Chapter 70
Chapter 70
65 vouchers
Kayla could not quite tell what Bailee had said that provoked such open disdain from the usually impassive Jackson.
As she wondered, he turned his gaze on her, voice edged with reproach. “Just look at yourself. Because of your grades, the whole family has been worried sick.”
Pressing her lips together, Kayla drew a deep breath and forced herself to steady her emotions.
She knew too well that Bailee was the only one in this household who truly treated her with warmth. That alone made it all the more important not to let Bailee down.
Gently moving Bailee aside, Kayla stooped to gather the scattered exam papers. The failing marks stared back at her, pulling a faint, self–mocking smile to her lips.
Before high school, she had been among the very best, second in her year, far beyond Davon’s reach.
But her excellence had only fueled his discontent. He confessed that her high scores deepened his sense of inferiority, making him feel unworthy of her. At times, he accused her of excelling deliberately, as though she meant to humiliate him. Eventually, he began to pull away.
Kayla had loved him far too deeply then to let that rift grow. To protect his fragile pride, she started holding herself back, intentionally scoring lower.
Yet even when she studied, his displeasure lingered. He would invent errands and demands to distract her, never allowing her the peace to focus.
When her grades finally slipped, and she was pushed down to Class G, Davon’s mood lightened.
His treatment of her softened, and he assured her, “You’re a girl from a wealthy family. Poor grades don’t matter. You seem real this way, not like some untouchable goddess. Besides, with me here, you won’t need to work so hard.”
Tristian, too, urged her to falter deliberately, claiming that scholarships would mean more to impoverished classmates.
Under Davon’s pressure and Tristian’s persuasion, she went from calculated restraint to indifference, treating her studies as an afterthought.
Only much later did she realize Tristian’s supposed altruism had been for Marianna alone. Every effort had been for that girl’s sake.
And now, bitterly, her poor results had become the very weapon used against her.
How naive she had been. Only the weak and insecure fear others‘ success.
Davon was such a man, unworthy of her sacrifice. And Tristian, willing to abandon his sister’s future for another girl, was unworthy of being called her brother.
Yet it was not too late. There was still time to reclaim what she had lost.
“Kay… Bailee began, ready to defend her, but Kayla silenced her with a small shake of the head.
“Mom, Kayla said quietly, “Dad is right. As a daughter of the Sexton family, these grades are unacceptable. But I won’t slack off anymore. I’ll study hard. You’ll see the difference in me,”
Bailee’s eyes softened with pride and sorrow mingling. Her voice trembled, yet she smiled through it. “Honey, look at her. Kayla has grown up. She understands now. She wants to do better.“.”
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Chapter 70
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Tristian’s laugh cut through the moment, sharp with scorn. “Mom, you can’t be serious. Do you really think she can turn things around? She’s already in her second year, stuck in Class G.
“Even if she works herself to death, how much can she improve? Back then, I was at least in the top hundred. Do you expect her to surpass me, leap into the top fifty? Don’t make me laugh.
The top fifty?” Bailee recoiled as though struck, hands fluttering in alarm. Panic and reluctance clouded her eyes. “No… that isn’t necessary. If she has the will, isn’t that enough? Why expect… why demand so much more?”
For Bailee, the mere fact that Kayla now wished to study in earnest was already a great comfort. She would not demand results.
Reaching the top fifty meant a transfer to Class A, yet Kayla still sat in Class G, ranked near the bottom of the entire grade. That gulf seemed unbridgeable, and Bailee could not bear to press her too hard.
Catching herself for answering too quickly, she glanced at Kayla with an uneasy smile, afraid of bruising her daughter’s pride.
She said. “Kay, don’t take it the wrong way. It’s not that I doubt you, but studying is hard work. We don’t need to burden ourselves with pressure.”
Bailee had never cared much for books herself, and she assumed Kayla had inherited that same lack of talent. It seemed only fair not to expect too much.
Kayla’s heart warmed at her mother’s gentleness, yet she shook her head with a faint smile. “I understand, Mom. I’m not upset.”
Her gaze then shifted to Tristian, whose expression brimmed with disdain.
Something hardened in her tone, sharper now, tinged with defiance. “But what if I can do it?”
He froze, incredulous. “What did you just say?”
Kayla’s eyes held no trace of jest. “I said, what if I raise my grades into the top fifty? What then?”
Tristian gave a derisive snort, as though she had uttered nonsense. “Ridiculous. You’re dreaming.”
Even he, at his best, had only scraped into the top hundred. In his mind, with Kayla’s pitiful standing, she could never surpass him.
Yet Kayla did not flare in anger. Instead, a provoking smile touched her lips. “Then let’s make a wager.”
Tristian arched a brow, idly rolling the obsidian bracelet at his wrist, studying her with amused detachment. “And what is it you want to bet?
I’ll break into the top fifty by the end–of–term exams,” she replied without hesitation. “Do you dare?”
Tristian burst into laughter, his voice sharp with scorn. “Kayla, aren’t you afraid of making a fool of yourself? The top fifty? You must have forgotten. You’re nearly at the bottom of the school.”
Her lips pressed tight, fists clenching at her sides.
He was not wrong. After more than a year of neglect, her grades had collapsed to the lowest ranks, even near the bottom of
Class G.
Since her rebirth, she had worked to recover, but her last exam had only carried her into the middle of her class.
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Chapter 70
Still, she was not afraid.
