Chapter 33
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Before Collin could answer, Samantha happily ran over to Kaia in the crowd. “Coach, I learned those moves you taught me last time. If you’ve got time later, I’ll show you.”
“Okay.” Kaia nodded.
Everyone froze for a moment, wondering if Collin was really talking about Kaia–but it just seemed too unreal to believe.
Louis stared at Kaia, his expression complicated.
Collin walked up to Kaia and gave a polite nod. “Miss Bennett, it’s been a while.”
Kaia nodded back. “Thanks for helping me out last time.”
Miss Bennett, it was nothing at all,” Collin said with a smile. “Since it’s your grandparents‘ birthday, ‘m willing to paint even ten pictures for them.”
The crowd was stunned–he really had been talking about Kaia.
Their eyes drifted to the trash can with the shredded painting inside. Their faces tightened with egret and guilt–especially Emma, who was the one who tore it up.
After seating Collin and Samantha at the main table, Melvin quickly waved Kaia over. “Kaia, come here. Tell us–how do you know Mr. Crawford?”
Everyone gathered around, hanging on her answer.
Oh, that morning…” Kaia calmly explained what had happened.
“What? You know boxing?” Ruth stared at her in disbelief.
‘Yes, I trained for a while.” Kaia nodded.
“When? I’ve never heard you mention it,” Ruth asked.
“Back when I was living in the countryside. I trained in the mountains with my coach for a while,” Kaia replied.
Most people figured she’d probably just learned a few basic moves from some old man in the village.
They assumed she was just lucky that Collin liked boxing and was impressed by a young girl who knew a little. No way was she actually skilled–she had to be a beginner.
“Then why did Miss Crawford call you her coach?” Ruth asked.
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Chapter 33
“She wanted to learn boxing from me,” Kaia said simply.
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That only made them more certain Samantha had been fooled. They believed there was no way someone like Kaia could be that good.
“Forget the boxing for now. Tell me–did Mr. Crawford really paint that?” Melvin’s question made everyone glance at the trash can again. Their expressions turned even heavier.
Kaia raised an eyebrow. “Yes. You all heard him say it just now.”
Melvin nearly choked, his face pale.
“Grandpa, are you okay?” Andrea quickly patted his back and helped him catch his breath, then shot Kaia an annoyed look. “Kaia, why didn’t you say so earlier? Look at what you’ve done to Grandpa–and Grandma, she-”
Kaia smiled faintly. “Andrea, let me ask you–who said the painting was fake in the first place? Who started all this? Did everyone forget? Or do you think they’re all stupid?”
At that, everyone turned to Andrea.
“Yeah, I thought it was real at first,” someone said. “But Andrea kept saying it was fake. I just agreed -how could Kaia possibly know Mr. Collin Crawford or own one of his paintings? It just didn’t seem possible.”
‘I thought the same,” another person added. “If she hadn’t said that, would Mrs. Emma Bennett have torn it up? That painting was worth 15 million dollars. Now it’s gone.”
“It’s not just the money,” someone else muttered. “His paintings are priceless and rare. Even wealthy people fight to get one, and most still fail. We finally got him to paint one, and now it’s ruined.”
“Keep it down,” another warned. “If Mr. Crawford hears about this, what do you think will happen to the Bennett family if he gets mad?”
At first, Melvin, Emma, and the others were just upset about losing the 15–million–dollar painting. But once they heard talk of angering Collin, their faces turned pale.
The blame fell squarely on Andrea. She shrank back, putting on a pitiful face, while cursing Kaia in
her head.
‘It’s all your fault, Kaia,‘ she thought. ‘You made me look bad. Just wait–I’ll make you look stupid in front of Mr. Crawford and everyone else!
During the party, Andrea deliberately walked over to Phoebe. “The SAT scores came out today. I’m worried. Do you think Kaia passed?”
“Her? No way,” Phoebe said, glancing at Kaia.
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“I hope she did,” Andrea said lightly.
“Don’t count on it. She definitely failed,” Phoebe replied.
“How do you know?” Andrea asked, acting surprised.
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Phoebe rolled her eyes. “Are you dumb? The scores came out today. She must’ve checked already. She’s not saying anything because she bombed.”
“Maybe not. She could’ve forgotten the date. Honestly, I think there’s still a chance. You don’t know, but she moved out to study hard for the SAT. Maybe she did better than we think,” Andrea said.
“If she actually did well, I’d eat my hat. Too bad she’s keeping quiet, so no one knows.” Phoebe shrugged.
Andrea thought for a moment, then said, “I know how to check her scores. We could take a peek.”
“Seriously?” Phoebe’s
eyes lit
- up.
“Yeah, look,” Andrea said, showing her phone.
Earlier, when Kaia was at home, Andrea had snuck into her room and found her score–check
password.
Phoebe let out a sly grin. “Let’s check now. Better yet, let’s put it on the big screen. Didn’t she say she could get into Morganburg University?”
“Phoebe, maybe we shouldn’t. Let’s just check in private,” Andrea said–but made no move to stop
her.
Phoebe had already grabbed the microphone. “Hey, everyone, listen up! The SAT scores are out. Kaia said she could get into Morganburg University. I’ve got her info right here, so let’s see if she really made it.”
Kaia, who had been chatting with Samantha, slowly lifted her gaze to the big screen. It showed the SAT score login page as Phoebe typed in her details.
Lincoln and Ruth wished they could disappear into the floor.
The rest of the guests were buzzing with excitement, all eyes on the screen.
Quickly, Phoebe finished and hit “Enter”
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Chapter 34
