Chapter 21
All eyes turned to Sadie, most of them expecting to watch her crash and burn. After all, her grades had always been worse than Lorena’s. Odds were, she’d get it wrong too.
But Sadie stood up and answered the question clearly and confidently
The teacher blinked, surprised. “That’s correct. Well done. Sadie has been putting in the work lately. The rest of you should follow her example and stop slacking off.”
Lorena snuck a glance at Sadie, her chest tight with frustration. She thought. ‘If it weren’t for all the time I’ve spent at training. I could’ve answered that.
And now Sadie had stolen the spotlight. Unbelievable‘
She clenched her fists under the desk. ‘Fine. I’ll just have to catch up-
fast.‘
Meanwhile, Sadie’s mood had lifted. The teacher’s praise felt like a small but well–earned reward.
After school, she didn’t stop by the infirmary like usual. Instead, she went straight home–better to avoid giving Jeremy any reason to get suspicious. She had to stay under the radar.
Sure enough, as soon as she got back, the butler seemed to be watching her closely. It made her skin crawl
After dinner, she went straight to her room. Only once the door was locked behind her did she finally breathe a little easier.
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While doing homework, she picked up her phone.
She hesitated. ‘Should I text Sean? After all, I didn’t show up today.‘
But then again, it wasn’t like he was expecting her. It had always been her going to him–not the other way around.
‘Still, should I say something?”
She stared at the message screen, conflicted.
‘Maybe I’ll text him later.‘
Setting the phone aside, she got back to work. But not long after, her eyelids grew heavy–probably the result of last night’s all–nighter.
She rested her head on the desk, meaning to close her eyes just for a moment… and ended up falling asleep.
The next morning, Sadie was jolted awake by her alarm.
She groaned and glanced at the clock. ‘How is it morning already?
Grabbing her things, she rushed downstairs, snagged a sandwich from the kitchen, and darted out the door to school.
At lunch, she debated for a moment, then decided to stop by the infirmary.
But Sean wasn’t there.
She worked up the nerve to ask the doctor on duty, “Is Dr. Francis here??”
“He went out for lunch.”
Sadie nodded. ‘I’ll come back after school.‘
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But when she returned that afternoon, he still wasn’t there. It was the same doctor from earlier.
The doctor looked her over and said, “I’m on duty today. You should be focusing on your studies, not chasing after this kind of thing. You’re still too young for that.”
Sadie’s face flushed crimson. She didn’t explain–just turned and left.
For several days afterward, she stopped by the infirmary in secret, but never saw Sean again.
And to her surprise, she started to feel… disappointed.
‘Have I really gotten used to him being there?‘
The realization stung.
‘No,‘ she told herself. ‘I can’t rely on anyone. Not in this life. I need to stand on my own.‘
She forced herself to refocus, pouring all her energy into preparing for the upcoming exam.
She refused to lose.
After the exam, Sadie walked out of the classroom feeling cautiously optimistic.
‘I think I did okay. Maybe even good enough to break into the top 100.‘
Around her, students were complaining about how hard the test was.
She pulled out her phone and opened her chat with Sean. Her fingers hovered over the screen… but in the end, she didn’t send anything.
‘We’re not exactly close, she thought.
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Frustrated by her own awkwardness, she locked her phone and shoved it back into her bag.
Still, she was in a good mood as she packed up and headed home.
When she walked into the living room, she found it unusually lively. Her brothers were all there.
Chapter 22
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Chapter 22
