Reborn as the Villainess

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Gloria had lowered herself to apologize, but it wasn't just because it was humiliating to apologize in front of the whole school. The bigger issue was that Aloria High School's pep rally was coming up and was a big deal. Parents would be invited to attend to motivate the students and give them a sense of involvement and urgency about the upcoming UAT.

While Gloria's parents were abroad caring for her grandfather, and her brother Andrew was away on business, there were plenty of other parents who were business partners with their family. Gloria couldn't afford to take any chances.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

If her apology mess got brought up over dinner, her family might think she was bullying Eleanor. So, even though it pained her to do it, she had no choice but to lower her head and apologize now.

Right as she was about to secure Eleanor's forgiveness, Gloria's phone rang, and the crisp tone interrupted the moment. She ignored it, her face still full of feigned remorse, and she pressed on, hoping to seal the deal. "Eleanor, about that apology in front of everyone... Can we just let it go?"

However, her phone kept ringing.

Leaning casually against the door frame, Eleanor didn't answer directly. Instead, she said in a casual tone, "You should probably answer that first."

Gloria bit her lip in frustration but eventually pulled out her phone. Janet's name flashed across the screen, and Gloria thought, What's Janet calling me for right now?'

After a brief pause, Gloria reluctantly answered the call. Immediately, Janet's shaky and tearful voice came through the line,. "Gloria, please help me. My family's gone bankrupt. Waaaah..."

Her voice wasn't loud, but in the quiet hallway, Eleanor could hear every word crystal clear. She raised her eyebrows and was intrigued.

Gloria froze for a second, then turned her back on Eleanor and whispered, "What do you mean? Wasn't everything fine earlier today?"

Janet's voice broke as she sobbed softly. "My dad said it's because I offended someone at school. Someone's coming after us, ånd the only person I've had any issues with is Eleanor. It has to be her. Gloria, please, talk to her. Beg her to spare my family. And remember, I only got into it with her because I was standing up for you."

Gloria pressed her lips together, and her eyes happened to catch a glimpse of Eleanor, who was still leaning lazily against the doorframe. She was dressed in a white silk nightgown, and under the soft glow of the orange light, she looked almost ethereal-like a goddess bathed in the last light of the sunset.

It was strange. Eleanor's face wasn't anything remarkable, and those thick, oversized glasses covered most of it, yet just standing there, without saying a word, she seemed untouchable.

Gloria's mind flashed back to how Eleanor used to look-pale and malnourished, like a sickly girl straight out of the countryside. But somewhere along the way, something had changed.

Gloria clenched her fists tightly, and her teeth ground in jealousy, 'How is it that this country bumpkin, who has nothing, can stand there acting so superior? I am the true heiress to the Vanderbilts, Gloria muttered in her mind.

She took a deep breath and forced her voice to stay calm. "Janet, don't worry. I'll talk to Eleanor for you. I'll help you," she whispered into the phone.

On the other end, Janet's voice, full of relief, came through. "Gloria, you're the best. You're truly my best friend."

After hanging up, Gloria turned back to Eleanor, her face once again that of the delicate and innocent girl she pretended to be. "Sorry about that, Eleanor. It was just a call from Janet."

III

Eleanor shot her a casual gaze and was clearly uninterested. "Oh So?"

Gloria gave a soft, sweet smile and replied, "Nothing really, she just asked me about some homework. Anyway, you've already forgiven me, right? So, about the apology... Can we just let that go? After all, it was Janet who made the bet with you, not me." Eleanor almost laughed out loud, and she scoffed inside, 'How did the Vanderbilts raise Gloria to be so shameless?'

If she hadn't misheard earlier, she'd caught snippets like "bankrupt", "offend someone", and "beg". It wasn't hard to piece together what was going on. Even if Eleanor wasn't sure whether Janet's family's downfall had anything to do with her, it was obvious from Gloria's tone that Janet was asking for help.

Eleanor blinked innocently and tilted her head, mimicking Gloria's doe-eyed look. "But aren't you and Janet best friends? If you're such good friends, shouldn't you be sticking together through thick and thin?"

"Come on! Who said I was friends with her?" Gloria suddenly snapped, her voice harsh. "Eleanor, maybe you don't know this since you're new, but Hall Group is nothing compared to our company. She only sticks around me for personal gain. And, you know, we're classmates, and I couldn't exactly avoid her."

Eleanor adjusted her glasses and asked calmly, "So what you're saying is, you didn't want to be her friend? She's the one clinging to you?"

Sensing an opportunity, Gloria quickly nodded and said, "Yes, exactly. She's been clinging to me the whole time. I had no idea she posted your grades on the forum or made that bet with you. If I had known, I never would've allowed her to slander you like that. The only reason I tolerated her at all was to maintain peace between our families."

A glimmer of sarcasm flashed in Eleanor's eyes, but the reflection from her glasses hid it as quickly as it appeared. "Oh, I see. Well, I'll talk to the teacher about it."

Gloria's face lit up, clearly not expecting such an easy win. "Thank you, Eleanor. I'll head back to my room now. Have a good night," she said, wasting no time as she turned on her heel and walked away.

Eleanor watched her retreating figure, unable to hold back a cold chuckle. 'What a sister. Not only is she shameless, but she's also heartless. Can't believe she even threw her best friend under the bus without a second thought.'

But on second thought, it wasn't too surprising. In the novel, when the Vanderbilt family went bankrupt, Gloria took all the money and fled the country without a second glance at the brothers who had cared for her.

Eleanor slipped back into her room and pulled out her phone from the pocket of her nightgown. The little red light on the recorder was still blinking. She had hit a record earlier, just in case Gloria tried to pull some stunt or set her up again. But she hadn't expected to catch such juicy content.

Sitting down at her desk, she booted up her laptop. Her fingers flew over the keys and brought up the screen filled with lines. of code. Within moments, she had located Janet's contact information. With a satisfied smirk, she bundled the audio file and sent it off.

After hitting send, she powered down her laptop. 'Let the games begin,' she thought in high spirits.

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