Chapter 3

"Are you all mistaken?" I said, pointing at the maid's room, my face full of confusion.

"I'm just a student the Hopkins family is sponsoring. Isn't it perfectly reasonable for me to be staying in this room?"

Millie and Bailey froze for a second, like their brains just glitched.

Then the realization finally dawned on them.

I was just the student the Hopkins family was sponsoring.

Everyone looked at each other, faces flipping between pale and red. Honestly, the awkwardness was so intense, you could probably dig out a whole apartment from it.

I couldn't help but smirk to myself.

Their reaction was way over the top.

It was just because, back when I first returned to the Hopkins family, I'd crashed in Alaya's room for a brief period.

The Hopkins family was dead set on kicking Alaya out at the time.

But she stubbornly camped outside the door, day and night, refusing to budge.

Eventually, Alaya couldn't take it anymore and passed out from exhaustion.

And just like that, I became the heartless scapegoat everyone blamed.

So I ended up moving down to the first floor myself.

Then came today's mess.

They teamed up and pushed me down the stairs.

Right now, Bailey and Jordan just kept quiet, lips pressed tight.

Millie shifted Alaya aside, looking at Jasiah, clearly torn between speaking up and staying silent.

Jasiah cleared his throat, trying to salvage the situation.

"You're hurt and need some rest. How about we set you up in a guest room on the second floor?"

"No way!" Alaya cried out, her eyes red and shaking her head desperately.

"How could my sister stay in a guest room? Just let her have my room instead. I really don't mind, seriously, it's fine..." Alaya pleaded.

Once again, she managed to steal the spotlight and pull everyone's attention back to herself.

Watching this never-ending soap opera unfold, I sighed inwardly and muttered under my breath,

"Are other rich families, like the Webbs or Campbells, this nice to the kids they sponsor?"

Bailey and Jordan both froze for a second.

Bailey shot back, trying to defend Alaya, "Alaya's just too soft-hearted. She can't stand seeing anyone suffer. Don't push your luck!"

Jasiah just wanted to shut this drama down, so he made the call. "You'll stay here."

Millie looked like she was about to say something, but when she caught sight of Alaya's tearful eyes, she just patted my hand instead.

"If you need anything, just let me know," she said.

I just nodded casually.

Jasiah just nodded, satisfied I wasn't causing trouble. "The driver will take you and Alaya to school together tomorrow."

Finally, the whole circus was over.

Millie was basking in her own sentimental motherly feelings.

Bailey figured I finally knew when to back off.

Jordan figured everything had finally calmed down.

Everyone had their own agenda.

But they had no idea.

This was playing right into my hands.

I let my gaze drop.

This was my stepping stone.

*****

The next day, I got into the car.

Turned out, Bailey was there too, along with Alaya.

I gave a quick nod in greeting, then ducked into the back seat.

Bailey scoffed, "Some people mooch off others for food and a place to stay, but still act all high and mighty. Who do you think you're impressing?"

"Bailey, come on, don't say that about Sophia. That's not fair. She'll feel bad," Alaya chimed in, her voice soft and sweet.

Alaya piped up in her sweetest voice, "How come you have time to go to school with me today?"

"Just making sure you don't get picked on again," Bailey replied.

"Gotta keep an eye on my baby sis myself," he added, giving me a smug look.

He threw me a smug side-eye, acting all superior.

I had my headphones on, busy studying.

When I glanced up, I caught him giving me a challenging look.

But with my headphones in, I couldn't hear a thing, just saw his eyebrows dancing and his eyes darting everywhere. Honestly, it was hilarious.

I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"I'm listening to English. Do you need something?" I said, not even bothering to take off my headphones.

Bailey's face instantly turned as dark as a thundercloud.

"What kind of decent student comes out of some tiny mountain village? You probably have a hillbilly accent. Do you even know what the foreign language sounds like? Can you even understand it? Stop acting like you know everything!" he sneered.

I just shrugged and replied coolly, "Isn't that what I'm doing?"

Bailey just snorted, clearly annoyed.

"You better not bomb the mock exams. If you end up dead last, you'll make the Hopkins family look bad!" he warned.

I glanced at Alaya, who was practically glowing with schadenfreude, and nudged her,

"Hear that? Your brother says not to embarrass the Hopkins family."

Alaya was completely blindsided. She never thought she'd get dragged into this.

She was an art student, and her academic grades were just average.

Her face turned bright red as she gave Bailey a pleading look from the back seat. "Bailey!"

Bailey's expression faltered, caught off guard.

He wanted to back Alaya up, but he'd already put his foot in his mouth. No matter what he said now, it'd just make him look worse.

Annoyed, Bailey just turned away, sulking and ignoring even Alaya.

Finally, that pain in the neck zipped it.

I smugly shut my eyes and kept drilling vocab.

When we arrived at school.

Alaya, afraid I'd tag along, jumped out of the car and rushed inside with her crew.

I followed behind with my backpack, hearing them talk about me loud enough for the whole hallway to hear.