The Ugly Duckling is a Hidden Boss

A long corridor stretched ahead, with fluorescent lights flickering from time to time. Patrol guards passed by on both sides of the hallway now and then.

A puff of white smoke drifted out from a room at the end of the corridor, followed by dangerous red lights flashing wildly.

The door at the end of the corridor was pushed open from inside by a pair of small, delicate hands. A little girl slowly walked out of the room.

"It's Subject No. 1!"

"Subject No. 1 has gone berserk! Requesting permission to use maximum force! Requesting authorization!"

In a room filled with surveillance monitors, a middle-aged man shouted anxiously into the phone.

"Hello! Can you hear me!"

The veins on the middle-aged man's hand gripping the phone bulged visibly.

At this moment, he could clearly hear the sound of his own heartbeat.

The next second, a childish voice came through:

"Are you talking about me when you say Subject No. 1? But isn't my name Liv?"

The middle-aged man spun around suddenly, only to be met with a blade flashing past.

Liv flipped the knife back, casually shut down all the surveillance cameras, and left.

Fifteen minutes later, standing on a cliff, Liv saw the full view of the base for the first time.

"So it's an isolated island in the ocean."

But she still underestimated the power of Organization X.

A syringe shot from behind and hit her neck.

Splash!

Liv sank into the ocean, falling unconscious.

"Send someone to retrieve her immediately!"

"No need. No. 1 just got hit with our newly developed poison. That poison will destroy her cells until she dies. No. 1 has no value anymore."

Two men in suits stood on the cliff with stern faces, looking toward the ocean. Behind them was the base, silent as death, with bodies scattered everywhere.

——

Three years later.

At Alice Academy plaza.

Olivia Hart stood in front of the school heartthrob Ryan Stone with a flushed face, holding a pink love letter, her head lowered shyly.

"I... I... I..."

She mumbled for a long time, only able to make sounds as faint as a mosquito.

Seeing her like this, the surrounding students laughed even harder.

"Where does Olivia get the nerve? How dare she dream that Ryan would like an ugly girl like her!"

"Exactly, she should look in the mirror and see what she looks like. If I looked like her, I'd be too embarrassed to go out and scare people."

"Someone from an orphanage dares to confess to the school heartthrob?"

Those words reached Olivia's ears without missing a single one, making her lower her head even more.

Suddenly, a wave of dizziness hit her, and Olivia collapsed to the ground amid everyone's mocking laughter.

The surroundings went quiet for a moment, then the laughter grew louder.

"She's even learned to fake fainting now."

"Ryan, hurry up and help her up. The poor thing is so weak and helpless."

"Hahaha..."

No one noticed that the timid eyes of Olivia lying on the ground had instantly become extremely sharp.

Ryan thought this was just another ordinary scene and prepared to walk past Olivia.

But Olivia got up before he could move.

A joke!?

Olivia tore up the love letter in her hands in a few moves, tossed it into the air, and then walked toward Ryan under everyone's curious gaze.

Ryan instinctively stepped back twice, but Olivia grabbed his tie and pulled him closer.

"Olivia, don't go too far! I will never like you. Forcing me won't work!"

Olivia ignored the noise in her ears and instead picked up the small mirror hanging on Ryan's backpack to carefully examine her own face.

A bowl-sized red birthmark on the left half of her face came into view.

"As expected, it's the organization's latest drug. The effects are remarkable."

This was a side effect of the "newly developed poison."

As the most perfect test subject, Olivia of course wouldn't be killed so easily.

At fourteen, Olivia learned that she was just a test subject cultivated by the organization.

So she chose to defect, but the organization ordered her death.

Later, due to the drug's effects, Olivia lost all her memories for three years.

Fortunately, she was taken in by a welfare home and somehow ended up at this elite academy.

Due to her amnesia and complete lack of social experience, she became someone everyone at school could bully.

Ryan had once unintentionally helped her out of a jam, and Olivia, not thinking clearly, mistook that small kindness for love.

But now, the real her was back, and she had no interest in this childish puppy love stuff.

Releasing Ryan, Olivia was about to leave directly when Vivian Wells, who had always secretly loved Ryan, angrily blocked her way.

"Olivia, stop right there!"

Olivia turned her head to look at her, looking puzzled.

Vivian thought she was just bluffing and even felt this was a great opportunity to score points with Ryan.

"I order you to apologize to Ryan immediately."

"You want to score points with Ryan by using me as a stepping stone? That's quite the calculation."

Having her true intentions exposed, Vivian immediately lost it, her voice rising several notches:

"What nonsense are you spouting! You're the one who doesn't study properly and disrupts school order! I'm just saying what everyone's thinking!"

Hearing Vivian's words, complaints immediately arose from the surrounding crowd.

"You scared me just now. I thought I was being targeted by the grim reaper, but it turns out it's just Olivia, dead last in the rankings, putting on an act."

"Does she think Ryan will like her this way? So disgusting."

Dead last?

Yes, during these three years of amnesia, she really did live like a fool.

Seeing her lower her head, Vivian thought she had returned to her former timid self and became even more confident:

"If I were as worthless as you, I would've found a hole to crawl into already. Where do you get the nerve to still stand here?"

Olivia finished recalling her memories and shook her head helplessly. When she raised her head again, only determination remained in her eyes.

"You're good at studying?"

Vivian raised her head proudly, and the surrounding students answered Olivia's question for her.

"Vivian has always been in the top fifty of our grade."

Olivia nodded:

"Then let's make a bet. Whoever ranks lower on the next monthly exam has to apologize."

Olivia's words set off the scene and left Vivian staring with wide eyes in shock.

Vivian asked doubtfully: "Have you really gone stupid?"

Olivia calmly countered: "Are you scared?"

"Scared of you, dead last? I'm going to make you kneel and apologize to me in front of all the teachers and students!"