Catch the culprit (2)

Layla's muscles were still twitching from anger, aroused by all the information provided by Heath. She was furious that someone was taking advantage of them for their own selfish goal.

"Where… are we going?" Heath asked in a low voice.

"Abduct someone." She said, with no intention of using softer words. Her anger was apparent in her voice.

"Then-then, can I leave now?" He didn't want to know whatever she wanted to do even the slightest. He just wanted to go away from her… from them. After all, it wasn't fun at all. In fact, it felt the opposite; dangerous and suffocating.

"Don't you even dare to think about it!" He felt as if her eyes were throwing fire to burn him.

This time, she sent Zou Haoran to trick two girls into leaving with them. The reason was…

Of course, not his face. It was just that she didn't want to show any temper in front of a teacher.

Zou Haoran successfully did his job. After mentally torturing them and making them spill the beans, Layla's next and final destination was the music room where they will deal with the final boss.

…...

-Flashback-

Zou Haoran frowned. "State clearly."

"Two senior sisters told me." He averted his eyes to avoid the ire dancing in their eyes.

"Are you a turtle or snail?" Layla started to get impatient. Why can't he finish all this in one go, delaying like this… She felt like gritting her teeth so that she could swallow her desire to punch him.

Seeing her getting angrier, he became scared and started to speak hurriedly. "Senior Tulip and senior Dahlia told… told me that senior Olivia's brother stole something important from the music club and the vice-president discovered that she directed her brother to steal so-so that she can do better than us." He waited for her to speak. But, when there was no sound he slowly looked at them.

Layla was standing silently, processing all the information fed to her. She somewhat knew that rumors could be spread but she never knew that this incident would be used to target Olivia. Right now, it was clear from his statement that someone was splashing mud on Olivia bluntly, pushing her in a corner while making them shoulder the responsibility of blame.

"They also said that if I don't believe them they could confirm it with y-you.

They were confident." He spoke softly; if not for the eerie silence then it would have been hard to listen to his last sentence.

"Why didn't your senior Lani know anything about it?"

"What!! But-but we confirmed—" he swallowed the rest of his words. Her eyes were scaring him.

"Senior said that senior Lani is very angry with her and she neither wants to see her nor wants to talk about her. That's-that's why we didn't mention anything specific to senior Lani. After all, senior Lani is very good to us, we didn't wanna hurt her by mentioning anything about."

"Yet you go to her to ask her in circles. Tell me if she had realized the underlying meaning wouldn't she be hurt by then." She mocked him.

"Th-that…" He lowered his head in embarrassment. He was waiting for the final judgment. Like everybody says the vice-president Layla is really a female devil. His secretary is also very scary.

'I should look for those flower sisters.' Layla anticipated such a situation when she listened to Lani's doubts. Receiving some heads up in advance made her gather enough information to look for them with ease. Well, even if that's not the case, she still has him in her clutches.

"Let's go."

-End of the Flashback-

…...

"Practicing so early senior." Layla said as soon as her eyes fell on Monica Drew, the leader of the music club.

Monica noticed that Layla was smiling but her eyes were emitting a chilling sensation. She had a bad premonition all of a sudden. "Yup junior. Being a leader makes you busier than others." She answered naturally, not letting some wild thoughts mess with her. "What are you doing here?" she asked, unsure of her arrival. Her mind couldn't help but think. But it was hard to guess whether she was here because she found out something or because she needed her help.

"I wanted to thank you for that day." Monica smiled. 'Ah, I was worried for nothing.' But before she could say anything, Layla's next words made her halt her steps.

"Look, I have brought others too." With this, Familiar faces entered the room. She recognized them with a glance, after all, she spends her time in the music club with them.

She saw that their expressions were ugly and their faces were green and red as if they had just angered. It caused her heartbeat to erratic. Among all of them, only a single face was new for her but it couldn't console her as he was looking way too different from all of them: lazy and relaxed. She noticed the 'secretary' tag on him, and it gave a vague idea of the situation.

"This! Junior, what is this? How could you disturb their studies and bring them here?" She sweetly chided Layla for being irresponsible and unreasonable.

Layla smiled brightly as if she didn't do anything wrong. "Don't fret, Senior. As the vice-president, it should be right for me to thank you and everyone who decided to help me. As for studies" she raised her eyebrows and said, "Teachers let them come with me."

"Is… that so?" Monica was trying hard to maintain her perfect smile yet it was looking uglier than before. After all, how could not she see that Layla was flaunting her power as the vice-president. "Now that you've thanked us, you should let them go back to their classes. Afterall skipping a lecture for—"

Layla interrupted her. "What's the rush, senior. I still wanted to know when I said that Olivia instructed her brother to steal." Every single word that was coming out from her mouth was making her smile fader and fader until the chilling sensation emitting from her body reached the max.

Layla was staring at her thinking how smart of her to choose a guy who's a junior, a girl who was in the same standard as Lani but different section, and lastly a girl who's in the same standard as her. Layla scoffed internally.

"You're mistaken, junior." Monica was determined to not let herself slip. No matter what Layla was going to say, she would not accept any accusations. After all, they actually had no solid evidence in their hands.

She secretly clenched her hands secretly. If not for Layla and her past notorious acts, she could have spread some rumors easily using a vice-president's name. Poor her who met Layla as she never followed mass' logic to do her thing.

"Really…" Layla made an innocent face. "...Then, they lied to me." Hearing Layla's statement, Heath, Tulip, and Dahlia turned their heads at Monica.

Their heated gazes were making her sweat. Monica could feel some water accumulating on her forehead. Layla was clearly turning them against her. If she didn't do anything now then her future in this team would not be that smooth.

With gritted teeth, she explained "You got it wrong. Junior Lani relayed your message to me." She was indirectly pushing the blame on Layla and Lani.

You mean this. Layla flashed her mobile in front of her. "Why can't I read here that Olivia asked her brother to steal." There was a screenshot of her and Lani's chat. It was clearly showing how she acknowledged the message and even replied to her. "Oh… she asked for cancellation of plans too on the same day of the incident." She said dramatically but it was enough for others to understand her underlying meaning.

"You're spouting nonsense." Monica raised her. She couldn't take her provocation any longer.

"Senior Monica." Layla called her in a cold voice shedding all the facade she was showing. "You really think so. Hmm…" She moved closer and whispered in her ears, "Did you really think that no one noticed your presence in the room that day. If we were to play the whole video, you would be exposed."

Now Layla had remembered that she saw someone suspicious in that clip. Thus she decided to take a gamble as she also remembered how easily Monica knew the exact time and asked to play the video clip from there.

Monica clenched her fists and lowered her head to hide her exposed face which had turned red. She took deep breaths before looking at them again. "I'm sorry. It's my fault for misunderstanding the situation and ending up speaking nonsense." How could she not know what Layla wanted her to do when she went as far as threatening her.

Layla looked at her with a deep gaze. Since she has apologized despite not speaking the truth till now, she wouldn't push it. After all, it will also lead to conflicts in the club too. "You need to apologize to Olivia also."

"Don't push it, junior." Monica uttered every word with clear hatred.

"Vice-president, senior. Vice-president."

Layla turned to those three who were standing mute till now. "Listen well, everyone Olivia didn't instruct her brother to steal anything. Don't go bully other people for your fun. Clear the lies to whomever you told. And, don't you dare to start a new rumor. Otherwise next time you might be standing in the staff room."

They nodded timidly. Their faces weren't any better than Monica's.

Before turning to her secretary, she left the last reminder for them. "Also, remember one thing, the notice board is still there. I do not need others' mouths."

Looking at Zou Haoran who was lazily standing in a corner and watching the show annoyed her. Shouldn't he be acting like my sword why do I have to deal with all this by myself. "How was it?" irritated, she asked.

"Good. You were beautiful there." He smiled mesmerizingly, making her stare at those raised lips.

Unknowingly, it dissipated the irritation inside. 'Damn, I knew it. His face is a trouble. Even so... he is a good partner in crime.' At Least he doesn't create trouble for her.

With thoughts looking for excuses, she left the room with him following behind her.