chapter806

Lydia pushed the door open with a soft smile. As soon as Monica and Fiona spotted her, their faces lit up. "Lydia, you finally made it," Monica called out, her voice bubbling with excitement.

Lydia nodded, setting her bag down. "Yeah, I got held up with something."

Monica leaned in, her eyes wide. "You have no idea, everyone at school is buzzing about how the richest guy in town donated washing machines and dryers to our dorms. No more running to the laundry room. We have our own now. It's seriously amazing."

Curious, Lydia walked over to the balcony. Just like Monica said, a shiny new washer and dryer sat stacked in the corner.

"It'll be so much easier to do laundry now," Lydia said, a hint of relief in her voice.

Fiona propped her chin on her hands, lounging on the top bunk. "I heard the billionaire's daughter goes to Capital College, and she's super generous. Took her whole class out for dinner and ordered wine that costs a million a bottle. Can you even imagine?"

Monica chimed in, her tone almost dreamy. "And she's engaged to Connor from the Jefferson family. Connor! He's a major general, you know. That's crazy. Totally out of this world."

Fiona grinned, peering down at Lydia. "Seriously, what kind of luck do you need to be born the daughter of the richest man alive?"

Lydia just blinked at her, lost for words.

Monica laughed, covering her mouth. "Fiona, I don't think you're jealous of her money. You're jealous she has a fianc like that."

The thing was, Fiona's family wasn't exactly struggling. But a fianc with Connor's background? That was once-in-a-lifetime. And the billionaire's daughter had been promised to him since birth. Talk about winning the birth lottery.

Fiona's cheeks turned pink. "No way, I'm not jealous. I just think she's got the best life. Four older brothers who spoil her, parents who adore her, and I heard Mr. Norwood treats his granddaughter like a princess. Plus, she's going to have such an amazing husband. Who wouldn't want that?"

Lydia thought for a moment. "So, marrying the billionaire's daughter is probably the biggest blessing Connor could ever get."

Fiona nodded. "Exactly. She's already super happy on her own. Getting married or not doesn't even matter."

Monica changed the subject. "Oh, Lydia, guess who someone spotted on campus today. Rosie. Can you believe she has the nerve to come back?"

Everyone seemed to know about Rosie's cheating scandal, though not as many knew about the Gibson family's attempt to pin it all on Lydia.

Monica made a face. "If it were me, I'd have transferred out ages ago."

Lydia let out a quiet laugh. "Where could she even transfer now?"

Fiona nodded in agreement. "Exactly. Now that everyone knows she cheated, no school will want her. Unless she goes abroad or just takes a break from school."

Monica's voice dropped, a hint of

Pos

worry creeping in. "Do you think she'll come after us? The Gibson family is powerful. Kind of like Daisy, who always calls her parents whenever something happens."

Speaking of which, Monica suddenly remembered. "Oh, and did you hear? Daisy transferred to Capital College's medical program."

Lydia's eyebrows went up. "Really?"

So Daisy would rather transfer than apologize in front of the whole school at the opening ceremony. Figures.

Monica nodded. "She said herself, if she lost, she'd leave Capital Med School. But Patricia and Felix are still here."

Lydia shrugged. "Let them do whatever they want."

not:

At the end of the day, if they stuck around, any embarrassment would be on them, got her. As long as they didn't bother her, she could pretend didn't exist.

the

The next morning, the opening ceremony was held. President Kevin himself stepped up to the podium and gave the welcome speech. He singled out Lydia as the national top scorer, praising her perfect marks. He also mentioned how she'd led her class to first lace during

military training, earning her all sorts

of perks at school.

Lydia sat quietly among her classmates, listening as students from other classes whispered about her.