Chapter 4

My mom instantly pulled Lucas behind her, glaring at me like a mother hen protecting her chick. "How dare you talk to your brother like that? Did he say anything wrong?

"When have you ever made it into the top 100 in your grade? I've already spent money so you could take the exam. What more do you want from me?"

Every word she threw at me felt like a knife, slashing at my already fragile self-esteem.

In their eyes, I wasn't a burden. I was a lost cause.

I looked at her and suddenly burst out laughing, tears threatening to spill from my eyes. "Mom, have you ever stopped to think? The startup money you gave Lucas for his tech project was 60, 000 dollars.

"The necklace Chloe wore at that party the other night? You bought it at an auction for 50,000 dollars. And that watch on your wrist? It cost more than 30,000 dollars."

I paused, making sure every word hit home. "All I wanted was 60 dollars, a chance at something that could actually change my fate. Is my future really worth so little to you?"

My words made Evelyn's face go pale, then flush with anger.

She was so stunned she couldn't get a word out. After a long moment, she finally snapped, her voice shaking with rage. "You ungrateful brat! I raised you all these years, and this is how you talk to me?

"Think you're all grown up now, huh? Get out! Get out of my house."

She jabbed a finger at the door, trembling with fury.

I didn't leave the way she wanted.

I walked over calmly, picked up the stack of cash she'd tossed onto the shoe cabinet, turned around, and quietly closed the door behind me.

As the door clicked shut, I could hear Evelyn's muffled shouting inside, and Lucas's smug laughter.

It was fine.

I finally scraped together enough money.

But honestly, the whole thing was even more humiliating than I'd ever imagined.

*****

After paying the registration fee, my pockets were empty again.

Luckily, the school was offering free meals for the last month of senior year to help us survive the final stretch.

For me, that was a lifesaver.

With free meals at school, I didn't have to worry about food anymore, so I poured all my energy into cramming for exams.

I was like a precision machine, working nonstop, barely getting five hours of sleep a night, with nothing in my head but formulas and theorems.

Sometimes, on my way to the cafeteria, I'd catch sight of Chloe and Lucas. Chloe was always at the center of a crowd of stylish friends, like a queen holding court.

Lucas spent all his time in the school's innovation lab, the teachers' and students' tech prodigy.

We were like parallel lines on the same campus. Our worlds never touched.

They lived in the spotlight, while I was tucked away in some forgotten corner, buried in my books, chasing after a future that felt almost out of reach.

*****

The SAT finally came to an end. It felt like I'd survived an endless war.

When I stepped out of the exam hall, I didn't feel the wave of relief I'd always imagined. Instead, there was this hollow emptiness inside me.

But reality dragged me back down to earth.

Without money, I was stuck. That very day, I ended up working the night shift at a 24-hour bookstore near campus, stocking shelves.

The job was mind-numbingly boring, just putting back books customers had tossed around and tidying up the store. But at least it was quiet, and the night shift paid a bit more than the day shift.

The day before the scores were released, my dad called me, which honestly caught me off guard. "The results are coming out tomorrow. Your sister and brother both think they did well.

"Your uncle's hosting a party at Grand Regency Hotel. He's booked a big private room for all the relatives and friends to celebrate. You should come, too."

His tone was polite, but it felt like he was letting me tag along out of charity.

I knew I was never going to be the center of attention at this family gathering.

They only wanted me there to keep up the illusion of fairness in front of the relatives, to make it seem like they treated all their kids equally.

"Okay, I'll be there," I said calmly, keeping my tone even.

The party was set at one of the most luxurious hotels in the city.

I showed up wearing the bookstore's work outfit, a plain white T-shirt with a plaid shirt thrown on top. That was the only thing I owned that was even halfway presentable.

The private room was packed with guests, glasses clinking, laughter filling the air. It was a lively, bustling scene.

Chloe was dressed in a designer dress, her makeup flawless, looking every bit the proud princess as she shared the big news with the relatives that she was about to land a luxury brand endorsement.

Lucas, meanwhile, was in a sharp suit, confidently showing off his ambitious business plan for his award-winning app to the family elders.

And me? I was stuck in a T-shirt that screamed I didn't belong, looking more like a lost staff member than a guest at this fancy party.

I quietly found a seat in the most hidden corner, doing my best to fade into the background and hoping nobody would even notice I was there.

Throughout the dinner, Chloe and Lucas were the stars of the show, everyone's eyes on them.

"I've already got venture capitalists reaching out. My app's valued at least ten million dollars," Lucas bragged, his face lit up with excitement.

"I'm heading to Pariea Fashion Week next month, invited by one of the biggest names in fashion," Chloe chimed in, not to be outdone.

All the relatives joined in, echoing the compliments and piling on the praise.

"You two are the pride of both the Bennett and Summers families."

"Richard and Evelyn, you sure know how to raise your kids; one's a future business tycoon, and the other's a rising star in fashion. They're both destined for greatness."

Even though Richard and Evelyn were sitting at separate tables, their faces were glowing with pride and hope for the future.

*****

At last, the moment everyone had been waiting for, the big score reveal, had finally arrived.

"Alright, tradition says the oldest goes first. Chloe, how'd you do in your school exams? Hurry up and check your scores!" one of my aunts urged.

With everyone crowding around her, Chloe strutted up to the projector, looking all smug, and punched in her information like she'd done it a hundred times.

After a few seconds of buffering, the score page popped up.

The air in the room froze instantly.

The smile at the corners of Chloe's mouth stiffened, then slowly shattered, replaced by pure shock and disbelief.

"What's the score? Say it already!" Evelyn urged, her voice tight with anxiety.

Chloe's voice was choked with tears, barely audible. "Fourteen... fourteen twenty."

The room went dead silent.

With that score, getting into her dream university and the popular major she wanted was basically impossible.

Lucas was the first to react, bursting out in loud, unrestrained laughter. "Chloe, I thought you were a genius. Look at that score. I scored higher than you."

Evelyn's face went pale in a flash. She'd been bragging about Chloe's grades to the relatives, and now her face felt like it was on fire from embarrassment.

Richard's expression was ugly. He hissed, "Shut up! Haven't we been humiliated enough already?"

He turned to Evelyn, his tone full of sarcasm. "Evelyn, this is the daughter you're so proud of? Always hanging out with her friends, and she can't even get through the basic classes."

Evelyn shot back immediately, "Oh, don't act so smug. Your golden boy isn't any better. Let him check his scores too."

Lucas swaggered up to the front, full of confidence. He shot Chloe a look dripping with contempt.

But when his scores appeared on the screen, his expression was even more dramatic than Chloe's. "Total score... thirteen eighty?"

That was even lower than Chloe's score. For a so-called "science whiz" hoping to get into a top school with a special application, it was nothing short of a joke.

Richard's face turned a deep, ugly shade of red.

Just then, someone suddenly remembered me, the one everyone had forgotten.

"Hey, didn't Emily take the SAT, too? Might as well let her check hers, since we're checking everyone's," someone called out.

All eyes turned to me, like spotlights, every single one of them.

There was some sympathy, some curiosity, but mostly, they were waiting to see me crash and burn.

To them, if the two kids they'd spent all that effort raising had crashed and burned, then I, the one nobody cared about, was probably doomed to do even worse.

I took a deep breath, met everyone's gaze, and slowly walked up to the front. I entered my information.

When my score flashed onto the screen, the entire private dining room fell into a dead silence.

Reading & Writing: 780; Math: 800; SAT Total: 1580; Plus five AP scores all 5s, and a 4.0 unweighted GPA. Class valedictorian. No contest.

The room erupted.

"1580? Am I seeing things?"

"Oh my god! Class valedictorian. We've got a champion in the family!"

"Is this for real? Did the system mess up?"

Chloe stared at that jaw-dropping score, her face as white as a sheet, looking like she might faint right then and there.

Lucas looked like he'd been struck by lightning, frozen in place, his jaw dropped so wide I could fit an egg in there.

Evelyn and Richard, those faces that always showed nothing but disdain and impatience toward me, were now a masterpiece of shock and disbelief.

Shock, wild excitement, disbelief, and a hint of embarrassment and regret.

I stood up there, unfazed, calmly taking in the chaos around me.

Right then and there, I knew the game had changed. The rules of this family would never be the same again.