Rejected for the Real Daughter

A cruel smile curled across Aaron's lips.

"Guys, Chloe's college application is the real shocker here. Right, Chloe?"

The moment he said that, every eye in the room turned toward me.

Barely able to contain his excitement, Aaron pulled out his phone and held it high for everyone to see.

Displayed on the screen was the edited image I had once sent him.

The application page clearly showed one selected choice:

Medford College.

"Come on, everyone, take a good look!"

His voice dripped with exaggerated mockery.

"Our school's top student, Chloe, turned down actual universities to apply to a prestigious institution instead! Medford College! Hahaha!"

The moment he finished, he burst into loud, arrogant laughter.

The private room fell silent for half a second.

Then the entire place exploded.

"What? Medford? Isn't that the school for chefs?"

"A vocational college? Chloe? No way! She ranked first in every mock exam! She never scored below 700, how could she possibly apply to a vocational college?"

"Oh my god, that gap is insane."

"Tch, I knew something was off. Her grades were way too unreal. Who gets first place every single time? Maybe she…"

A boy wearing glasses pushed them up the bridge of his nose. His voice was quiet, but every word carried clearly across the room.

"Used some kind of trick?"

"You mean cheating?"

Yvonne covered her mouth in fake disbelief, acting as if she had accidentally said something inappropriate.

"Yes! That has to be it!"

"No wonder she always acted so above everyone else. Even after getting top scores, she never reacted. Turns out it was all an act!"

"She's not even the real Brooks family daughter anymore. Without her privilege, her true colors are showing."

"How pathetic. Everything about her was fake. Her identity was fake, her clothes were fake, even her grades were fake…"

"But hey, it's not all bad. Become a good chef in the future, open a breakfast shop or something. As your old classmates, we'll definitely come support you!"

Yvonne stepped forward gently, pretending to defend me.

"Please don't say that about my sister. She's had a hard life too. For a fake daughter to survive in the Brooks family for so many years, she really did try her best."

She walked over and wrapped her arms around me lightly, lowering her voice so only I could hear.

"So what if you lived in this family all these years?

"So what if you grew up with Aaron?

"So what if your grades were good?

"Everything you had only takes me a flick of my finger to steal.

"And you should've crawled back to your slum a long time ago."

Seeing Yvonne 'comfort' me so kindly only made the others despise me more.

The malice surrounding me felt suffocating, like it was about to swallow me whole.

Meanwhile, Yvonne stood there wearing the smile of a victor, enjoying the sight of everyone turning against me.

Just then, my phone rang.

An unfamiliar landline number flashed across the screen. The caller location was clearly marked:

Valerith, the capital city.

I took a deep breath, answered the call, and switched on speakerphone.

The next second, the calm, steady voice of a middle-aged man rang clearly through the private room from my phone's speaker.

"Hello, may I ask if this is Chloe Brooks? This is the admissions office of Westbridge University..."