Chapter 19
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Marianna’s face looked worse by the second. Her lips trembled, eyes glistening with unshed tears. Still, she pushed out one last protest, her voice thick with emotion. “Nonsense. I just hate to see anyone get hurt.
“If you’d just let Dav ride with you, he wouldn’t have gotten sick. How can you not feel even a little bit guilty for that?”
Kayla couldn’t help but laugh at Marianna’s words. She took two slow steps forward, closing the distance until Marianna’s back hit the wall.
Kayla’s voice dropped cold. “Why should I feel guilty? Wasn’t it Davon who kept saying walking to school is an exercise? I was just helping him live his truth. Now suddenly I’m the villain?
“And let’s get one thing straight. That car is my family’s. I decide who gets in and who doesn’t. You think you get to lecture me on how to use it?”
Her tone was blunt, almost cruel, but Marianna saw only humiliation in it, something meant to cut her down. She blinked rapidly, her eyes turning red.
Marianna snapped, “I get it. You’re the Sexton family’s precious princess, and I don’t come from money. But do you really have to rub it in my face like this?
“I was just trying to stand up for Dav. He’s got amazing grades, and you kept him from getting home safe. He got sick now. It messed up his studying. That’s all I was saying. You didn’t have to go so hard on me.”
Marianna replied in a loud voice, making sure that everyone around could hear her clearly. After her words, all eyes slowly shifted to Kayla, and just like that, judgment filled the air, as if Kayla were really the villain.
Kayla didn’t care, and she let out a dry laugh. “Seriously? I go hard on you? Or are you just mad your guilt–trip didn’t work? You’re such a damn ingrate.
“My family’s been giving you a scholarship so you could even afford to come to this school. And instead of being thankful, you are pointing fingers at me like I owe you something. Maybe I’ve just been too nice to you.
Marianna’s eyes widened, and she blurted out without even thinking, “That’s not true. I didn’t…”
She panicked, muttering inwardly, ‘No way. How does she know? She really won’t let me go!’
Kayla’s smile disappeared. “Wow. You’re really gonna deny it? We helped pay your way, and now you’re gonna act like it never happened? Maybe I should post the receipts and upload the transfers to the school forum. Would that help jog your memory?”
“No, please don’t,” Marianna cut in, her voice cracking.
She knew Kayla wasn’t bluffing. That was the terrifying part.
But what she didn’t understand was how Kayla found out at all. That secret was supposed to stay buried, yet now, it was unraveling in front of everyone.
In a sudden burst of shame and rage, Marianna raised her hand to shove Kayla away.
9:11 Tue, Oct 14
Chapter 19
Kayla moved fast, catching Marianna’s wrist and squeezing, her grip like iron.
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Kayla said, her voice low and mocking, “What’s wrong? You’re mad because I told the truth? Gonna try to hit me now? Go ahead. Tell everyone you never use the money sponsored by my family.
“Can you swear the ten–grand dress you wear now wasn’t from us? My family only helped you to get an education. Not so you could turn around and bite the hand that fed you.
“Next time you want to pick a fight, you better figure out if you’ve got the weight to throw hands. Otherwise, you’re just embarrassing yourself.”
Gasps echoed around them as eyes landed on Marianna’s designer dress. Then the whispers started.
A girl said, “Wait, Marianna’s sponsored by the Sexton family? And she’s been pretending to be some self- made scholarship girl this whole time?”
Another girl whispered, “Exactly. Who wears a ten–grand dress and claims they’re broke? She took the Sextons’s money, used their help to even get here, and then had the nerve to guilt–trip Kayla? What a joke.”
Someone else added, “Seriously. Biting the hand that feeds you is really a hypocritical.”
AD
