[Bianca Sinclair from Willowbrook]
[Top Scorer Rejects Scholarship, Tutors to Pay Her Own Tuition]
[The Poor Student from a Poor County]
These topics trended online for days, sparking nationwide discussions about students who lose the chance to continue their education due to poverty.
In my previous life, what trended wasn’t my story.
It was a photo of Sophie and me. In the photo, she radiated confidence and beauty, while I looked pale and gaunt.
She was hailed as a kind-hearted princess and praised for her beauty and generosity. Meanwhile, I, the actual top scorer, was reduced to her shadow.
Scrolling through the trending topics now, I caught a glimpse of some less-than-flattering comments.
[Sophie got into Jadebrook College with a special recommendation for her aerobics skills. That’s nowhere near as impressive as Bianca, who earned the top score in the entire city.]
[The dress Sophie is wearing in this photo is from Dewberry Couture’s summer collection. It costs a whopping 30 thousand. She’s definitely a pampered little princess raised by a wealthy family.]
[Sophie’s dress costs 30 thousand, and Edward only donates 50 thousand dollars a year to students in Willowbrook? Why not skip a few dresses and help more kids?]
[Donating isn’t an obligation. If he donates, it’s generosity. Why are people nitpicking? Can you do better?]
I skimmed past the comments without lingering as I had another tutoring session to rush off to.
My mother had died giving birth to me. As a girl, I was deemed a disappointment. My father abandoned me to my aunt and never looked back.
My aunt was single and childless, and she had poured all her time, effort, and money into raising me. Because of her, I couldn’t allow myself to slack off. I used my top scorer title to pick up four tutoring sessions a day, doing everything I could to lessen her burden.
When the semester finally began, I thought rejecting Reed Group’s 50 thousand dollars scholarship would mean I could sever ties with Sophie entirely.
Don’t blame me for being a coward.
I had no family connections, no powerful background, and no ambition to challenge families like the Reed and Lewis families—two of the wealthiest and most influential households.
Having been given a second chance at life, all I wanted was to stay far away from Sophie and live a life that belonged solely to me.
But the moment I walked into my dorm, I ran straight into her.
I was in the medical program, and she was in broadcasting and hosting. There was no logical reason for us to be assigned to the same dormitory.
But then I remembered—the school library was funded entirely by the Lewis family. If Sophie wanted to be in my dorm, all it would take was a single word from her.
Since our lives were destined to be tangled up again, I decided I had nothing to fear.
After all, in this life, I hadn’t taken the Reed family’s 50 thousand dollars.
As soon as Sophie saw me, she smiled and eagerly linked her arm with mine.
“Bianca, you’re here! What a coincidence—we’re in the same dorm. From now on, we’ll be the best of friends!”
