Chapter 34
Kaia had gotten a perfect score–number one in all of Morganburg.
The whole place went dead quiet. One could’ve heard a pin drop.
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“No, this can’t be right. I… I must’ve messed up. This has to be somebody else’s score,” Phoebe stammered, staring at the name on the big screen.
But it was definitely Kaia’s name.
She thought maybe it was another person with the same name–but that didn’t make sense. Andrea was the one who gave her the login info. It had to be this Kaia.
Andrea’s eyes were red as she clutched her clothes so tight her knuckles turned white. ‘No way! How could Kaia pull this off? She’s useless. She’s nothing compared to me,’ she thought.
“Maybe we’ve underestimated her all along,” Louis said, still looking confused.
Andrea whipped her head toward him and caught the way he was looking at Kaia–not with disgust, but with interest.
A flash of panic hit her. She had worked hard to pull Louis away from Kaia, and she wasn’t about to let him drift back.
“Kaia sure is full of surprises, huh? But Louis, how do you think she did it? She used to skip class all the time and fail every test,” Andrea said, trying to plant doubt in his head.
Louis narrowed his eyes at Kaia and let out a mocking snort. “She probably cheated. How else could someone like her get number one in Morganburg? They’ll catch her sooner or later and wipe that score. She might even get banned from taking the SAT ever again.”
Andrea silently prayed he was right.
Lincoln and Ruth were still reeling from the news. But hearing Andrea and Louis, they started to believe Kaia must have cheated. If anyone found out, the Bennett family would be the joke of the whole city,
They pulled Kaia aside. “Tell us the truth–did you cheat?”
Kaia figured a perfect score would shut down all the doubts, and her parents would stop thinking she was making things up. But nope–they still didn’t buy it and even thought she’d cheated.
“You just take Andrea’s word for it, huh? Do you really think the SAT is that easy to cheat on? Do you think all the proctors are blind? If it were that easy to get a perfect score by cheating, don’t you think everyone would do it?” Her voice was sharp with anger.
Lincoln and Ruth knew she made sense, but it was still hard for them to believe she had actually
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Chapter 34
ranked first.
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Andrea watched Kaia standing her ground and got even more worked up. She gripped her clothes so tightly that she nearly tore them. But she couldn’t argue with what Kaia had said.
“Well, good job. You finally did something for the Bennett family,” Lincoln said, patting Kaia’s
shoulder.
“Kaia, the SAT must’ve been tough. We didn’t help you much. Tell me what you want to eat tomorrow, and I’ll make it,” Ruth added.
Andrea glared at Kaia. Lincoln and Ruth were softening toward her, and even Louis’s attitude was shifting. This was bad. She needed to do something–fast.
‘Congrats, Kaia. However you pulled it off–whether it was luck or you happened to see the same questions beforehand–you passed. To celebrate, you can pick any piece of my jewelry,” Andrea said with a sweet smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
‘Wow, Andrea, you’re so thoughtful.” Lincoln and Ruth smiled at her, pleased.
Kaia just looked at her calmly. She had to admit–Andrea was better at playing nice while hiding a knife. With just a few words, she’d made everyone forget the nasty things she’d said earlier.
Yes, very thoughtful,” Kaia said flatly. “So thoughtful you called my painting fake and got Grandma to rip up a real Collin original. So thoughtful that you gave Phoebe my info to try and humiliate me in front of everyone.”
Andrea’s face went pale. Lincoln and Ruth instantly looked upset.
Kaia, stop making things up. I didn’t give your info to Phoebe. Ask her yourself,” Andrea said, pulling Phoebe over. “Phoebe, tell her I didn’t give it to you.”
Phoebe had planned to cover for Andrea, but before she could speak, Kaia said, “Phoebe, think carefully before you answer. If Andrea didn’t give you my info, how’d you get it? Did you break into my room and steal it?”
Phoebe froze, not knowing how to explain.
“If you really stole it, I’ll have to call the cops, Kaia said, pulling out her phone.
Phoebe’s eyes went wide in shock. “No! That’s not what happened! Andrea gave it to me.”
Lincoln and Ruth turned to Andrea in shock. They couldn’t believe their ‘good daughter would do something like this
“No, I didn’t. That’s not Andrea panicked. “Dad, Mom, let me explain. I-
“What, you gonna say Phoebe’s lying, huh?” Kaia asked with a faint smile.
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Chapter 34
“I’m not lying,” Phoebe said quickly. “Andrea gave it to me. I swear.”
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Andrea started crying. “Phoebe, how could you? You swore you wouldn’t tell anyone, so I showed you. You’re the one who wanted to broadcast it. I said we should just check in private, but you wanted to put it on the big screen.”
“Yes, I wanted it on the big screen. But without you giving me her info, I couldn’t have done anything. This is all on you!” Phoebe shot back.
“Phoebe! You’re awful!” Andrea snapped.
“I’m awful? You’re worse! Kaia’s your sister. Even if you’re not blood, you’re family. If she looks bad, so do you and your parents. Don’t you get that? Or maybe you do get it, but you just don’t care. You wanted to see her humiliated, so you gave me her info on purpose,” Phoebe said.
With those words, Andrea’s most sordid thoughts were dragged into the light, exposed before everyone without mercy. Her heart sank as she caught the look on Lincoln and Ruth’s faces.
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