No longer a pushover (Noelle and Cedric)

Xenia stopped Noelle from leaving. "Noelle, for the sake of our relationship, you'll unlock my phone, right?"

"What relationship?" Noelle shot Xenia a cold, mocking glance.

Before Xenia could respond, Noelle walked out of the classroom. Those trolls deserved a little punishment for spreading inappropriate rumors. They needed to understand the consequences of spreading irresponsible gossip!

Noelle returned to her dorm, feeling exhausted. Just as she was about to take a shower, the door suddenly slammed open.

Jessica stormed in, fuming with anger. "You've gone too far, Noelle! How could you lock so many people's phones? What do you expect them to do now?"

Noelle noticed the large crowd outside the dorm. They were likely those whose phones had been locked.

Visibly displeased, she said impatiently, "Are you deaf? I've already told you the solution: just post an apology, and your phones will be unlocked."

Jessica, still unsatisfied, snapped, "Why should we apologize when we've done nothing wrong?"

"In that case, scram!" Noelle felt it was a waste of time reasoning with these hypocritical trolls.noveldrama

"Not until you unlock our phones!"

"Yeah! Who gave you the right to do this? We have freedom of speech."

"That's right! Are you too scared to own up to your actions?"

Noelle laughed bitterly. "Come on, ladies. Have you ever thought that one day, you might end up being slandered, just like you're doing now?

"Someone could easily make up a post with a photo attached, and suddenly, you're slut-shamed. While I can vent my frustration by embedding a small program on the forum, you might be left completely helpless, not knowing how to clear your name.

"Do you realize the gravity of your actions?"

Noelle's words hit everyone like a bolt of lightning. The room fell silent.

"That's right. Think about it, ladies," Grace chimed in. "Noelle is being isolated and targeted by the business school students.

"We don't know for sure if that post is even true. We ladies should be supporting each other, not judging one another so harshly!"

As some agreed with Grace and left, the crowd slowly began to disperse.

Jessica, however, wasn't ready to let it go. "Grace, how dare you speak up for Noelle? If Ms. Merlock finds out about this, you're in big trouble!"

Noelle shot Jessica a cold look. "Samantha's dealing with a serious case involving

a death. I highly doubt she has the time for anything else."

"Samantha is a Merlock. What could happen to her?" Jessica retorted, but she quickly backed off under Noelle's icy gaze.

Without Samantha's backing, Jessica didn't dare to stand up to Noelle. In the end, she slumped at her desk, staring at the black screen of her phone, furious and on the verge of tears.

Grace took out her unlocked phone and handed it to Jessica. "If you need to make a call, you can use mine."

"No thanks, you traitor!" Jessica snapped, tears of frustration streaming down her face. She wondered why she had to share a dorm with Noelle, the country bumpkin whom she detested most!

After taking a shower, Noelle lay on

her bed with her computer. She

hacked into the bar's system, searching for the surveillance footage from the night before. She realized the first and second floors had cameras, but the third floor had none.

She managed to find the footage from the second floor, where she had been ambushed outside the restroom, but the footage from the previous night had been deleted. She copied the surveillance data

As far as she knew, the only person who could restore it was that person from the black market. However, she hadn't been in contact with that person since the incident.

Noelle lay back on the bed, trying to clear her mind. She was exhausted after everything that happened the night before and soon fell asleep. When some noise woke her up, she groggily got up, her face showing clear irritation.

Grace stood by the bed. "Mr. Farrell, the counselor, is here to talk to you. I think it's about the post."

"Look who's in big trouble," Jessica sneered from the side. "Let's see if Mr. Farrell can make Noelle unlock our phones!" She hoped that Noelle would be punished for good.