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.

During their break, some of the women said that they were hungry. Emmett's roommates immediately dragged the other guys in the room downstairs to buy snacks.

They were gone for 20 minutes. Seeing that they were still not back, Candice got tired of waiting and announced that the game would continue.

Isla placed her phone down and looked around. She noticed that Adrian was now gone—or to be exact, all other guys except for Emmett were now gone.

She knew this was another of his schemes, yet she refused to play along.

As such, Isla picked up the 17-ounce wine glass and raised it. "Since my appointed partner left, I'll finish the drink as punishment according to the game rules."

After that, she tilted her head up and easily finished the wine in her glass.

Emmett's expression instantly darkened. He hadn't expected Isla to pick drinking over him. He stared at her face, which was flushing quickly, and tightened his grip on the dice.

With half the group gone, the game lost its fun. As such, the meetup came to an end.

Isla was tipsy. She waited until everyone had left before taking out the club withdrawal application from her bag and passing it to Candice. She then leaned against the wall while trying to make it downstairs.

Just as she reached the stairway entrance, Isla groggily saw Sadie, who was nearby. Isla was about to pretend not to see her when she grabbed Isla's arm suddenly.

Sadie's eyes were filled with anger. "What's that look in your eyes when the lights came back earlier? I'm telling you—there must be a reason even if Emmett didn't kiss me! It means he cherishes me a lot!"

Isla almost burst out laughing when she heard Sadie's words. However, she knew that Sadie wouldn't listen no matter what Isla said to her now. She nodded and said, "What you said is right."

Isla tried to shake Sadie's hand off and leave. But Sadie tightened her grip as she continued to curse at Isla, refusing to let it go.

As the two of them struggled, Isla, whose steps were already unsteady, lost her balance and fell from the steep stairs.

Shocked, Sadie lost her footing and also tumbled down the stairs.

Hearing the commotion from upstairs, those who hadn't gone far quickly turned around to check what was going on.

Panic spread among them instantly when they saw that both of them were seriously injured.

In the end, Emmett was the one who contacted someone and got them sent to his family's hospital.

…

After the examination, the doctor said it was a bone fracture. There could be a risk of permanent disability if not treated immediately.

After finding out that both Sadie and Isla were injured, Emmett's gaze never left Isla. His heart broke when he saw sweat dripping down constantly from her pale face.

The operating room was ready, but there was only one surgeon capable of performing the surgery currently. Emmett had to decide the order in which to treat them.

He subconsciously glanced over to Isla, meeting her eyes coincidentally. There was no longer longing and passion in her eyes—only a lifeless calm.

Her gaze shocked Emmett to the core.

"Please make your decision soon, Mr. Cosworth. Who's going for the operation first?"

Isla lay on the stretcher, looking deathly pale. Just as she was about to black out, she heard him firmly say, "Sadie. Save Sadie first!"

The doctor soon pushed Sadie into the operating room.

As soon as the doors shut, Isla lost consciousness.

…

It was a day after when Isla regained consciousness. As soon as she opened her eyes, she reached for her legs.

She let out a relieved sigh after feeling that her legs were still there and were still responsive. Tears welled up in her eyes when she realized that she had survived the fall without becoming disabled.

Isla's parents rushed over as soon as they heard the news. They then upgraded her to the VIP ward on the top floor, where they took care of her carefully.

Sadie occupied the ward across hers two hours later. Emmett was the one who personally carried her in.

The doors to both wards were opened to make check-ups easier. As such, Isla could clearly see what was happening in the ward across from hers.

Sadie kept crying out in pain, so Emmett tried to distract her with various topics.

The hospital meals made by the logistics department did not suit her taste, so he personally went back to make her light meals.

When she complained about being bored in the ward, Emmett brought all sorts of interesting toys to keep her entertained.

Over the past ten days, Emmett and Sadie were so intimate that even the nurses couldn't help but gossip.

They wondered if the hospital director, Dominic Cosworth, was about to get himself a daughter-in-law soon.

Isla listened quietly without getting involved. However, she knew that Emmett was doing all this to put on a show for her.

After all, she had closed the door to her hospital ward countless times. As soon as it was closed, a nurse would come in to check on her.

The door was opened every time. There was no way for it to be a coincidence.