A faint blush colored Isabella Austin's cheeks, and her voice turned gentle. "Andrew, was all that stuff online... was it your doing?"

Andrew Lane didn't hesitate. He murmured an almost imperceptible "yeah," then added, "Don't stay up late. And stop reading that rubbish online."

Isabella pressed her lips together in a small, grateful smile. “Thank you, Andrew. But I'm fine—really. I'm happy for Emily. Seems like she's doing well these days."

This time, Andrew's reply didn't come as quickly.

"Mm. You should get some rest. I've got things to take care of, so I'll talk to you later."

His cool, distant tone left Isabella feeling oddly reassured. She responded with warmth, “Don't work too late yourself. I won't keep you. Goodnight.”

The call ended, and Isabella felt as if she'd been injected with new energy. The tightness in her chest disappeared in an instant; she set her phone aside, content at last, and drifted off to sleep.

"Isabella!"

A sharp, impatient voice—Amelia Lane's—rang out from the hallway, and not a moment later, her bedroom door was flung open.

Isabella startled, quickly setting down her phone. She kept her tone calm. "Amelia, what is it?"

Amelia's pretty face was scrunched in open defiance, and Ethan Lane trailed behind her, looking just as reluctant. Amelia marched over, plopped down on the edge of the bed, and wrapped herself around Isabella's arm, her forehead pressing into Isabella's shoulder as she whined, “Isabella, did you see? Emily Blair actually got first place on the entrance exam! Seven hundred and thirty-four points! Seven hundred and thirty-four! I don't believe it, there's no way she scored that high. She must have cheated!"

Isabella just smiled, lips pressed together, saying nothing.

"How could she? Emily's always been really talented-"

"Talented?!" Amelia shot back instantly, fixing Isabella with a fierce look. "Isabella, don't tell me you're falling for Emily Blair's act like all those idiots online. She must have cheated! Ethan's way smarter than Emily Blair, and even when he worked his butt off, he never scored that high on the entrance exam. There's no way she did it honestly!"

Ethan's expression soured at that. "Enough, Amelia. There's no way Emily Blair could cheat on the entrance exam. It's impossible."

"I don't care!" Amelia fired back, stamping her foot. "Look at my score compared to hers—she doubled my points! No way I'm admitting she's better than me. And now Kingswood University wants her for their computer science program. If she were here, she'd be rubbing it in my face for weeks."

Ethan had always believed he was smarter than Emily Blair, that his outlook was broader, his future brighter. But her entrance exam results had hit him like a slap in the face. He couldn't swallow his pride, even though he tried.

He hadn't forgotten the humiliation Emily Blair had dealt him. Ever since she'd stripped him of his dignity in front of everyone, his so-called friends had teased and mocked him behind his back. Sure, none of them dared go too far-everyone knew better than to cross the Lane family-but Ethan couldn't silence them all, all the time.

Besides, many of those friends came from prominent families themselves. Maybe not on par with the Lanes, but still worth some respect. He couldn't afford to alienate them completely, so he had no choice but to grit his teeth and endure it.

All that resentment-he pinned it squarely on Emily Blair.

"So what?" he said coolly, "She can ace her exams, she can be number one, but she'll never have the Lane family's connections."

Amelia blinked, taken aback.

Ethan's tone was level, almost cold. "Don't forget, Grandpa's already arranged for you to go to NTG. That university ranks even higher than Kingswood. No matter how impressive Emily Blair's grades are, she'll never have our background. She'll spend her whole life in our shadow. Who knows-maybe when she graduates from Kingswood, she'll end up working for you. Or me."