1

In the corner of a prestigious college campus in the city of London, three girls gathered around a girl who looked scared. Emily Carey stood in the middle of them, her body trembling softly as if trying to survive the cold intimidation that enveloped her. Emily's head was bowed low, as if trying to avoid the sharp gaze directed at her.

"Lift your face!"

Connie ordered in a cold tone, making everyone who heard feel a shiver of anger. The dissonant laughter of several other girls echoed around Emily, following Connie's small, mocking laugh. Connie pushed Emily's shoulder hard, making the girl lower her head even more, as if invisible gravity was pressing her head deeper into the ground.

"Don't want to obey my orders, huh?"

Connie clenched her fists, her eyes burning with frightening anger. Connie's hand then flew, brutally slapping Emily's cheek, the sound of the slap echoing among the mocking laughter. Emily staggered, pain taking over every inch of her body.

"Connie, your slap is still not hard enough," Lucy approached, pushing Connie aside in a superior manner. She then slapped Emily a second time, harder, making laughter echo around them.

Jennie, sarcastically, said, “Two slaps? Still not enough, right?”

She threw a third slap with vengeance, making Emily’s body fall to the ground. Emily endured the pain on her reddened cheeks, her hands clenched tightly, trembling, holding back tears that were about to burst.

“Oh my, her body is as light as cotton!” Jennie laughed mockingly.

“I didn’t even touch her with full force, but she just fell down like that. Really weak!”

Emily felt the sting on her face and heart, but more than that, shame overwhelmed her. Slowly, she lifted her face, looking around in the small hope of help. However, the students who passed by just ignored her indifferently, their gazes blank, as if they didn’t want to get involved. Even when Emily’s eyes met one of them, that person immediately lowered his head, avoided her, and walked away without a word.

Her heart was cut even more. This was not the first time she had been the target of their hatred, and every time this happened, she received the same treatment: rejection that ignored her existence. Not a single one showed mercy, not even the slightest sympathy. She was just a blur to them, a victim not worth fighting for.

Seeing Emily, who dared to lift her face, Connie felt her anger burning. Roughly, she grabbed Emily's hair, pulling it up and forcing Emily to look directly at her.

"Where are your eyes looking, huh? Do you think you can just ignore me? You shameless omega!"

Connie shouted in a piercing, mocking tone.

Emily groaned, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Mom... I'm sorry," she said softly, her voice almost swallowed by pain and fear. Her voice was shaking, full of sincere pleas, even though she knew it probably wouldn't mean anything to them.

"Sorry? Do you think I care about your apology?"

Connie laughed sarcastically, her thrusts getting rougher, pushing Emily's face almost to the asphalt beneath her. Emily's groans tore through the silence, while Lucy and Jennie laughed even harder, enjoying the sense of power they held over Emily.

"Trash like you should have died a long time ago!" Lucy added in a tone full of hatred. "Why do you still have the guts to be here? How dare you show up and think you can breathe the same air as us!”

Their words cut more sharply than a slap. Emily braced herself as hard as she could, her hands still clenched tightly, but her heart was shattered into pieces. She knew no one would come to help her. They saw her as someone who deserved to be humiliated, someone who had no right to stand before them.

Connie released her grip on Emily’s hair roughly, as if she had just held something disgusting. She looked at her dirty palms with an expression full of disgust, then glanced at Emily with a disdainful smile.

“Ugh, what’s this smell?” Connie wrinkled her nose, her face showing deep distaste. “Did she wash her hair with dirty oil? How could she live this dirty life?” she taunted as she quickly wiped her hands with a wet tissue, as if trying to clean Emily’s traces from her.

Emily, trying her best, attempted to get up from the ground, but before she could straighten her body, Lucy suddenly stepped on her arm roughly, making Emily scream softly in excruciating pain.

“Oops! I thought it was just a worm that passed by, but it turned out to be a disgusting hand," Lucy said with a laugh, even though she still left her foot stuck on Emily's arm without the slightest bit of mercy.

Emily groaned in pain, her tears began to flow uncontrollably, and in a voice full of despair, she begged, “It hurts… please, let go…” Her body was too weak to fight; her soul felt crushed by the injustice that had befallen her.

Lucy grinned, lowered herself closer to Emily’s face, and mocked sarcastically, “What? I didn’t hear you. Try harder; maybe we’ll stop,” she said, making Connie and Jennie laugh in satisfaction as if the taunting were part of a fun game for them.

Emily could only surrender. She looked around, hoping that this oppression would end soon, but no one around her cared; everyone turned away, ignoring her as if she were nothing more than invisible air.

Suddenly, the sound of a cell phone vibrating came from Connie’s bag. Connie frowned, then took her cell phone out of her bag and checked it. A message immediately caught her attention, and her face changed, this time filled with sudden joy.

“Guys!” she exclaimed enthusiastically. “The Four Alphas are back! They’re throwing a party to celebrate their return!” Connie looked really excited; her evil gaze turned into euphoria as if she had just received an exclusive invitation.

Lucy and Jennie immediately took out their phones, read the same message, and in an instant, they all cheered in unison as if they had received the best news of their entire lives.

“I got the invitation too!” Lucy exclaimed triumphantly. “Me too!” Jennie chimed in with an equally happy tone.