Chapter 249
The moon was a bright beacon in the night sky.
At 2 a.m., Dahlia and Lorna finally gave in to exhaustion and decided to call it a night.
But Keira hadn’t made it back yet.
Keira was like a ghost among them, barely noticeable.
Aside from Morwenna, the other two roommates hardly interacted with Keira, much less worried about her.
The only person who cared for Keira had accidentally fallen asleep.
At this hour, the door to the women’s restroom near the academic building was locked.
Keira, drenched and trembling, sat curled up in a corner. If you looked closely, you could make out the bruises under her skirt on her shins.
She looked like a small animal that had been tormented, fear and panic in her eyes. After being hurt, she could only shrink into a corner, too scared even to ask for help.
Morwenna was the only one at school who would come to her aid, but those bullies came from wealthy and influential families. Keira didn’t want to cause trouble for Morwenna.
She belonged to the Phillips family, a fact that meant the bullies would only go so far, not daring to truly harm her.
But Morwenna had no such backing. Crossing those bullies could mean trouble.
Keira suffered in silence.
She didn’t dare fight back, believing that if she remained passive, the bullies would eventually get bored and stop.
The restroom was cold and eerie at night, and Keira’s clothes were soaked and dirty. Yet, she remained silent, huddled up and enduring until the janitor would unlock the door in the morning.
Despite this, Keira never considered leaving the school.
The school she once detested felt bearable because Morwenna was there, striving.
At 5:30 a.m., the janitor, yawning, approached the restroom door, muttering, “Who locked this door? I’m almost certain I didn’t lock it yesterday.”
As she unlocked the door, a figure darted out, giving her quite the scare.
“Why would someone be in the restroom overnight? Must be students messing around again.”
The janitor was puzzled but, being just a janitor, sighed and moved on.
Keira sprinted.
It wasn’t the dirt or mess she was fleeing from but the fact that Morwenna would be up by six.
Knowing Morwenna, Keira’s absence might slip past her last night, but she’d definitely catch it by morning.
Keira rushed back to the dorm, quickly showered to wash off the filth, applied some foundation to hide her bruises, and then stepped out of the bathroom.
It was now six, and Morwenna was waking up.
Groggy, Morwenna got out of bed and saw Keira emerging from the bathroom.
She paused, asking, “Keira, why are you up so early? Is something wrong?”
Keira turned her face away, avoiding Morwenna’s gaze. She was afraid her shaky, hoarse voice would give away the bullying she had endured.
She shook her head, indicating nothing was/wrong.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to tell Morwenna; it’s just that having grown up among Rosefrost Hollow’s elite, she knew too well the power behind those wealthy families.
She couldn’t risk Morwenna being hurt.
Morwenna had never faced bullying.
And she had no idea how the usually obedient Keira was being tormented at Rosefrost University, to the point of considering dropping
out.
Seeing Keira shake her head, Morwenna said, “Then I’m off to fres up. I accidentally fell asleep last night without doing so. Do you want to join me for breakfast later?”
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