Liar and Liar - Chapter 14

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 14

Just like the male students from earlier, Cove Blanton, wearing sports attire and lacrosse team sweatpants, was gripping the handle of Danielle’s bag, holding it up in the air.

Annoyed, Danielle immediately approached Cove.

“Give it back. Why are you stealing someone else’s bag? Are you a thief?”

“Well, you should have come out when I called you nicely. How dare you make me wait?”

Danielle, who had no idea what he meant, remembered the text message two beats too late.

“Ha. Like I’d follow such an arrogant text? You expect someone to come out without even revealing who you are?”

“You should. Because you’re a tryel.”

Danielle tried to snatch her bag without responding, but Cove quickly pulled it back behind him.

“Wait. I haven’t even started with my business yet.”

“I don’t have even one second to spare for you.”

Cove Blanton, the lacrosse team captain, definitely had solid skills and talent, but he was the only one among the Center Table Boys with a bad reputation.

No one spoke the reason out loud, but everyone actually knew.

‘Just like a lacrosse team captain, as expected.’

Historically, lacrosse had been the exclusive domain of wealthy white people, and indeed, more than half of Elmir Westlake Upper School’s current lacrosse team was white.

While player selection was supposedly the coach’s authority, Danielle was certain that the proportion of white freshmen on the lacrosse team had definitely increased since Cove became captain.

So even though a Nordic sculpture-like face that would make any female student’s heart flutter was just 1 foot (30cm) away, Danielle felt no excitement.

Cove, with his reddish-blond hair and brown eyes, also cynically met Danielle’s gaze. Cove was the first to speak.

“I’ll propose a deal, Tryel. It’s a deal that will make you jump with joy, so listen carefully.”

Look at the way he talks.

Danielle crossed her arms, closed her eyes, and turned her head while waiting for Cove’s next words. Go ahead and babble, she thought.

“Break up with Frederick. And date me just until the end of this year. No touching or anything like that needed—just publicly express that you like me. If you do that, I’ll give you $10,000 every month for 10 months, a total of $100,000.”

$100,000, 150 million won.

Even though this was California’s most expensive and prestigious private school, it was definitely a huge amount for an 11th grader to mobilize.

Cove seemed to think so too. His voice was overflowing with confidence. As if asking whether she could possibly refuse this deal.

However, Danielle’s voice remained stiff as ever.

“Reason.”

“What?”

“What’s your reason for spending that much money?”

Even if it was a bet, $100,000? It was too absurd. At the very least, an explanation was needed.

“If you don’t explain even briefly, I won’t respond to anything else you say.”

After a tense standoff, Cove Blanton finally added a brief comment.

“Everyone has someone they absolutely want to beat somehow. You wouldn’t understand.”

Danielle’s brow furrowed.

Because he wants to beat Frederick Bastia?

Regardless of whether it was an understandable reason, Cove Blanton’s expression when she opened her eyes to look at him was quite serious.

As if he had finished his turn, Cove now urged Danielle for an answer with his eyes. Danielle carefully chose her words.

“I hate Frederick Bastia. More than you can vaguely imagine. But if I still accepted his confession, what do you think the reason would be?”

Just the matter of Eunho’s clinical trial alone wasn’t something that could be converted to money. If she had tried to solve it with money, how much would have been needed?

“I agreed to date him with the thorough intention of using him.”

Perhaps because it was such a blunt statement, Cove’s nose bridge wrinkled. Danielle welcomed it. It was mutual, after all.

“Then how much. Tell me the exact amount you want.”

“$1 million. I don’t want installments either. Definitely a lump sum.”

“What?!”

Cove shouted. His voice was filled with absurdity. Not missing that opportunity, Danielle snatched her bag.

“What, you don’t have that much money? If you don’t have money but bother people like this even one more time, just watch.”

Danielle was about to turn around immediately, but Cove’s sharp voice held her back.

“You’re not pretty enough for that, you know? $1 million just to hear you say you like me fake? Are you crazy? Do you think Frederick really likes you? Do you think he’d give you $1 million?”

At least Frederick Bastia pretended to confess because he liked me, so I gave him a discount, you bastard. You got a 10x markup because your attitude is trash.

She had more than enough words to fire back, but didn’t have the chance to spit them out. Cove Blanton stepped closer.

“Think again. Your place, your position. Think again properly.”

“Think about what?! I said no, I hate everything from your face to your personality! Even if you gave me $10 million, I’d never date someone with such arrogant character flaws like you. You racist bastard!”

Getting swept away by emotion and losing her sense of direction was truly a fatal mistake. She just didn’t want that arrogant Cove Blanton to come closer. Even so, she shouldn’t have stepped backward.

She stepped backward, but there was no ground. Danielle’s eyes widened. Damn it. I was standing in front of the swimming pool. Then…

“Kyaaah!”

At least it was fortunate that she threw her bag forward, but Danielle’s body helplessly fell backward. Cove Blanton’s surprised face, visible for just an instant, was annoyingly detestable.

Splash.

Water sprayed as Danielle fell deep into the water.

“Hey, falling in by yourself and making a fuss. Are you crazy?”

Cove approached right to the edge of the swimming pool, crouched down, and frowned while looking at the water where bubbles were rising. Since the ladder was on the opposite side, he intended to extend his hand if absolutely necessary.

But Danielle’s target wasn’t Cove’s hand. Danielle, who had suddenly emerged from the water surface, immediately reached toward Cove.

She had tried to grab his hair, but anything else would have been fine too. Her fingertips touched the thin zip-up he was wearing.

Danielle gripped that zip-up tightly like a water ghost. And pulled with all her might.

“Hey!!! This won’t-“

Cove shouted, but it was already too late. He fell into the water next to Danielle with a splash. In that moment, Danielle used all her strength to press both hands against the pool edge and got her upper body out of the water first.

‘Ah, so heavy!!!’

Danielle, holding her glasses in one hand and staggering to her feet, looked down at the swimming pool with blurry vision.

The reddish-blond hair was trying to get out of the swimming pool. Danielle immediately lifted one foot and pushed that head back down.

“Hey!!!”

“Serves you right. You unlucky bastard.”

Eventually, instead of trying to get out of the water, Cove remained submerged and looked up at Danielle. Due to being wet, the curves of bone and muscle stood out prominently over his sports clothing.

Danielle swept back her hair, thoroughly soaked with water, with her other hand and took a deep breath. Cove silently stared at what looked like a sports drink commercial unfolding before his eyes.

“I have a nasty temper. So let’s not create any more occasions to associate with each other, okay?”

“…”

She had definitely expected him to curse, but surprisingly, Cove Blanton kept his mouth shut. He just stared intently at her face with blazing eyes.

Ignoring his gaze, Danielle roughly grabbed her bag and headed back the way she came. Until she completely left the swimming pool, Cove stared at Danielle’s retreating figure like a crocodile submerged in water.

‘Ugh, so annoying.’

Time wasted, fell in water, and even wasted brain cells on a useless conversation. It was the worst.

Moreover, since she had class right after, instead of going to the dormitory to wash properly, Danielle had no choice but to roughly wipe herself down in the makeshift shower and change into gym clothes.

‘Good thing I dragged him down with me.’

Danielle entered the chemistry lab. It was also a class that Cove Blanton was taking. That’s why she hadn’t wanted to fall into the water alone.

After finishing about 2 months of theoretical classes, it was now experiment week.

The male teacher crossed the classroom holding a small box. Students each drew a paper from the box.

“You’ll be experiment partners with the person whose name you drew for the rest of the semester.”

Danielle casually unfolded and looked at the slip of paper.

Danielle looked up with a glare. Cove’s expression, whose eyes happened to meet hers exactly, subtly crumpled. As if he had somehow seen his own name in Danielle’s hand.

* * *

Becoming experiment partners with Cove Blanton was definitely the worst disaster. Since both Danielle and Cove refused to swallow their pride, the entire experiment activity was conducted without any communication from start to finish. (Thinking about it that way, one could say they actually worked well together.)

As soon as the class-ending bell rang, Cove quickly left, and Danielle suppressed her anger by clenching both hands into fists.

‘I have to do this for the rest of the semester?’

She was about to leave the classroom with a sigh when a sharp voice stopped her in her tracks.

“Hey.”

Naturally, Danielle’s head turned to the side.

Emily with fierce eyes and Stella with crossed arms stood in the center, with two other female students positioned at each end.

Danielle, who didn’t particularly want to deal with them, tried to go her way without responding, but Emily blocked her with her shoulder, almost pushing her.

Then she tilted her head crookedly and muttered in a small voice that only Danielle could hear.

“I definitely warned you.”

Danielle met Emily’s gaze directly. The coldness was brief, as Emily soon smiled gently as if nothing had happened.

“Just because Frederick is playing with you, you think you’re something special? To others, you’re just a toy to kill time.”

Emily couldn’t have known. That the blade she had prepared had truly stabbed the very center of Danielle’s heart, at its deepest point.

Her heart was pounding, but Danielle perfectly concealed her expression. In the first place, Danielle only lost control of her facial expressions when dealing with Frederick. When facing any other monsters, Danielle was not weak at all.

“Your thoughts are so amoeba-simple that guys look down on you.”

“What?”

“You’re Jeremy Marquez’s 13th girlfriend, while I’m Frederick Bastia’s first girlfriend? Doesn’t that explain something?”

Danielle watched Emily’s face turn red in real time.

“Hey, my lily. There you are.”

Just then, a figure approached from behind Emily and wrapped both arms around her waist. The moment Danielle saw that person’s face, she frowned.

‘What timing…’

It was Jeremy Marquez, Emily’s boyfriend.

Emily lifted one hand with an extremely annoyed expression and gently traced Jeremy’s jaw.

“Honey, come to think of it, you said they sometimes talk about Danielle Ryu on the American Football Team, right? What did everyone say?”

“Hmm?”

Danielle found herself receiving the paired gazes of Jeremy and Emily. Jeremy unpleasantly scanned Danielle’s face. The sneer hanging on his lips was a bonus.

“Oh, that she looks like she smells like vomit? Everyone burst out laughing at what Luke said back then.”

True to everyone’s assessment, Jeremy Marquez was definitely really stupid. Danielle had already expelled male students from school twice for this kind of verbal violence.

‘Yeah, keep babbling. More.’

I’ll make sure you can never play American football again.

Danielle was perfectly memorizing every single word Jeremy Marquez said, filling out a mental complaint report, when it happened.

Smack-!

An unexpected figure intervened in the situation without warning. The sound of Jeremy’s head being struck with a glove rang out loudly.

Startled Danielle, dumbfounded Emily, and Jeremy, who instantly became menacing, turned their heads to identify who had hit him.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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