Chapter 87

"Mr. Gordon! It's me,Leyla!"

At the sound of her voice, Davin's expression darkened.

Flanked by two bodyguards, he had no intention of stopping.

But when she kept chasing after the car, breathless and desperate, he finally lifted a hand. The driver brought the car to a halt.

The window slid down, and Davin leaned back, expression flat as stone, waiting for her to catch up.

"Mr. Gordon!" Leyla's face was streaked with tears. "I thought you'd already given up on me."

His brows pulled together. "Don't get the wrong idea. I stopped only to make things clear. I don't take students with stained record. From this moment on, you're no longer my student. And you are not to use my name again."

Leyla's lips trembled, her complexion draining to paper-white. But she had expected this. She swallowed hard,forcing her voice steady."1know plagiarism was wrong... but I had no choice. My sister pushed me into it. She did it for her brother's sake."

Davin's eyes flickered, the first crack in his calm mask. He hadn't known. After exposing Leyla's plagiarism,he'd left unsettled-missing the scene where Carl delivered the severance papers.

He had no idea about the twisted ties between Leyla and Eliana.

Now,he was a little hesitate.

Seeing his hesitation, Leyla rushed on, "Please, just give me a moment to explain everything."

Davin was strict to the bone, bound by rules. But if there was another truth behind all this, he couldn't ignore it. Conveniently, there was a café nearby. He exhaled and gave a curt nod. "You have the time it takes to finish a cup of coffee."

Leyla's eyes lit up with relief."Thank you!"

He'd hear her out first before he decided to completely cut her off.

"Let's go," he said.

"Alright."

Inside, Leyla steered him to a private room away from prying eyes. "I'll have an lced Black," she told the waiter, then turned quickly. "What about you?"

"Anything will do."

"How about their signature drink?"

He gave a dismissive wave. "Doesn't matter." He wasn't exactly here to chill over drinks.

The drinks arrived soon after.

Davin took one sip, then cut straight through the silence. "Whatever you've got to say-say it now."

Leyla gripped her cup, eyes lowering. Her voice trembled as she began. "This morning, I planned to compete with my own skill. But before the contest even started, my sister came to me."

Davin's gaze sharpened.

"She told me she knew who my real parents were." Leyla's fingers tightened around the glass. "You know l was adopted and when she returned to the family, I was cast out. I begged her for answers about my parents, and she said if I wanted the truth, I had to follow her plan."

She took a shaky breath before continuing. "She forced me to copy her brother's painting-the champion,Carl Murray. That's why I did it. I never wanted to plagiarize!"

Davin studied her closely, his tone edged with doubt. "You expect me to believe that?"

"Of course! Think about it. Carl himself was competing. If I copied his work, wouldn't I just be digging my own grave? Why would I set myself up to be humiliated like that?"

Davin's expression darkened, deep lnes carving across his face. If she was telling the truth, then she wasn't the sole culprit-she had been cornered.

But then something clicked in his mind. Eliana Murray and Carl Murray Both had the surname Murray.His eyes narrowed.Could it be...

His curiosity piqued, Davin asked Leyla, "What is your sister's name?"

"Eliana Murray." Leyla blurted. "You saw her today-she's always beside Carl."

Silence.A heavy,suffocating silence. Davin's gaze snapped to her, sharp and cutting.

His stomach churned with disbelief. While he had been listening with patience, she had dared spin such a massive lie? If Eliana weren't his teacher, he might've bought Leyla's story.

His voice dropped low. "Are you absolutely sure everything you just said is true?"

Leyla caught the odd glint in his eyes but pushed on, nodding furiously. "I swear on my life. Everything I said is the truth."

The weight of her words only deepened the look on Davin's face.

He let out a low chuckle. "Leyla, do you know what my biggest regret latelyis?"

She blinked at him, startled."What?"

"Taking you as my student."

Her eyes widened in disbelief."Why?"

His voice cracked like a whip. "I must've been out of my mind to take in someone who fabricates lies so easily."

"No, please, I'm not lying. Everything I told you is true! You know my past, don't you?" A thousand retorts surged in Davin's mind, but he bit them back. He knew his teacher too well. This nonsense about a vicious sister and being cast out-it didn't deserve his breath.

He exhaled sharply.

"Enough. From now on, we have no connection. Don't dare say you are my student again. If you do, l'll take legaI action." He rose to leave.

Panic surged through Leyla, and she grabbed his sleeve. "You really don't believe me? I swear I was forced-Eliana threatened me, that's why I plagiarized Carl's-"

"Shut up!" The words thundered out, followed by the sharp crack of his palm against her cheek.

Leyla staggered, her ears ringing. Through the haze of pain, she still caught his furious voice.

"Lie to me if you want-I don't care. But you will never slander my teacher!"

His chest heaved, anger boiling. In that instant, Tristan's coldness toward Leyla came back to him, and Eliana's pointed words when Leyla tried to force her off the judging panel.

Back then, he hadn't understood. But now he did. He was truly losing clarity. To have taken someone like Leyla as his latest student.

Leyla's head snapped up, her face pale with shock. "Your teacher? When did I ever slander your teacher?"

Davin let out a cold sneer. "It seems you still don't know. That so-called 'vicious sister' of yours... is my teacher Riley."

Leyla's eyes bulged in shock. "You're saying Eliana is Riley? That's impossible! You must be mistaken!"

"Really?" He let out a cold snort. "I could be wrong about any other matter, but not this."