Chapter 47

Mia possessed a significant amount of disposable income, as evidenced by her several thousand dollars in pocket money. It was best to manipulate this situation to her advantage. She didn't mind lending him more money; better yet, she wanted to do so in a way he couldn't repay. A time would come when she needed him to write a thesis or prepare an exam for her, and he would be more than willing to help. Mia knew his capabilities, or rather, his lack thereof, better than anyone. She wasn't good enough to remain on Wilson's team; lowering her head, she swiped her phone screen. Soon, the transaction completed, and Trevor received the money.

He gulped, realizing Mia was easier to manipulate than Loma. Had he found a new source of income? This time, he only received $20,000. How much should he ask for next time? It wasn't that hard; all he had to do was maintain his image as an honest person, and he could receive as much money as he wanted from her. The best part was that Trevor didn't have to repay this money. Mia seemed naive and kind-hearted; there was no way she would make him repay it.

Trevor scoffed. Why had Lama changed so abruptly? If she had been as gullible as Mia, he would have had over $100,000 more. What Lama had done was despicable, and he wouldn't stand for it. He had to figure out a way to get the money back; it frustrated him deeply that he was made to repay her.

After Trevor accepted the money from Mia, he raised his head and looked at her. “From what I heard, you guys met Luna at the kick-off meeting, and Wyatt tried to talk some sense into her. How did she react?”

“You tell me,” Mia sighed, glancing at him. “Lana represented the new team in the meeting, and Wyatt persuaded her not to participate in the competition because he was worried about her making a fool of herself.”

“Not only did she defy him, but she even believed he was trying to undermine her. So, she insisted on participating.”

“Wyatt thought about it and figured it would eventually work out. It was high time Luna learned a lesson the hard way.”

Mia observed Trevor's expression and saw his furrowed eyebrows. She thought it was proof he was concerned about Luna. The last thing she wanted was for him to help her inappropriately. So, she hurriedly added, “Trevor, Wyatt is truly angered this time. He said it’s important for Lana to suffer a little this time. Only then will she remember how well…”

“Whatever you do, you can’t have a soft spot for her and help her out,” she added, “I had the proof with her.”

“Why would I do that?” Trevor scoffed. He wanted Luna to fail so he would have a chance at getting his money back. She was unwilling to listen to Wyatt; it was a sign she genuinely wanted a fallout with them. If he pushed her too hard, there was a real possibility she might tell everyone he had been borrowing money from her. Trevor would have to find a way to delete the evidence and prevent Luna from threatening him. Mia knew she had achieved her goal and let it drop. Now that Trevor had his money, he wouldn't say too much on the subject either. Then, both of them continued pursuing their agendas.

Luna was busy with her new plans. Once she was finished, she noticed no one else was in the dormitory. She intended to grab a bite before sending the new plan to the chat group. However, she saw a new message in the dormitory chat group. It was a text from Nicole: “My professor is making me stay back for a meeting. I don’t have time to go to the cafeteria. I need a kind soul to get me a chicken pot pie from the store. I can eat it when I get back to the dorm.”

“I’m still at the hospital, and I’m not sure what time I’ll be back. Ask Jade or Lana,” Talia responded with an audio text.

Luna checked the time. These texts were sent an hour ago. She was taken aback, finding it incredible that she had missed them. Upon closer inspection, she realized she had muted the group.

She was speechless, recalling how lively the dormitory chat group had been, flooded with dozens of texts every day. Then, she joined Wilson’s research team. Luna had to stay back for meetings and experiments all the time. He reprimanded her in front of everyone once because her phone kept beeping. He also made her put her phone on silent mode whenever she entered the lab. Later, she missed Wyatt’s calls and got an early reprimand because of that. At some point, she had no choice but to mute notifications for certain chat groups.