"Please, don't take any action for now," she whispered calmly. "I don't want you to get into trouble as well. You know how powerful and ruthless his friend is--," she stole a glance at me as she mentioned Atticus. "I know they're your mates, but they're not saints." "I understand they can be rude and mean, but I don't believe Atticus would ever take his friend's side in a situation like this." I defended him because that's genuinely how I felt about him. He hadn't mistreated anyone else except for me, and I wondered if it might be due to peer pressure. “Seriously, did you not hear me?” her tone changed as she glared into my face, making me gulp awkwardly. "You're defending him after what he did to you?" She had stopped crying, and instead, her tone was filled with anger towards me. "I know he was wrong for brutally rejecting me because of Rosalie, but ---." I couldn’t finish talking when Mara narrowed her eyes at me and scoffed. "When did you change your mind about him? What did he do so nice that suddenly you are on his side?" She asked and got up from the floor to sit in the chair. I followed her and noticed how quickly she stopped crying. But questioning a victim, especially when she was forced into sex with someone, was a bad idea. "He had been acting very possessively towards me recently. He even paid Flora’s school fee; can you believe it?" As soon as I told her what made me change my mind, she let out a gasp and covered her mouth in shock. "He's my mate; maybe he's feeling the mate bond, which made him want to help me in some way." "Oh!" Her eyes shifted away from me and settled on the empty wall. "It's strange that he helped your sister," she muttered. "So I was thinking--," I began, but she fixed her gaze on my face and shot me a disapproving look. "I lost my virginity here to your scum of a mate, and you are thinking about yourself?" The way she raised her voice and threw her hand in her lap shocked me. I didn’t mean to offend her, but she was right! She had been through a lot, so her anger was entirely justified. "What's even sadder is that I can't even talk to you about it in detail anymore," she sighed, her pout slowly giving way to tears once again. "What? Why?" I wasn't sure why she was being so harsh with me. I certainly wasn't taking Enzo's side. "The person who recorded me was none other than your mate," she revealed, watching my eyes widen. "He's the only one who has the authority as the head of discipline to move around freely. He saw Enzo recording me and didn't say a word to stop him. In fact, he was right there, assisting Enzo with the recording." Her accusations were damning. "He witnessed me getting on my knees and begging Enzo to delete the video, but he just smirked," she clenched her fists as she recounted the incident. I felt disgusted with myself and my mates."They're not good people, but why should you care? They're paying your sister's fees, and that makes you love them, right?" She taunted me, accusing me of being selfish and only thinking about myself. It was as if she forgot that I deal with a lot too by the hands of my mates. "No! I would never defend people like them. I was just telling you what he did. But anyway, it is about you right now. As I promised you earlier, I will make them pay," I declared firmly, standing beside her and placing my hand on her shoulder. There was no way I would let them get away with what they were doing to Mara. I just needed to find a way to expose them. I held Mara's hand and compelled her to stand up. "Wait! Where are we going?" she complained as I dragged her behind me toward the office. "If we talk to the principal before they do and manage to get a hold of their phones before they hear we're onto them, they won't have a chance to delete the video. The principal will see it, and then they'll be held accountable," I explained, struggling with the realization that my mates were acting like jerks. "Where are you two going?" Hila emerged from the office and stretched her arm to block our path to the door. She declared, "The principal is occupied right now. He doesn't have time to deal with rogues." She didn't attempt to hide her disdain for us. "Now what?" Mara whispered in my ear, her fear of the video going viral palpable. I was determined to do whatever it took to ensure she could return home with a lighter heart. "Now we get the attention we deserve," I muttered resolutely. I turned and headed toward where I could draw attention. My next destination was the cafe, where everyone had gathered after training. I knew I had missed whatever was happening there, but it was worth it because my friend needed me. There was no way I would let Atticus and Enzo enjoy their day after taking away Mara's chance to lose her virginity to her fated mate. Mara stayed behind, excusing herself because of her fear. The distant chatter of the cafe reached my ears as my eyes remained fixed on my search for those two scoundrels. My breaths came heavy, almost like a bull, as I scanned the area. Finally, I spotted them at a table with Rosalie. I straightened my back and approached them with anger simmering inside me. Enzo spotted me from afar and elbowed Rosalie, who didn’t look too pleased when watching me approach my mates and her fucktoys. "Oh, look who finally showed up after skipping training," Rosalie said in her irritating, high-pitched voice. She rolled her eyes and smirked, attempting to provoke me by placing her hand on Enzo's hand. "Where were you, Cy--," Atticus began when he noticed me, but his relaxed posture shifted abruptly when I didn't let him finish. Instead, I slapped him as hard as I could. The sound resonated through the cafe, and everyone fell silent.