he acted as if he didn't see anything.

He looked up at Isla before removing his coat and draping it over Sadie. His tone was gentle when he said, "It's so windy outside. You should be careful not to catch a cold when you're dressed so lightly."

Emmett then took her hand and walked back to the private room.

Sadie wasn't expecting him to act this way. He seemed unbothered that she had just cursed at Isla. Sadie immediately gained confidence and smugly turned around. She flashed Isla a mocking smile as if laughing at her audacity.

Isla, who had her head lowered, did not notice Sadie's provocation. She crumpled the used tissue into a ball and tossed it into the trash can. She then turned around and headed downstairs.

The hallway was silent save for her footsteps. She recalled what had just happened and let out a cold chuckle in the dark.

Emmett's gaze was clearly on Isla when he draped the coat over Sadie earlier, yet he was expressing his worry toward Sadie.

Isla had to give it to him—his acting skills were way too good. If she hadn't known about his little secret, she might have fallen into his trap and ended up upset for a long time.

It wasn't the first time something like this had happened.

Over the years, Isla had set aside all her pride and reserve just to pursue him. No matter how much others mocked or insulted her to her face, she had never taken it to heart.

She only wanted to focus on herself and achieve her goals without any regrets. As such, she was determined to confess 99 times.

However, the person Isla had liked for two years chose to ignore the rumors and insult just because he enjoyed the pursuit—that hurt her more than any other curses and mocking ever could.

It was raining heavily outside, and almost all the taxis had stopped running. The group was stuck waiting at the entrance of the bar.

Emmett called for his family chauffeur. He intended to send Sadie back. She immediately put on a smug expression as she glanced sideways at Isla.

Sadie deliberately asked, "It's so late now, and everyone has left. Is it really okay for Isla to be the only one left here waiting for a taxi?"

Emmett took the umbrella from his chauffeur and replied indifferently, "She can walk."

After that, he got into the car with Sadie without giving another look at Isla.

Isla remained unbothered as she watched the sports car leave in the rain. She continued to hail a ride on her taxi app.

The rain only eased up after she waited in the cold for more than two hours. Only then did a driver finally accept her ride request.

…

It was already 2:00 am by the time Isla arrived home. She brushed off the raindrops from her trench coat and slowly made her way to the door. She entered the passcode.

Just as she opened her door, the door opposite to hers opened up as well. Emmett walked out and looked at her coldly. "Come back earlier next time. You're being too loud with the door, and it's disturbing my rest."

Isla glanced at the way he was still in his earlier outfit and understood what was going on. She chucked coldly and hummed perfunctorily before walking right into her room. She then turned on the lights and closed the door.

It wasn't until she got her shoes changed that she heard a loud bang from outside.

Isla paid it no mind. She stripped off her wet clothes, turned on the air conditioner, and curled up on the couch with a blanket.

She had bought this apartment six months ago after hearing that Emmett had moved out of his dorm.

Isla had also moved out just to be his neighbor. She sent him breakfast in the mornings and bid him good night each night. She tried to create all sorts of daily encounters just to win his heart.

Yet no matter how much she showed concern for Emmett, he always ignored her. He rarely responded. It wasn't until she had found out about his secret that she realized he had been pretending not to care all along.

Just like tonight—he'd clearly been home for a while, yet he hadn't even changed out of his clothes. He had kept himself awake as he was worried for her safety.

Isla was already tired of Emmett's mixed signals and mind games. She no longer wanted to play along.

She opened her phone and clicked on the real estate app to list her property.

Now that Isla had decided to leave, she wanted to cut ties completely.

…

The agent came to inspect the apartment the next morning. Isla opened the door groggily and briefly introduced the details of the apartment.

After they were done, she was about to see the agent out when the door across the hallway suddenly opened.

Emmett was holding his car keys and was about to leave. He instinctively frowned when he saw the male stranger beside Isla. "Who's he?"

"This is my uncle. He came to bring some things to me," she lied effortlessly.

The agent turned to her in shock, yet he was professional enough not to call her out for her lie. He soon gave an excuse and left.

Isla returned to her room to get changed for class. As soon as she rounded a corner, she saw someone standing in front of the elevator and blocking her way.

She looked up and saw that it was Emmett. She felt perplexed seeing that he was still here even though he wanted to leave earlier.

He noticed the confusion on her face and replied awkwardly, "I'll send you to the university today."

Isla wasn't sure why he was acting differently today. She shook her head and declined his offer.

However, Emmett insisted on sending her and came up with excuse after excuse, from being almost late to claiming it was on his way. He might even blurt out that it was eco-friendly at this point.

Seeing that she couldn't win against him, and she did not want to delay any longer, Isla agreed to his offer.

Both of them stayed silent in the car throughout their journey.

Emmett was not used to Isla being so quiet. He was used to hearing her chatter whenever he was beside her.

He was surprised to find that it wasn't his imagination—she had truly changed in the past few days. And for some reason, these changes made him feel uneasy.

…

Once they arrived at the university, Isla unbuckled her seatbelt, thanked him, and left soon after.

She briskly walked into the campus, yet she noticed that everyone was staring at her weirdly and whispering among themselves.

One asked, "That's Isla Stokerton, right?"

"Yes, she's the one who's trending. What an embarrassment!"

Hearing those baffling words, Isla quickly pulled out her phone and saw the links sent by her friends.

Upon clicking into it, she realized someone had submitted the story of her confessing to Emmett to the rant bot, and it had even made it to the trending topics.

Isla was shocked to see the entries in the hashtag "Quintessa Uni's obsessive pining woman."

The most popular entry was that post, which compiled all her effort in pursuing Emmett in great detail, even putting out the content of her love letters.

From a distance, Isla saw a crowd gathering in front of the university's bulletin board, which was full of the love letters she had written. They were all laughing and commenting on the love letters.

Someone commented, "What does she mean by 'I'm lost in your eyes'? That's so cheesy!"

Another said, "All 99 love letters were written in every possible way. How scary are those lovestruck fools!"

One asked, "Isn't she supposed to be the most talented woman in Quintessa University? Why is she pining so obsessively?"

Isla's heart sank when she heard the unforgiving mocking. She pushed past the crowd and started tearing the love letters down.

Sadie's sharp voice sounded just as Isla finished taking down the last piece. "Isla confessed to you so many times, Emmett. So, how fond are you toward her?"

Emmett's voice sounded as cold as usual when he uttered, "Not at all."

As the two protagonists—Emmett and Isla—showed up, the crowd's laughter grew louder when they saw Isla get publicly humiliated.

Some of the onlookers were eager to stir things up. They deliberately asked her in a sarcastic tone, "You've confessed 99 times yet he's not fond of you at all, Isla. Aren't you supposed to work harder on it then?

"When's the next confession? We can all come watch and give you some pointers. How about it?"

Isla tightened her grip on the tattered love letters. Her knuckles turned white from the effort. She was about to speak up when she saw the mocking gazes from around her. She decided to hold her tongue.

She scoffed and raised the love letter high in her hand. She then declared loudly, "Fine, the 100th confession will be at the central square of the university, at 9:00 am on December 3rd. Everyone is welcome to come and watch!"

After that, Isla ignored everyone's reactions. With reddening eyes and gritted teeth, she left the scene with her head held high.

That day, she skipped her morning classes and headed home.

Water poured steadily from the faucet, filling the basin to the brim. Isla dunked her head into the water without a second thought.

She only got up when her lungs started to burn. She gripped the counter as she gasped for breath. The haze of anger clouding her mind finally started to lift.

Isla stared at her calm reflection. She then started ripping apart the entire stack of love letters. Then, she started burning them. Finally, she flushed them down the drain.

…

The club, which had been dormant for some time, suddenly announced a meetup over the weekend.

Isla decided to attend as she needed to submit her club withdrawal application.

As soon as she opened the door, she saw Emmett, who never attended such activities, unexpectedly there. She pretended not to notice him and kept her gaze straight. She sat in a corner alone.

Sadie's best friends immediately slipped into their usual routine when they saw Isla.

One said, "How did you manage to get Emmett to come, Sades?"

Another replied, "It's definitely because Sades loves a lively crowd! After all, everyone knows that the campus heartthrob only listens to Sades."

Isla couldn't be bothered with their little tricks. She casually reached out for an orange and started peeling it.

Once everyone had arrived, the club president, Candice Draketon, announced the start of the game.

Isla was not interested at all, but she was dragged into it anyway. She could only force herself to play along with the dull truth-or-dare game.

Emmett finally lost after seven or eight rounds. The group erupted in excited cheers.

"Oh my!" someone exclaimed.

Another announced, "Emmett drew the card that requires him to kiss anyone of the opposite sex in the room for three minutes!"

Someone asked, "Hurry and tell us who you'll pick to take the punishment with you, Emmett!"

Isla knew Emmett would never pick her, and she was uninterested in who his choice was. She looked down and toyed with the dice in her hand.

As expected, he picked Sadie, but he requested for the lights to be turned off.

The room was pitch black, with only the sounds of heavy breathing and the occasional whispers from the members.

The lights went on after three minutes, and Emmett returned to his seat. Sadie stood stunned in place, looking pale. Her lipstick was still vibrant on her.

Emmett had not kissed her.

lsla briefly glanced at Sadie. When Candice announced the start of the next round, Isla tossed the three dice in her hand casually. Unfortunately, all three dice landed at one—the lowest possible score in the game.

She accepted her loss without a word and pulled out a card from the stack. It was the same card as before, with the exact same punishment.

Everyone present started getting excited at once. Their gazes flickered between Isla, Emmett, and Sadie.

Isla pretended not to notice it. She casually spun the game wheel, and the pointer landed on Adrian Greyson, a junior who was sitting across from her.

For a moment, everyone held their breaths, thinking that she was about to back out.

However, Isla got up without further ado and made her way to Adrian. She said nonchalantly, "Sorry in advance, Adrian."

Adrian was dumbstruck. Just as he was about to stand up, Emmett got up abruptly and kicked the coffee table away.

When everyone was confused, he coldly interrupted, "We've been playing for so long, I'm a little tired now. Don't you think it's time for a break?"

Emmett's roommates immediately agreed with him. Candice had no choice but to announce the halt of the punishment.