Evie was about to say that she was on his side when dozens of their classmates entered the room, and the noise turned louder and louder for them to hear anything. It would be useless to talk at this point since the room turned into a loud speaker.

At the side, Sophia, Rayna, and their group of friends looked at Ren with scrutinizing eyes.

"Well, it was fun while it lasted," Sophia said with a laugh.

"What do you mean? You haven't even gotten close to him," another chimed in.

Sophia sneered. "Glad I didn't. I don't want to be associated with a man blocklisted by the Alvarez family. He no longer has a future."

The girls chortled while Rayna's eyes locked on Ren. She was rejoicing at the turn of events. The more Ren succumbed to depression and low status, the more he would be vulnerable and easily controlled.

Soon, he would be back to Ren, who wasn't worth mentioning.

Plus, Sophia had quickly lost interest in him, and the fire within her burned even more.

Rayna didn't know why she was obsessed with the idea of getting Ren to be her servant. It must be because of his handsome, serious face with an elusive smile. Or the cold and indifferent attitude he portrayed.

There was something satisfying about conquering all that, and Rayna was very keen on the challenge.

Their gossip ended when the teacher came into their room, and everyone settled into their seats.

As the clock tick and tock, Ren felt every agonizing second of it. He even got a C+ on an easy quiz that should have been an A- for his lack of attention.

But his test scores didn't matter. With his foot tapping against the floor, he waited impatiently for the end of class. He would have skipped the rest of the class, but that would be admitting that he was eager to see the Alvarez family.

Quite the opposite. In fact, he couldn't wait to get this done and over with, so he could go back into the game and prove that World Conqueror isn't a group to be messed with.

The long-awaited ring of the bell came, and all students rejoiced for another day at school had come to an end. Ren jumped to his feet and hung his bag over his shoulder.

He was about to say goodbye to Evie when he was surprised when she spoke first.

"Are you heading back to Diamond Palace? Let's go together."

". . ." Ren didn't know what to say because he wasn't going back to the palace. He was going to meet with Serius Alvarez.

However, staring straight into her eyes, full of expectation, Ren didn't have the heart to turn her down. Not that he was planning to in the beginning.

He welcomed their newfound relationship, and it was Evie who even took the initiative to go home together. Who was he to decline?

"Sure." Ren repressed a smile so he wouldn't appear creepy. It would be obvious if he was too happy, so he kept his emotions to himself.

If he knew this would happen, he should have told her everything from the start. Though there was still that little concern in the back of his mind at the fact that he didn't know her that well. Not in the past and not in the present.

The only thing that kept him from being overly suspicious was, he knew her secret identity, which he was sure she kept carefully. It was his collateral, just in case. Just to make sure.

He had enough women in his past life to know that he should be careful around them especially those with pretty faces.

But as of now, there wasn't anything wrong with enjoying the moment.

The two leaving together side by side raised some eyebrows. Sophia's pouty lips twisted at the corners while Rayna crossed her hands with a frown on her face.

"Are those two dating?"

"They look good together."

"Ren is one of the most popular first years in school, while Evie is the most beautiful girl in class."

Sophia looked at her friend who said that last sentence, and the girl shrieked under her glares before immediately saying.

"Of course, second only to you, Sophia." She smiled meekly.

Sophia batted her eyelids and flipped her hair. "Let's go. I need another shopping spree to get that bitter result score out of my system."

Meanwhile, traversing the path to the station, eyes were clipped at Ren and Evie. It wasn't strange because the two were often seen walking the same route going home. But what was strange was how close they were compared to before, like a meter close. And everyone knew that something was going on.

While on their way, the two discussed about the game ignoring the curious stares and hushed whispers thrown at them.

A pair of eyes stalked them on top of the two-story building from where Ren and Evie came out.

Saya didn't like the progress she was seeing. Anyone with eyes and a brain would know something was going on between Ren and Evie.

Saya bit her thumb and broke a nail from how hard she chewed it. She must act now before everything is too late!

Meanwhile, Ren and Evie stopped on the way to the station when they heard Ren's name being called.

Shifting their attention to the voice, they saw Roni heading their way.

Ren frowned while Evie remained silent.

Upon sight of Ren, Roni's eyes suddenly took a turn to Evie, and he almost faltered from his steps.

What on earth?! Roni gaped at Evie's beauty while the latter looked away and pretended that he didn't exist.

Roni couldn't keep his eyes away from Evie like they were sticking to her like glue until Ren blocked her from his view.

"Do you need something?"

The coldness and slight irritation from Ren's voice woke Roni from his daze. He shook his head and asked the question that he wasn't supposed to ask in the first place.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Roni pointed at Evie, words bitter with a dose of vinegar. If she really was Ren's girlfriend, then . . . he would come out of his skin from envy.

"No," Ren said without another seconds delay and changed the topic. "What do you want?" He didn't like how Roni was eyeing Evie like she was a delicious piece of meat.

If he could, he would snatched Roni's eyeballs from their sockets.

Roni's face broke into a wide grin, eyes still on the girl behind Ren. "Aren't you going to introduce me to her?"