Their Mistake, Her Rise - Chapter 6: Chapter 6

Zoe stayed silent. Just as Shawn had almost pulled off her mask, she moved fast and hit the back of his hand with her wrist.
Shawn grunted. He hadn't expected to meet a woman in Clusia who could actually fight him head-on.
Zoe quickly pushed the mask back onto her face and held it down.
Shawn's eyes narrowed. He struck again, wanting to see the face behind that mask.
The two moved fast, every move sharp and clean. This wasn't some street fight. It was a real battle—between the queen of mercenaries and Clusia's legend of war.
Shawn grabbed her wrist. As Zoe kicked at him, he turned his head just in time, dodged the blow, and caught her leg. In one smooth move, he threw her to the ground.
But Zoe had planned it. Right before she hit the floor, she twisted her body and kicked Shawn hard in the jaw. Then she rolled and jumped back to her feet.
In just ten seconds, they had exchanged over twenty blows.
Off to the side, Chase stood frozen, eyes wide in shock. He had never imagined a woman could go toe-to-toe with Shawn. And she had just kicked him in the face.
It was crazy. If word got out that Shawn had taken a hit like that from a woman, half the big shots in Jelonsburg would probably lose their minds.
"Hey, did you hear that?"
"Over there—go check it out!"
Voices echoed from the distance. The black market's guards were getting close.
Zoe snapped back to reality. It wasn't the right time to keep fighting. Besides, Shawn was way stronger than she'd expected. No man had ever lasted more than ten moves against her before.
Still trading blows, she slipped a hand into her pocket and pulled out a smoke bomb she'd just bought from the market.
It wasn't top-grade gear, but the smoke would last ten seconds—long enough to escape. When the smoke cleared, Zoe was gone.
Shawn stared into the fading fog, eyes dark, thinking hard.
"Mr. Ludwig, should we chase her?" Chase asked, stepping up.
"No need," Shawn said without hesitation.
Something about her fighting style reminded him of a mercenary he knew—code name Firefox.
Shawn narrowed his eyes. Right now, he looked like a hunter in the jungle, waiting for the right prey to walk into his trap.
If she really was Firefox, he was sure that they would meet again.
On the way to the campus, Zoe took off her mask and let down her long hair from the bun.
Highcrest University sat in the most upscale part of Jelonsburg. Only the rich or powerful could afford to study there. One could tell just by looking at the designer clothes all the students wore.
After arriving, Zoe completed the registration and was quickly placed in the honors class.
Most students at Highcrest were from wealthy families, but the honors class was on another level—these were the kids of Jelonsburg's top elite.
Zoe's current identity was the daughter of the Evans family. Given their status, it made perfect sense she'd be put in the honors class.
But the moment she stepped into the room, she heard whispers full of judgment.
"Hey, who's that girl? She looks so plain. Like, seriously, did a farm girl just wander in here?"
"You don't know? That's Zoe Evans. The Evans family just brought her back from a poor village."
"A village? Ugh, gross. Bumpkins are so dirty. What if she has some disease or something?"
The room buzzed with cruel comments. Then one well-dressed girl stood up and shouted across the room, "Hey, you really think you can study with us? You don't even look like you belong here.
"Do you even know what social etiquette is? Can you dance a waltz? I bet you don't even know how to taste wine properly!"
Laughter exploded around the classroom.
At Highcrest, everyone was working to sharpen their skills and get into Eminence Nexus. To them, Zoe was just a nobody from a totally different world.
"Please... for my sake, can you all stop picking on Zoe?" Eunice stood up from the second row, her expression calm but firm. "She's been through enough just to get here."
Eunice, along with Herbert and Jacob, had joined the honors class before Zoe arrived.
The moment Eunice spoke, the students remembered—Zoe was her sister.
It was hard to believe that Zoe and Eunice were siblings at first glance. After all, at Highcrest, Eunice was like a star. She was insanely talented—in piano, embroidery, wine tasting, combat, and even shooting.
Even the teachers said, besides Philip Chapman, who almost never showed up to class, Eunice had the best shot at joining Eminence Nexus.
Compared to that, Zoe looked like a total outsider. Honestly, even the worst student at Highcrest seemed better than her.
"Eunice, sure, you two are twins, but the gap between you is just... huge. Don't be too kind to her. Country girls like her? They know how to play dirty."
"If you ask me, she doesn't belong in the honors class at all."
A girl with a streak of blue in her hair stepped forward. She crossed her arms and looked Zoe up and down with a smug grin.
"Hey, we're in the middle of wine tasting class," she said. "Every proper lady needs to master the art of wine. You think you can keep up? You wanna challenge me to a tasting?"
The girl's name was Cheryl Duncan. Everyone knew Cheryl was the best in the honors class when it came to wine. Even Eunice couldn't beat her in that area.
Therefore, the second Cheryl threw out the challenge, the rest of the class started smirking, waiting for the show.
They were sure Zoe had no idea how to taste wine—probably didn't know the difference between red and white. No way she'd walk out of this without embarrassing herself.
Zoe hadn't said a word yet, but Herbert was already rolling his eyes. He marched over to her with a look of disgust. "Seriously? Stirring up drama again? Just get out."
Jacob came up too. "If I were you, I'd quit the honors class right now. Go take some basic course for losers instead of forcing yourself into a world that clearly isn't yours."
The most expensive watch Zoe had ever worn probably cost less than seven bucks. These rich kids? They dropped hundreds of thousands on a single piece of jewelry without blinking. They lived in different worlds.
Zoe's eyes turned cold. She was supposed to lay low until her mission was complete. No attention, no spotlight. But she was the queen of mercenaries—hiding wasn't in her nature.
She wasn't about to let these spoiled brats walk all over her.
She looked at Herbert like he was already dead. Then, in a voice like ice, she said, "Get lost."