Playing with Mafias

Female Lead

Two weeks after returning home, Lyra finally decided to go back to university.

Her parents had begged her to take more time to rest, but she knew she couldn't hide forever. If she wanted to build her power in this world, she needed to start with the people around her.

As she walked through the campus gates in a simple white dress and cardigan, heads turned.

In the past, students had avoided her, whispers would follow wherever she went, thanks to the rumors spread about her.

But now, they saw a different girl, her hair was neatly braided, her eyes were bright but gentle, and she carried herself with a quiet grace that drew people in.

"Lyra! You're back!" A girl from her literature class ran up to her, a warm smile on her face.

"We were so worried about you, we heard you'd gone missing after the party!"

Lyra gave her an innocent smile, her voice soft and sweet. "Thank you for worrying about me. I'm okay now, I just needed some time to rest."

More students gathered around, asking how she was, telling her they'd missed her in class. Lyra answered each one patiently, her eyes wide with gratitude, acting exactly like the naive, kind-hearted girl everyone wanted her to be.

'This is so much easier than dealing with grown men in the mafia,' she thought to herself, barely suppressing a smirk.

As she made her way to her first class, she spotted Anna Chen, the original female lead from the novel, standing by the fountain surrounded by a group of admirers.

She was dressed in designer clothes despite being a scholarship student, her hair perfectly styled, and she was laughing at something one of the boys said looking every bit the perfect, popular girl she'd worked so hard to become.

When Anna saw Lyra approaching, her eyes flashed with surprise before she put on her best concerned expression.

She pushed through the crowd and walked over to Lyra, her voice loud enough for everyone nearby to hear.

"Lyra! Oh my goodness, I've been so worried about you! I'm so sorry I had to leave you at the party that night… I got a call about something really important and I had to go right away. I've been trying to reach you ever since, but your phone was off!"

She reached out to touch Lyra's arm, but Lyra stepped back slightly, her face looking hurt but understanding.

"It's okay, Anna," she said quietly, her voice just loud enough for the surrounding students to hear.

"I know you had things to do… you did promise you'd never leave me alone there, but I understand, important things come first."

A murmur ran through the crowd. People who'd once praised Anna for being so responsible and always willing to help were now looking at her with doubt in their eyes.

One girl who's boyfriend broke up with her because of Anna saw this as an opportunity to silently attack her. She whispered to her friend,

"She asked Lyra to go with her, then left her alone? That's not right…she did the same thing to me when we were working on our group project"

Anna's smile faltered for just a second before she recovered, putting on an even more concerned look.

"Lyra, you know I'd never abandon you on purpose… I feel just terrible about it! Let me buy you lunch today, okay? To make up for it."

Lyra shook her head gently, her eyes filling with tears that she'd carefully held back until now.

"It's really okay, Anna. I just… I trusted you wouldn't leave because you promised"

The crowd went quiet. Anna's face paled.

'When did she change so much?' she thought frantically.

'Whenever I tell her something she always lets it go… why is she fighting back now?'

When she first met Lyra, Anna had been jealous. She saw how others adored her, how she came from a rich family, how she had everything Anna had worked so hard to achieve, good looks, good reputation, and a powerful background.

She'd decided to befriend her only to tear her down from the inside, intentionally spreading rumors. She'd built her own reputation as the "good girl" by making Lyra out to be the bad one.

Students were now openly staring at Anna, their whispers growing louder by the second.

Anna's face turned bright red with embarrassment and anger. She'd worked so hard to build her perfect image, a top student and a kind friend, now it was starting to crumble right in front of her.

Lyra reached out and gently touched Anna's hand, cutting off her attempts to defend herself.

"It's really okay, Anna. I know you've been under a lot of pressure, being a scholarship student isn't easy, and I'm sure you just said those things because you were stressed."

She gave her a small, understanding smile.

"I don't blame you at all. We can still be friends if you want, I miss having you around."

She emphasized the words 'scholarship student' just enough for everyone to hear.

Most of the students had assumed Anna came from a powerful family like theirs and now they knew the truth, and some were already wondering how she'd afforded all those expensive clothes.

Anna could only nod, too stunned to speak. She'd come here expecting to brush Lyra off and maintain her perfect image, not to be forgiven so easily, not to have her own lies thrown back at her so gently.

As Lyra turned to walk to class, she glanced back over her shoulder at Anna, her expression shifting from innocent to sharp in the blink of an eye.

'Let's see how long you'll last,' she thought, a cold smile playing at her lips before she put her innocent face back on.

'If you can act pretentious, I'll show you what real acting looks like. Your reputation is built on lies, mine will be built on making everyone believe exactly what I want them to.'

As she walked away, students called out to her, offering to save her a seat in class, asking if she wanted to study together later. Lyra answered each one with the same sweet smile, already planning her next move.

'First, I'll take back what's mine here at university,' she thought.

'Then I'll move on to bigger things. One by one, everyone who underestimated me will learn exactly who they're dealing with.'