Ning Yunhuan, now a freshman, found the faces in her class both familiar and alien. These were people whose lives she had followed for years in her previous existence, yet this was the first time she was meeting them in this one. She recalled two particularly beautiful classmates who would eventually rise to fame in the entertainment industry. In this life, however, she resolved not to dwell solely on the stories she knew; after all, Father Ning and the others were still vibrantly alive. She intended to seize what was truly hers. If those two classmates had decent personalities, she planned to introduce them to her family’s company—better to keep good fortune within the fold.

As she was contemplating this, Fu Yuan entered the classroom, glanced inside, and upon spotting Ning Yunhuan, marched straight toward her, her face tight with annoyance:

“Huanhuan, why did you hang up on me yesterday, and then turn off your phone?” Her tone was laced with anger and resentment, as if Ning Yunhuan had committed some deep offense against her.

Ning Yunhuan felt a touch of bewilderment. Even among friends, one couldn't share absolutely everything. She had just had an unsettling encounter the previous night, and her mood was already foul. Lan Lingyan’s sudden appearance had left Ning Yunhuan’s mind in turmoil—the lingering ache, the strange, subtle loss of her first time, a mix of fear, panic, and the sharp indignation she felt seeing the story’s female lead today—all of it was pushing her to the edge of her patience. “Oh? Perhaps the battery died.”

Her casual reply clearly failed to satisfy Fu Yuan, who promptly dropped her bag onto the desk beside Ning Yunhuan’s chair. “If the battery died, fine. But who was that handsome man yesterday? What’s your relationship? He was holding you awfully close, Huanhuan. Shouldn't best friends share everything? How could you get a boyfriend and not tell me? Do Uncle Ning and Auntie know?”

“What does it matter if my parents know or not?” Ning Yunhuan was growing impatient. Just as she was about to rise, her phone, which she had opened that morning, began to ring from inside her bag. She raised a hand to signal Fu Yuan to pause, quickly retrieving the device. Seeing the unfamiliar number, she answered without hesitation. “Hello?”

Silence stretched on the other end. Ning Yunhuan assumed they had dialed the wrong number and was about to hang up when a cool, elegant male voice finally cut through the quiet: “Outside the school gate. Come out now.”

Even without seeing the source of the voice, Ning Yunhuan instinctively shivered, the memory of the person she had met yesterday flashing through her mind. Her lips parted, but no words came out. After delivering his command, the line went dead as if his instruction had been final.

Ning Yunhuan was struck dumb, boiling with suppressed frustration, wishing she could simply toss the phone into the nearest bin.

She had agreed with Lan Lingyan yesterday that after that one encounter, they would never cross paths again. She had no idea how he had obtained her number and dared not ask, yet she felt compelled to obey.

Seeing Ning Yunhuan preparing to leave, Fu Yuan quickly stood up, abandoning her bag, and grabbed Ning Yunhuan’s hand in a sudden panic. “Huanhuan, was that your boyfriend calling? Let’s have a meal together! I haven’t even seen him. Make him treat me to lunch!” Ning Yunhuan was eager to leave and had no time for pleasantries with Fu Yuan. Caught off guard by the pull, she felt a sharp tug. Since it was summer, she was wearing light clothing: just a simple, short-sleeved, pure cotton V-neck T-shirt and a layered chiffon mini-skirt. The abrupt movement caused something silvery and bright to flash briefly in the V-neck opening. Fu Yuan’s sharp eyes caught sight of a necklace. In that fleeting glimpse, she instantly recognized the one she had coveted yesterday—the very necklace she had tried to persuade Ning Yunhuan to give up.

She had later heard the necklace cost over a million. Though her own family had money, they would certainly never allocate a million-plus just for a piece of jewelry for her; it was, after all, just an accessory. Yet, here was the object of her desire, dangling around Ning Yunhuan’s neck!

They were friends; why should the thing she wanted belong to someone else?

A surge of jealousy washed over Fu Yuan, and she instinctively reached out to grab it.

Having just been yanked in a way that nearly caused an indecent exposure, and knowing her stretchy cotton T-shirt offered little defense, Ning Yunhuan instinctively backed away two steps, covering her chest with one hand, suddenly guarded. “What are you doing?”

“Huanhuan, you still say he’s not your boyfriend! He already gave you that necklace yesterday!” The Fu family’s standing was comparable to the Ning family’s, though the Nings doted on their daughter more. It was impossible they would casually spend that much money on a necklace for her for no reason. And Fu Yuan knew better than anyone how little money Ning Yunhuan usually possessed; she frequently sponsored needy students and rarely saved her allowance. She certainly couldn't afford such a thing. It must have been the handsome man from yesterday!

Ning Yunhuan felt a tremor of fear regarding Lan Lingyan, but he wasn't present. Fu Yuan’s sour tone immediately grated on her nerves, so she merely pursed her lips into a faint smile. “When did I ever say he wasn’t my boyfriend?” In truth, she was also perplexed about how the necklace had ended up around her neck. She had only admired it briefly yesterday, but Ning Yunhuan wasn't an eighteen-year-old ingenue; she understood this piece was beyond the reach of her few tens of thousands of yuan. She had already started thinking of returning it, yet somehow, it remained hers.

Though she hadn't seen it happen, Ning Yunhuan knew the only person she had been close to yesterday was Lan Lingyan, so she could only assume he had bought it for her. For a moment, she drifted into thought.

Recalling the events of the day before, and receiving this expensive necklace for no clear reason, she felt a rising anxiety, and her tone turned impatient.

“But you never admitted it when I asked you several times.” For some inexplicable reason, the thought that the man she saw yesterday was already taken—even though Ning Yunhuan was her friend—stirred a tiny seed of envy in Fu Yuan. Not only was the man handsome, but he could casually gift away a million-yuan necklace—something even Fu Yuan’s own father wouldn’t do. A bitter resentment bubbled up, and her words became barbed. “Did something happen between you two that made him give you that necklace?”

Regardless of whether Fu Yuan was a true friend, the moment she uttered such a suggestion, Ning Yunhuan lost the desire to engage. In her previous life, although contact faded after Fu Yuan married shortly after college graduation, they had often shopped and dined together during university, and Fu Yuan had never sounded as sharp-tongued and cutting as she did now.