Chapter 20

“You got it!” Janet quickly produced the worksheets, covering everything from math to physics and chemistry.
This was more than a “few” problems!
Janet added enticingly, “Fried chicken covered in cheese, with a freshly squeezed mango juice on the side.”
“Deal.” Now that they were talking, her exhaustion suddenly vanished.
Juniper explained the problems with meticulous detail. Janet sat frozen, pen in hand, staring at her with wide, star-struck eyes like a little wooden doll.
“Anything else you don’t understand?”
“Nope, all clear!” Janet shook her head vigorously, her voice filled with adoration. “Juniper, you’re amazing! Your methods are even simpler than our teacher’s.”
“Extra cheese, please. I love cheese,” Juniper said, patting Janet’s shoulder. She popped a mango candy from her pocket into her mouth and headed for the bathroom.
Saskia walked in just then, looking around. “Janet, are you done tutoring Juniper?”
Janet slumped onto the table, staring blankly at the ceiling, completely devastated. “Who am I to tutor Juniper?”
Saskia was confused.
“From this day forward, Juniper is my one and only goddess!” Janet leaped up from her chair as if possessed and recounted everything that had just happened.
“So Saskia was stunned, her mouth agape. “When Juniper said she could get into college by studying on her own, she wasn’t bragging?”
“Of course not!” Janet nodded emphatically. She gathered her books, rolled up her sleeves, and headed for the kitchen. “Juniper is exhausted from tutoring me. I’m going to make her some fried chicken.”
What was going on? Listening to the sound of the shower, Saskia sat down in a daze, her mind reeling. Juniper, who had only finished her freshman year, was tutoring Janet, a top-thirty student in the city from a magnet high school?
Good heavens. Had she brought home a hidden genius?
The next morning at Aurora High, Juniper walked onto campus with her bag slung over one shoulder, listening to a call on her phone.
“Remember that rich client who wanted a jewelry design?” Luella’s voice came through, a hint of a smile in her tone. She held a slim cigarette between her fingers but hadn’t taken a drag.
“Hmm?” Juniper tried to recall. There had been a lot of rich clients wanting designs. She couldn’t remember.
“The one who offered you eight figures.” Even through the phone, Luella’s excitement was palpable. “I was bored, so I traced the client’s information. Guess who it is?”
“Who?” Juniper pulled a small cookie from her bag and nibbled on it, responding nonchalantly.
“The CEO of the Schwartz Group-Shanley Schwartz!”
At the mention of his name, Juniper stopped in her tracks, the chewing motion of her jaw slowing.
“He said you can name your price, as long as you agree.” Luella’s cigarette burned down, forgotten in her fingers. “Isn’t he the one who supposedly can’t… you know? Why would he bleed that much cash for a piece of jewelry? Who’s it for?!”
Juniper lost her appetite for the cookie. Her mind was filled with the memory of the auction, of Shanley driving up the price of the jade bracelet, forcing her to pay an extra thirty-five million. Thirty-five million! Think of all the mango candies and cookies she could have bought with that!
“I know you’re busy, so I already rejected his offer again,” Luella said with a laugh.
“Don’t,” Juniper said, her voice turning cold. “I’ll take his commission.”
“Huh?” Luella was baffled. Why the sudden change of heart?
“He’s got money to burn, does he?” Juniper’s long lashes lowered, her clear eyes narrowing dangerously. “We’ll see just how much money he really has.”