Chapter 488 - What are Friends? (8) - Helena's POV

"Your contributions toward our fraction have been weak these days. I'm afraid we'll have to let you go," Alex coldly kicked me and Allan out of his fraction.

"What about Rika?" Allan found it unfair.​​

"Rika has been contributing towards our fraction by giving us the chance to collaborate with others," Yulee pointed out.

"My partner is right. We have been getting an extensive amount of help from the neutral and Impalia fractions," Julian added.

"In covering for Rika!" Allan found nobody taking our side.

"And what about Rika? Please continue," Luke harshly stared at him.

Allan stepped backwards, his hands slightly shaking from Luke's intimidating stare. Luke was merciless toward anyone inside his fraction who complained about Rika. He didn't hesitate to kick them out, our fraction leaders always coming from his family members who supported him. No one dared to bring up Rika if they wanted to maintain good relations with the Roselia family. And no one could refute that the Roselia family was gathering more wealth and power from the recent land and property they gained.

Luke was one of the most powerful figures inside the school. Being inside four extremely powerful fractions, he was the leader for one of them even when he was in middle school. I felt a little betrayed, spending so much effort in being Rika's friend while they didn't think much about it. I was tired from everything being about Rika all the time. I dragged Allan out of the meeting place so we could end our relationship with them on better terms.

Spending more efforts to join the neutral fraction instead, I tried to get closer to Sienna and Delia. But it was clear that they only hung out with Shelly and me because they liked Rika. When Rika was gone from the group, the table went silent, drawing a clear line. Until Rika discovered an impressive room that had everything you could imagine and d.e.s.i.r.ed. We finally had a common subject to talk about, getting closer to one another to keep the club a secret from Luke.

I enjoyed fighting with them to spend more time in the club room. It was a great chance to vent all the pilling stress from school and the financial situation at home. Asking them for some opportunities to collaborate on a few projects together with my family inside the club room, I was surprised when they agreed. All of Rika's friends came from powerful families that had more influence than mine before my family started to decline.

But I had to be careful when asking them for the opportunities, not mentioning it whenever Rika was inside the room. Rika hated anything related to fractions and politics, feeling like she was scammed into joining the fractions that I desperately wanted to join. She didn't know how lucky she was with Luke always cleaning all the messes she caused. I knew Luke was doing all the work given by the fractions she joined.

Whenever she complained that Luke was being stricter towards her, she didn't know that he was trying to educate her. From the recent dangers she kept on encountering, Alex joined in educating her to help Luke. This was why when she started to listen to them, hiding from Henry, both Luke and Alex stopped lecturing her. With Luke's extremely low expectations of her, he was moved when he heard from the teacher that she paid attention during class.

I have never seen Alex treat someone so warmly like he did to Rika. He watched Rika with the kindest eyes when he looked at her newly written notes. He tried to encourage her by commenting that her notes would improve with more practice. Pointing out that she managed to catch most of the important parts. Meanwhile Luke did everything he could to reward Rika, going to the café during his spare time to bring her favourite cakes.

Luke dedicated most of his time to Rika. This was why he couldn't forgive Henry when he brought her to the infirmary. I was stunned when Henry hit Rika to the point that she couldn't move anymore. He was basically committing political suicide by injuring Rika. With Alex being closer to Rika lately, he yelled at him for daring to touch someone from his family. While Luke was barely sane, trembling in anger, he decided to separate Rika from everyone he couldn't trust.

However, when Rika got kidnapped in front of Henry, Luke exploded. With most of his focus on Rika's partners, I sighed in relief. I had barely escaped from giving out information to the organization on when to target Rika. I could tell that Henry was suspicious of me when I volunteered to stay at the entrance. I needed to stay back to confirm that the payment would come into my bank account.

I smiled as my position would become safer from Luke's family about to make their move to eliminate Henry. Reading the messages he was sending to cancel all their deals with the Blanc family, they would soon get ruined. His older brother was partnered to the heiress to the Suilett family while his cousin was the heir to the Monete family. Both of them would work together to support the Roselia family in destroying the Blanc family. I was glad that Luke was too infuriated to think of the possibility that Henry could be framed.