The landlords were an elderly couple, kind enough to rent it to me for just two hundred dollars, seeing I was a young student.

After staying there for three or four days, I returned to the dorm one night to pack my belongings.

On the balcony, I noticed the cage lock had been cracked open by the snake!

My stomach tightened—the cage could no longer contain it.

“Lily, where have you been these past days? Are you avoiding us because you think the snake is poisonous?” Emily asked as they came in.

“No, not at all.”

Amanda frowned, unconvinced. “Not at all? Then feed it.”

Emily quickly messaged in the group chat: “Lily, Amanda’s snake crawls around at night. We’re terrified.”

Sophia: “If it bites someone, it’ll be serious. Please tell the RA to scold her!”

I said nothing, picked up some food, and walked toward the cage.

The snake’s vertical pupils glared at me coldly.

I forced myself to drop the food inside.

Seeing the snake eat, Amanda looked pleased.

Emily, however, grew angry. “Amanda, Lily tossed the food in from afar, like she’s scared of it.”

Sophia agreed. “Exactly. She’s afraid it’s poisonous and might tell the RA, making you throw it away.”

Amanda’s face darkened. “Lily, why did you throw it from so far?”

Feigning innocence, I smiled. “I had lotion on my hands. I wasn’t sure if it would irritate the snake.”

“Bubbles is so sweet. I’ll pet it myself.”

I reached in and stroked the snake.

Emily and Sophia stared, dumbfounded.

How could I dare touch it?

Only I knew—from my past life—that after feeding, the snake temporarily tolerated me. But that wouldn’t last long.

I seized the chance to strike back. “Amanda, maybe Emily and Sophia think it’s poisonous? After all, I haven’t seen them touch it.”

Their faces blanched.

Amanda narrowed her eyes. “I knew it—you two never get close to Bubbles. Are you trying to say it’s poisonous?”

Both trembled in fear.

Emily stammered, “N-no, I’ll touch it too.”

She opened the cage, lifted the snake, and even rubbed it against her face.

The snake flicked its tongue, glaring coldly. Emily’s face turned white.

“See? I never said it was poisonous.” She quickly shoved it back.

Amanda then turned to Sophia.

Sophia, who feared anything creepy or crawly, paled in terror.

Amanda smirked. “What are you afraid of? I kiss it all the time. It’s tame and won’t bite. Why don’t you kiss it too?”

Sophia’s clothes were soaked in sweat.

“It—it won’t bite?”

“Of course not.”

Shaking, Sophia brought the snake close and kissed its body.

Amanda scowled. “I meant its mouth.”

Sophia’s lips quivered, but she obeyed, kissing the snake’s head as it hissed, tongue flicking.

Terrified, she nearly wet herself.

The snake, luckily well-fed, didn’t attack.

She quickly put it back. Amanda nodded in satisfaction. “Good. Then I won’t make the snake bite you two in the future.”

I finished packing my things when Amanda White spoke coldly, “You’re moving your stuff out? Where are you going?”

“I hired a cleaning lady to help with the laundry. As for these papers, I’m heading to the university library later.”

Only then did Amanda let me go.

I fled back to the apartment I had rented, my heart still pounding. The thought of touching that banded krait snake earlier terrified me. If it had bitten me then, and Amanda refused to let me go to the hospital, I would’ve been doomed.

The next day, after my early morning class, I went back to my apartment and collapsed into bed.

By dusk, I headed to the campus cafeteria for dinner. Just as I stepped out, Amanda and her two friends walked up.

I noticed Emily Brown’s neck bore a bluish-black bite mark. Her steps wobbled, her body weak.

Bitten by the snake?

In my past life, I would have urged her to see a doctor immediately. But this time, I only wanted to see how she would suffer.

“Lily, you didn’t come back to the dorm last night again?” Amanda blocked my way.

I smiled lightly. “A friend came to visit. We went to see a movie and missed the dorm curfew, so I stayed at a hotel.”

Amanda’s eyes narrowed. “You haven’t slept in the dorm for days. Are you avoiding it because you think the snake is poisonous?”

Emily cut in viciously. “Why waste words? Drag her back to the dorm!”

I bolted at once. They chased after me.

Just as I ran out of the cafeteria, someone stepped in front of me. “Lily, where are you going?”

It was my boyfriend, Jason Miller.

The sight of him made my chest tighten.

In my past life, when I was bitten by the snake, I begged him for help. He ignored me, told me to reflect on myself, then took Amanda to watch the sunrise in the mountains—while I bled to death.

Later, he even helped Amanda forge evidence, accusing me of promiscuity and disease.

I hated him so much that my teeth clenched painfully.

Amanda ran up, panting. “Jason, take her back! She suspects our snake is poisonous!”

Jason grabbed me, dragging me toward the dorm.

“Jason, what are you doing?” I cried.

“What does it look like? We’ll talk in the dorm!”

My heart raced with panic. I begged for help from several girls passing by, but Amanda shouted at them, and they turned away.

I was dragged upstairs.

There, I saw a fresh snake bite on Sophia Davis’s arm, swollen and dark.

Why hadn’t Emily and Sophia gone to a doctor, knowing full well it was venomous?

“Sit down,” Amanda ordered once I was inside. “So, you really think it’s poisonous?”

“No.”

“Then why are you living outside?”

“Because the AC is cooler.”

That was true—I hated the heat. Amanda never allowed the air conditioner below 82°F, and I often sweated through my clothes, especially during my period.

Emily sneered. “She clearly thinks it’s poisonous. Amanda, let the snake bite her a few times.”

Venomous indeed.

Amanda nodded. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

I shivered. “Getting bitten hurts—I don’t want to.”

“You don’t get a choice.”

Amanda grabbed me, ordering Emily to fetch the snake.

Hisssss—

The snake flicked its tongue, vertical pupils fixed on me with icy malice.

“No!”

I ripped free, trying to dash out of the dorm.

But Jason caught me again.