Chapter 227 - 225: Dead Wrong, You Have to Go

Cecilia Sterling stared at the WhatsApp message, her mind stirring.

Other than Vivian Sheridan, no one else knew she was back. But before she could think too deeply about it, an apology from Vivian popped up.

"Cecilia, I’m so sorry! I accidentally let it slip in the old class group chat. Lisa Upton hasn’t contacted you privately, has she?"

"It’s all my fault, my mouth runs too fast. By the time I wanted to delete it, it was too late."

"Sorry, sorry."

Vivian Sheridan sent a long string of apologies, each message dripping with guilt. But as Cecilia read them, she felt nothing at all.

’A strange feeling was already stirring within her. Even though she didn’t want to attribute such malicious motives to Vivian, she couldn’t deny her gut reaction.’

’Vivian’s "accidental" slip-up really rubbed her the wrong way.’

’Because a group chat conversation happens through typing, not speaking.’

’If you blurt something out by accident, that’s understandable.’

’But when you’re typing, you have plenty of time to think and backspace. How "careless" do you have to be to broadcast something I specifically asked you to keep quiet about?’

But Cecilia didn’t blow up. For her, something like this wasn’t enough to make her angry. If she felt any emotion at all, it was perhaps just a hint of disappointment.

’She had thought she and Vivian were friends. At least, in her past life, they had been friends for a long time.’

"She added me."

Cecilia calmly replied with three words, then switched to her chat with Lisa Upton and responded, "Thanks for the invitation, but I’ll be skipping the reunion."

Lisa seemed to be staring at her phone, waiting for Cecilia’s reply, because she sent another message almost instantly. "Why not? You didn’t come back last year, and everyone wants to see you. What’s the deal? You can go out for coffee with Vivian, but you can’t get together with your old classmates?"

Although Lisa’s message was just text, Cecilia could perfectly picture her as she read it. Lisa always had a way of saying ordinary things with a condescending tone, creating an invisible sense of class-based pressure.

’Back then, I was just a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl. I really was intimidated by a rich girl like Lisa Upton.’

’I was so superficial about looks back then. If Lisa hadn’t so publicly pursued Hector Mason, I might have actually agreed to date him just because he was handsome.’

’After all, it was an age of raging hormones. What else could we have wanted from each other? It was all about having something nice to look at!’

Before Cecilia could type out her refusal, the notification count in the top-left corner of her chat screen started jumping. Within seconds, there were over a dozen new messages.

She assumed it was Vivian starting her incessant apologies again, but when she switched back, she saw that Lisa Upton had pulled her into the class group chat.

’Lisa created this group right before the college entrance exams, and she never added me back then. So why pull me in now?’

’Vivian was right. Back then, Lisa saw me as a rival in love, so she made things difficult for me at every turn.’

’But now that she had victoriously claimed her prize, Hector, she naturally wanted to flaunt her success in front of me.’

"I’ve added Cecilia. You guys try inviting her. I can’t get her to come!"

"Damn, it’s really Cecilia! Our class is finally all here."

"Cecilia, since you’re back, you should come hang out!"

"Yeah, we all really miss you. Everyone was so disappointed you didn’t come last year."

"Just come! We’re all old classmates, what’s there to be shy about?"

The messages flew by, with nearly everyone trying to convince her to come to the reunion.

Just then, there was a knock on her door. "Come in," Cecilia called out. Ethan poked his head in, grinning at his older sister. "Sis, I cut up some fruit for you."

Cecilia set her phone aside and waved him in. "Well, aren’t you being suspiciously nice? Thoughtful enough to cut up fruit for your dear sister?"

"I’m your brother. Of course I’m thoughtful to you."

There were peeled and sliced apples, along with cut oranges and jackfruit. Cecilia took the plate, giving him a look that said, ’You think I don’t know you?’ "Alright, spit it out. What is it?"

"Hehe." Ethan plopped down, pulled out his phone, and scrolled through his photo album to show her a few pictures he’d saved from the internet. They were all photos of cars. "Sis, I’ve been looking for a while, and I like all of these. If you’re going to buy me a car, can you pick one of these?"

Cecilia frowned. "Aren’t you jumping the gun a bit? The college entrance exams are still months away. What makes you so sure you’ll even pass? Besides, do you even have a driver’s license?"

"I’m a genius. Getting a driver’s license will be a piece of cake."

Seeing his confidence, Cecilia smiled, nodded, and took his phone to look through the pictures. They were all sports cars that guys would like, but the prices weren’t relatively high. Most were around $500,000, and the most expensive, fully-loaded model was just over $800,000.

Ethan sat beside her with an expectant look on his face, but his eyes accidentally glanced at the group chat still open on Cecilia’s phone screen.

"Sis, is that your high school class group chat?"

Cecilia continued looking at the cars and answered casually, "Yeah."

Ethan curiously read the messages for a moment longer, then looked up at his sister. "They’re asking you if you’re going to the reunion."

"I’m not going."

"Why not?"

"Don’t want to."

Ethan stared at his sister, puzzled, then ventured a guess. "You don’t get along with them?"

Hearing this, Cecilia raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to keep looking at cars or not?"

"I do, I do." Ethan quickly shut his mouth.

But a few seconds later, Cecilia spoke up again. "We never talk. They’re only asking me to go because they’re curious and want some drama to watch."

"Then you should definitely go!" Ethan said with a serious expression. "If you weren’t doing well, I’d say forget it. No need to go lose face and let people look down on you. But you’re not who you used to be, Sis! You just need to show off your power a little, and it’ll be enough to shut them up for a whole year. No matter how impressive they think they are, they’re just a bunch of college kids still living off their parents. Who’s more successful than you? Who would dare treat you like a spectacle then? All those people who want drama will just end up looking like clowns!"

His words made Cecilia laugh. "You’ve certainly thought it through. I get the logic, I just can’t be bothered to waste my energy on these people."

"NONONO!" Ethan shook his head in disagreement. "Completely wrong, my dear sis. You have to go. If you don’t, you’ll become the main topic of conversation at that reunion. What do they know? They’ll just make stuff up and talk trash about you. You might not be there in person, but you’ll still be the center of attention. How disgusting would it be if some baseless rumors started spreading?"

Hearing this, Cecilia couldn’t help but slowly look up at her younger brother, a look of impressed surprise in her eyes.