Chapter 449
Lance dropped Cindy off at her apartment, then headed home like his mom had told him. Once it was just him and Octavia in the car, he finally spoke up.
“Mom, are you saying you want Claire to give her early admission spot to Cindy p>
Octavia sighed. “Claire’s grades are amazing. She’ll get into a top university for sure. But Cindy… it’s not so certain with her.” She paused, then added, “Cindy’s always had a lot on her mind, you know. She always feels like she can’t measure up to Claire, and she’s terrified she might mess up the college entrance exam. Lately, she’s been so stressed, she’s practically made herself sick p>
“I just thought if Claire could give up her spot, Cindy wouldn’t have that weight on her shoulders anymore. Maybe if the pressure’s off, she’ll do better in her studies p>
Lance frowned. “You know how proud Cindy is. If we just hand her Claire’s spot, she might think we don’t believe in her. It could make her feel even worse p>
Octavia glanced at her son. He cared about his sister, but he didn’t really get where Cindy was coming from. “Right now, the pressure is eating her alive. This isn’t about pride anymore p>
“But early admission isn’t something you can just give to someone else,” Lance said. The whole idea seemed impossible to him.
“Why not?” Octavia sounded impatient. “If Cindy gets into Cabinda University, she doesn’t have to major in something super competitive. She could pick something like art. Or look at Claire—she’s so outstanding. If she aces the exams and is at the top of the class, can’t she talk to the university and ask them to accept Cindy too? And with us pulling some strings, surely we can make it happen p>
“And if none of that works out, at least Cindy won’t have all that stress dragging her down. Maybe then, she’ll actually study better and get into a great college on her own. By then, we wouldn’t even need the early admission spot p>
“Wouldn’t that be the best of both worlds p>
Octavia had clearly thought this through. After all, the only reason Claire joined that academic
competition was for the early
admission, right? And that earl net
admission was exactly what had Cindy so anxious. Even if they couldn’t get the spot for Cindy at least they’d make Claire take the regular exams. No way she should get off easy.
To be honest, Octavia’s whole plan would have left anyone speechless.
If Claire ever found out what Octavia was thinking, she’d probably find it hilarious.
She hadn’t even planned on keeping the early admission; she wanted to take the exams anyway.
“You’re not wrong, but Claire would have to want to do it herself,” Lance said, a lot more realistic than his
mom. “You and Cindy already
argued with her about the
competition Convincing
hat to give
up her offer isn’t going to be easy p>
“Who says I’m asking for it for free?” Octavia replied. “We can offer her money isn’t that fair? The James
famus ranised her for adhtened
эле
family raised her for eighteen years while Cindy suffered in the countryside for her. Are you telling me Claire can’t even let Cindy have a college spot p>
“The James family has always treated her well. We’ve spent way more on her education than most families would. Is she really going to turn around and act ungrateful p>
Octavia made it sound so straightforward that Lance was left with nothing to say. Even though he thought his mom might be a bit too optimistic and self-assured, he was willing to try for Cindy’s sake.
From their point of view, Claire got such good grades that giving up that early admission wouldn’t really affect her.
At that moment, Claire was walking back to her apartment complex with Shirley. She found it almost unbelievable that Octavia and the others could be so out of touch as to actually hope she would just hand her college acceptances over to Cindy.