Chapter 78

Amelia Lane let out a mocking laugh. “Emily, I know you were desperate to expose Isabella at the school anniversary, itching to humiliate her in public.”
“But I bet you never saw this coming, did you? The original author of *Desire*— Vivian Martin—is Isabella herself. You thought you’d be the one to slap her down, but in the end, Isabella just turned the tables on you.”
The moment Amelia finished, the whole classroom erupted in laughter and derisive snickers.
“Ms. Austin is kind, generous, and brilliant—she’s everything you could want in a person. We all admire her, but some people just can’t stand it and have to stir up trouble. She tried to embarrass Isabella and ended up making a fool of herself. Everyone sees now that she’s nothing but a petty weirdo.”
“Exactly! And she was so eager to be someone’s mistress-it’s just pathetic. Can’t she see that Andrew only has eyes for Isabella? He’d never be interested in her, not in a million years!”
“Honestly, when is she going to realize she’s not even in the same league as Isabella? She doesn’t even have a fraction of Isabella’s kindness.”
Emily Blair kept her head down, calmly unpacking her books onto the desk.
The old Emily would have snapped back at them.
But not anymore.
Too much had happened in the past few days-enough that Emily saw just how far she was from the Lane family, from Andrew Lane. She had no leverage left to fight back against them. They could say whatever they wanted.
People’s prejudice was like a mountain-impossible to move.
She lowered her gaze and quietly began writing in her notebook.
Moments later, the bell rang for first period.
It was supposed to be biology class, but instead, their homeroom teacher, who also taught English, walked in. His expression was grim, lips pressed into a tight line, and he slapped a stack of books onto the desk as soon as he entered.
The room fell instantly silent, everyone terrified the teacher’s anger might land on them.
With a stony face, the teacher said, “You all know what’s been happening at school lately. This is a serious matter-it’s damaged our school’s reputation.”
As he spoke, his eyes flickered meaningfully to where Emily sat.
The students’ gazes followed, lighting up with gossipy excitement.
“At first, the school administration was considering expulsion for the student involved.”
Emily’s hand froze around her pen.
She was confident about her college entrance exams, but expulsion was a thunderbolt for any student. Even with a second chance at life, Emily couldn’t help feeling a flicker of anxiety.
The gossip-hungry eyes grew even brighter, all of them glued to the teacher.
But then, the teacher’s tone shifted. “However, after several meetings with the board, the decision to expel the student has been overturned.”
Emily’s eyes flickered with surprise.
The board?
Andrew Lane was on the board, too.
A chorus of groans filled the room.
“Why couldn’t they just expel her? None of us want to see Emily Blair around anymore-please, can’t they just kick her out?”
“I swear, I just want these last three months of high school to be peaceful. I can’t
stand having to see Emily Blair every day.”
The teacher coughed, face still dark. “Quiet. I’m not finished.”
He gave Emily a look tinged with open contempt.
“That said, although expulsion is off the table, there will still be consequences.”
Emily lifted her eyes, meeting his gaze with calm.
“I’ll now announce the decision made by the school and the board.”
“The school has decided that the student involved-Emily Blair-will be transferred from the honors class to regular class 7, effective immediately. Pack your things today.”
The class erupted with cheers.
“Finally! Emily Blair’s leaving for good!”
“The honors class has the best teachers and resources in the school. Regular class
7 is full of the lowest performers-the teachers aren’t great either. Emily Blair’s done
for. She’d better start prepping for a repeat year.”
“Let’s put it nicely-Emily Blair’s just been demoted.”