Kayla could hardly believe it—Shawn actually possessed the skill for this job! Her efforts to pressure and pay him had finally paid off, stoking his ambition. Felicia was surely finished this time! No one would threaten her position again. There would be no more competition.

She almost laughed aloud in relief, but the sight of Arnold froze her smug smile. "Arnie, what are you thinking about?" Could he be thinking of Felicia?

Before she finished her question, he brushed past her and seized the messenger boy by the collar. His usually calm face was dark and tense. "What did you say? Felicia fell off a cliff and was swept away by the river?"

"That's right," the boy replied. "The villagers are panicking; everyone's searching. But she must have been swept far downstream by the waterfall; the current was strong. They say they may not even find her body."

The boy, a training camp student, had been helping search for Lucas and learned of the incident from the villagers. Though most students didn't know Felicia well—and had even formed cliques against her—the news hit them hard.

"They say she was attacked while trying to rescue a child," the boy continued. "Thank goodness it wasn't any of us; we could have..."

The others nodded, patting their chests in relief. Arnold's face paled, his grip on the boy's collar tightening until his knuckles were white.

Kayla saw his reaction, and jealousy surged. This wasn't enough. Nothing would satisfy her anger until she was sure Felicia was gone for good! But outwardly, she maintained a carefully sympathetic appearance, her eyes reddened as she said, "How could this happen? Is she really… gone? I feel so sad."

Nearby, Olivia kicked a stone, her arms folded in scorn. "You're sad? You're probably the happiest one here." She muttered this under her breath, unwilling to confront Kayla openly yet. She had added Kayla and Arnold to her mental blacklist after their earlier actions.

The day Arnold belittled her to support Kayla, even indirectly, fueled her grudge. Hypocrites, both of them!

Taking a deep breath, Arnold quickly gathered people, instructing, "Come with me to the site. If there's any chance we can find Felicia…" He trailed off, though everyone knew the odds were slim.

Kayla was frustrated, wishing no one would search. But as a Fuller, and Felicia's sister, she couldn't reveal her true feelings; her parents would be furious. So, she pretended to be proactive. "I'll come too! I don't believe she's really gone—I want to find her myself!"

He chose bodyguards and drivers for the search party, and they headed toward the back of the mountain.