Encore of the Avenging Muse (Sylvia and Rupert)
Chapter 62

Sylvia quickly took her hand, "Of course, I forgive you. I know you had no choice, I believe in you."

Her face was flushed from the wine, her smile warm and genuine.

Freya nodded vigorously, but internally scoffed. So naive, holding onto those small acts of kindness, served her right to be deceived!

Freya shifted her tone to one of concern, "Sylvia, I heard you're dropping out of the competition? Really, it's okay, we can just get regular jobs, no need to always be so competitive."

"Freya, as my best friend, shouldn't you be encouraging me?"

"I...I just don't want you to overburden yourself, that's all," Freya stammered.

"Okay. Speaking of the competition, I noticed someone tampered with my design. You have my dorm key, right?" Sylvia probed.

Freya began to cry again, a picture of grievance, "You're suspecting me? After all these years of friendship, besides, your roommate has always been against you, and I'm the one who's always been there for you, protecting you. What if it was them?"

"Don't start throwing accusations, it's already wrong to have a spare key, and now you're speaking ill of them. What if they get angry and report you? You could get a demerit, especially now that we're about to graduate. You wouldn't want that on your record, would you?" "That's not what I meant." Freya, ever the coward, appeared anxious.

"Then give me back the key, and I'll flush it in front of them. They won't be able to blame you then."

Sylvia extended her hand.

Freya hesitated for quite a while before finally handing over the key, worried about getting a demerit. Sylvia took the key and then pretended to be drunk, rambling nonsense.

"My design is gone, I have nothing now, I'm done for."

Freya supported her, a smirk on her lips, and then walked her back to the dorm before leaving.

As soon as Freya left, Sylvia sat up in bed and handed the key to the other three to destroy. Then she sat down at her desk to start on her design. She worked until three in the morning before finishing her design.

The next morning when waking up, she found breakfast wrapped in an insulated bag on her desk, along with notes from her roommates below.

"Sylvia, thanks for transferring the money. I've decided to fight for my future, I'm off to the company. The IOU is at the bottom, I'll pay you back once I start earning."

"Sylvia, thanks for the heads up. I called my mom last night, and she found out that the company always hires interns for every major show but never hires them full-time. That was a close call."

"Sylvia, remember to eat breakfast."

Sylvia smiled as she enjoyed her breakfast, then grabbed her design and rushed out to make a prototype.

...

Three days later, on the day of the competition.

Sylvia got up early, ready to head out when her roommates unexpectedly blocked her way.

"Wait a minute, you're going to the competition like that? I read online that Bridget is wearing a haute couture gown, and you're dressed so plainly, what if the judges give scores also by the impression they have?" Hearing this, Sylvia looked down at her outfit. It was plain, but the dress was new.

Before she could argue, she was pulled back into the dorm. The other two roommates brought in a huge box, with the logo on it making Sylvia gasp.

One of the RR fashion show gown.

"Did you guys rob a bank?"

They all laughed.

"Someone said they had a package for you this morning, so we brought it back. Oh, and there's just a card on top. Check it out."

Beneath a velvet ribbon was a plain white card. Sylvia pulled it out, nothing was written on it except for a single letter, G.

Her roommates were curious, "What does G mean?"

G, for Garcia. Aside from Naomi and Edwin, only one person from the Garcia family would be this generous to her.