Chapter 3

I rolled my eyes and let out a cold laugh.

“Weren’t you the ones whispering behind my back saying you’d teach me a lesson once we got to Tanond? Should I pull up your group chat and remind you of what you said?”

The moment the words left my mouth, every face around me changed.

They exchanged nervous glances as suspicion flickered in their eyes.

No one knew how I found out, only that someone, somehow, had leaked their secret.

They would never know that in my past life, after I stopped them at the airport customs, I found their secret group chat — the one they made just to leave me out.

It was all because I had tried to stop them. They created a group chat and came up with a plan to steal my phone and passport in Tanond, leaving me stranded and helpless in a foreign country.

Back then, I kept wondering if I had gone too far and blamed myself for interfering too much. Perhaps Tanond was not as dangerous as I thought.

Then came the headlines — tourists vanishing one after another across Tanond, and I realized just how close I had come to dying.

Now, remembering all that, the only thing left in me was a bone-deep chill.

These classmates of mine were nothing more than a pack of wolves that could never be tamed.

…

I turned to leave.

Natalie suddenly yanked me back by the arm. She spun around and shouted to the others.

“She can’t go! If she leaves, she’ll definitely call the cops and tell our parents! Then none of us will be able to go!”

The moment she said that, the whole class turned pale.

In an instant, everyone closed in. Their eyes were sharp with suspicion and wariness, fixed on me.

“Zoey, you’re just waiting for us to board so you can report us, aren’t you? You just don’t want us to see the show, right?”

I took a half step back, doing everything I could to stall them.

Then, I took another half step back, forcing down the panic rising in my chest as I managed a shaky smile, pretending to play along.

“Of course not. I just heard that Tanond's too hot. I don’t want to get sunburned, that’s all.”

Natalie’s eyes darkened. She ignored my words entirely. With a single sweeping gesture, she pronounced me guilty.

“Don’t listen to her! She’s just jealous and trying to ruin it for us! If she won’t come willingly, we’ll drag her on that plane ourselves!”

Before I could react, several classmates grabbed me, one on each side, forcing my arms up as they started hauling me toward the gate.

I struggled, kicked, and twisted, but I was no match for all of them. Panic surged in my chest as the boarding gate loomed closer.

“Help! Somebody help me!”

From a distance, an airport staff member turned around and began walking toward us.

In a sudden panic, Natalie covered my mouth, her eyes filled with sheer panic.

“Zoey, what the hell are you trying to do?!”

Sebastian grounded his teeth as he spoke. His eyes were practically overflowing with irritation.

I wrenched Natalie’s hand away and turned to him, my words spilling out in haste.

“Sebastian, please, you have to believe me. I’m not calling the police. My mom’s still in the hospital. I just can’t leave the country right now.”

Perhaps mentioning my mother’s hospitalization was convincing enough. Sebastian froze for a moment, then glanced hesitantly at Natalie.

“Nat, maybe… we should just leave her.”

For a split second, a hint of hatred flashed across Natalie’s eyes when she saw how easily Sebastian faltered, but she quickly masked it with a smile.

She glanced around, quickly nodded, but her words dripped with cunning.

“We can leave her behind, but what if she’s just making an excuse to get out of it? Sebastian, you know my family’s sending me abroad soon. If we miss this summer, who knows when we’ll get another chance to go on a trip together?”