But in reality, every time Lyra had a misunderstanding with the male lead, she would run straight to William for comfort. Their relationship had always been ambiguous.

  And in the end, William had fallen head over heels for Lyra, leaving June heartbroken.

  June’s pain and jealousy eventually drove her to villainy. She started scheming against Lyra, framing her out of desperation. Of course, Lyra forgave her in the end—enlightened her, even. And what did June do after that? She killed herself.

  Clarissa rubbed her temples. Jesus. Let's not talk about this fucking stupid plot right now.

  What did matter was the fact that now that June had appeared, Clarissa was officially entering the phase where her villain arc began.

  And she had a feeling things were only going to get worse. It’s always the female supporting character who’s supposed to be the bully, right? Well, guess what? I don’t remember bullying anyone, but I sure as hell am not about to be bullied myself.

  Clarissa let out a deep breath. She had no choice. She needed to get out of here.

  Sighing, she rolled up her sleeves and started climbing. It took longer than she expected. The moment she reached the top, she looked down—and immediately regretted it.

  Holy shit. That’s high.

  Her fingers trembled slightly, but she forced herself to keep going. "It’s fine… Don’t be scared… You can do this."

  Then— With a sickening thud, she slipped and landed straight on the wet tile floor. A sharp jolt of pain shot through her body.

  Clarissa sucked in a breath, her face turning pale. It took her a long moment to even gather the strength to push herself upright. Her body hurt like hell.

  Gritting her teeth, she dragged herself over to the sink. She washed her face, her arms, anywhere the nasty water had touched. Only then did she feel slightly better.

  Finally, she turned to leave. Only to find that the main bathroom door was also locked. Clarissa’s eye twitched. "Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me."

  This was definitely personal now. She was going to get revenge for this. But first, she had to get the hell out of here.

  Her eyes flicked to the small ventilation window. That could work.

  Quickly, she climbed onto a bucket and started working on the fan. Once it was removed, she carefully reached for the pipe just outside. Thank god I lived alone in my past life, she thought dryly. Changing light bulbs, fixing kitchen leaks—climbing out of a window? Piece of cake.

  She hoisted herself up. The second-floor window was high. The climb was slow and awkward, but she managed to find footing on the pipe below. Just as she was about to move again—

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  A voice suddenly rang out. "What the hell are you doing?"

  Clarissa froze. The shock made her foot slip. And before she could even scream— She fell. "Shit—!" Just as she braced for impact—prepared to break a few bones, maybe even die—

  A pair of strong arms caught her. Clarissa’s breath hitched. Her eyes widened as she stared up at William’s sharp, elegant features.

  ......

  For a long moment, Clarissa and William just stared at each other.

  Then, she saw it—the way his expression slowly darkened, his eyes shifting from indifferent to outright disgust. The next second, he dropped her.

  Not harshly, but with enough urgency that he immediately stepped back, putting several feet of distance between them. His hand shot up to cover his nose.

  It was only then that Clarissa remembered—she was drenched in dirty water. She probably reeked.

  Oh, right. The book mentioned that William had a serious case of mysophobia. The kind of guy who would wear gloves just to shake hands, or if he had to touch someone, he’d scrub his hands with disinfectant twice before feeling remotely comfortable.

  Of course, that little quirk magically disappeared whenever he was with the heroine.

  But right now? Yeah. He definitely thought she was disgusting.

  Clarissa rubbed her temple. To be fair, he had caught her. Even if it was purely an instinctive reaction, even if he was now standing there like he’d just touched toxic waste… at least she wasn’t sprawled out on the pavement with broken bones.

  Looking at him, she said, "Thanks. When I have time—"

  She paused. Forget it. Right now, she was the designated vicious supporting character. The cold, refined male lead wasn’t about to waste his time on her.

  Without another word, she wiped her face and turned away. She didn’t see it—

  But William’s gaze lingered on her retreating figure for a long time. It wasn’t until she disappeared from sight that he finally looked away.

  Clarissa felt absolutely disgusting. Sticky, cold, and uncomfortable.

  She rolled her eyes and marched straight to the professor’s office.

  The original Clarissa had been an outstanding student—top of her class, well-liked by the faculty. She was smart, disciplined, and respected.

  That reputation came in handy. The moment the administrator saw her, his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

  "Clarissa! What happened to you?"

  "I don’t know," she said flatly. "I went to the bathroom, and someone locked the door from the outside. Any chance there was actual maintenance work scheduled there today?"

  The administrator frowned. "I haven’t heard anything about that. But forget that for now, you’ll catch a cold like this! I’ll take you back to the dorm so you can clean up and change. And don’t worry—if someone did pull a prank on you, I will find out who."

  Clarissa gave him a small smile. "Thanks, sir. And… be sure to check the security footage. Just in case we need some solid evidence."

  She might not want to play the vicious supporting character, but she sure as hell wasn’t about to be a pushover either. Letting this slide would only encourage them to escalate.

  She already knew how the original story played out—the supporting character fell from grace, humiliated at every turn, her reputation shattered beyond repair. What started as petty pranks turned into outright ostracization.

  It was those experiences that eventually made her snap, that turned her into a full-blown villain obsessed with ruining the heroine’s life. And of course, she met a miserable end.

  Clarissa had no intention of following that script. She might not be part of the Lancaster family anymore, but she was still Clarissa. And she was not someone to be fucked with.

  ......

  The next morning, Clarissa woke up with a pounding headache and a sore throat. Great. Just fucking great.

  She had school today. Tomorrow was Saturday—she could hold out until then to grab some medicine. Dragging herself out of bed, she made her way to campus.

  The moment she stepped into the hallway, she heard the news—June and that other girl, Poppy, had been reported and punished. June, as the mastermind, had been given a serious disciplinary mark on her record. Poppy had gotten off slightly easier, but she was still hit with a severe warning.