Vanya's POV
I turned around. I was about to leave this place. It made me feel agitated.
However, I heard Melinda's affected and deliberately raised voice at that moment. My anger was instantly ignited.
I spun around. My gaze was coldly fixed on her, and I said, "Neighbor? You must be joking."
Melinda seemed to find some support for herself and straightened her back, saying, "I live in this block too. Aren't we all neighbors?"
"You don't really think that everyone is on the same level just because you live in this block, do you?" I gave a faint sneer, extended my finger, and pointed to the building where Melinda lived and the one where Grace and I lived, emphasizing, "There's a huge price difference between these two buildings. Didn't Cliff tell you?"
Melinda's face changed slightly. A flicker of panic crossed her eyes as she asked, "Tell me what?"
Grace seized the opportunity to place her hand on my shoulder, raising her voice and saying, "It seems Cliff doesn't value you much. The building you live in is the cheapest in the entire block. Each floor has five units. The residents are either nouveau riche or mistresses kept by the nouveau riche. There's no need for any status verification. Money is all that's required to get in."
At that moment, Melinda's face turned quite gloomy. Grace continued, "The building we live in, on the other hand, costs ten times more than yours. Each floor has only one unit. Aside from well-known figures in Los Angeles, no one else can get in, no matter how wealthy. Tell me, do you really think you're qualified to be our neighbor?"
At that moment, my wolf, Selena, grumbled in dissatisfaction in my mind.
I slightly relaxed and released my Alpha's aura.
This wasn't the Silver Moon Pack. No one would restrict me here.
My aura swept towards Melinda. Soon, her face turned pale.
Melinda looked flustered, her eyes shifting restlessly, unable to meet my gaze.
Grace's face wore a triumphant smile as she looked at Melinda.
Melinda's expression had completely collapsed. Her face turned red with anger and unwillingness.
She opened her mouth, wanting to retort, but found her voice stuck in her throat, unable to come out.
Watching Melinda's state, I felt no pity at all.
I let out a soft hum, retracted my Alpha's aura, turned around, and pulled Grace to leave.
As we walked, I asked, "One unit per floor. Where did Derrick's next-door unit come from?"
Grace cleared her throat, a bit guiltily saying, "Theodore bought a single unit at the time, but it was too big. He was afraid you wouldn't live in it, so he had it slightly renovated to look like two units, but it's actually one."
I nodded thoughtfully, pondering the reason behind it.
No wonder I felt odd when I first moved in. Given the high-end nature of the building, there should have been one unit per floor.
But when I moved in, there were two units.
It turned out Theodore had changed the layout of this unit.
Grace whispered, "You mustn't let Theodore know about this. If he finds out, he'll definitely be angry with me."
I comforted Grace, saying, "Theodore has such a good temper. He won't."
"Good temper? Where do you see that?" Grace was quite shocked, but soon she added, "Well, he is good-tempered with you, but never with anyone else."
I smiled. I didn't take it to heart.
I knew that in this world, only by being strong could I avoid being bullied.
I wouldn't get angry over trivial matters. I needed to focus my energy on more important things.
The next day, I got up early to prepare for school.
I put on neat clothes, tidied my hair, and then walked out of the door.
When I arrived at the hall, the sunlight shone on my face. It was warm and gentle.
I took a deep breath, feeling the fresh morning air, and felt confident.
I drove slowly down the street.
There weren't many vehicles on the road. The traffic was smooth. As I drove, I thought about what might happen today.
When I arrived at school, they were talking about some big event.
When they saw me enter the classroom, they all fell silent, as if suppressed by an invisible force.
I could sense that they were all secretly looking at me. Their eyes were filled with awe and fear.
I found it strange. Wilmot was also here today. Usually, if there was nothing important, Wilmore wouldn't bother coming to class.
If he showed up, it meant something had happened.
"Something happened?" I sat down and casually asked.
My voice was low and calm, as if it had an intangible penetrating power that silenced the entire classroom.
"Yep."
"Related to me?"
"……Sort of," Wilmot said, "I heard something happened within the Todd family this morning. It's an inside scoop, so you probably don't know yet."
"You came to school just to tell me Todd's family gossip?"