before!” Many people shouted.
My dad looked at the clock and pointed to
the big screen. “Okay! Let’s all see Chelsea’s
excellent score!”
The staff started to use the computer.
<
The media took pictures and pointed the
cameras at the computer screen.
After Chelsea’s information was entered, the
screen turned for a long time. Everyone held
their breath and waited.
A minute later, the screen showed a score
that no one expected.
- 321.
You could hear a pin drop in the crowded banquet hall.
That score wouldn’t even get you into a
community college.
<
Chelsea’s face turned white as a ghost.
“How could this be?” My dad was stunned.
“Did the system glitch out?”
Laughter rippled through the crowd, and
someone reminded him, “Mr. Sterling, the SATS are out of 1600.”
“There must be some mistake!” My dad was frantic. He grabbed a staff member and
started re–entering the social security number himself.
The screen turned again, but it showed the
same score.
L
Guests, who had been patient at first, began
to whisper, “What’s going on? Didn’t they say
she scored over 1300?”
“Yeah! Wasn’t her score supposed to be
blocked?”
Before anyone could answer, cheerful music
erupted outside the house.
A group of people marched toward our house,
banging on drums, led by a few people in
windbreakers.
Their banner read, “Congratulations to local student, Willow Sterling, for achieving the highest SAT score in the city.”
<
My dad’s panicked expression turned to joy.
“See? If the government’s here, it can’t be
wrong! It must be a network issue!”
The guests were convinced and rushed
forward to welcome the people who came to
celebrate.
My dad grabbed the principal. “Principal,
please check my daughter’s scores! Isn’t my
daughter’s score supposed to be blocked?
This system needs to be fixed!”
In front of everyone, my dad checked
Chelsea’s scores again.
It showed the same thing.
<
The principal squinted at the information on
the screen, then looked at the documents in
his hand. He asked, “Our valedictorian isn’t
named Chelsea Sterling. Do you have another
daughter taking the SATS?”
That sentence made everyone look at me.
The room buzzed.
Chelsea seemed to have a bad feeling. She
stared at me with disbelief and fear.
Everyone urged my dad to enter the social
security number of the daughter he was so
ashamed of.
When the screen clearly showed “Your score
L
is in the top 50 in the state,” the guests and
viewers went wild.
“Wow, amazing. Good family and good
grades! What a life!”
Someone immediately argued, “What good is
a good family? Didn’t you notice that the
father doesn’t even like her and wants to give
her fiancé to her sister?”
The reporters smelled a juicy story and
immediately asked, “Mr. Sterling, didn’t you
say your older daughter had better grades
and could score over 1300?”
“Does this mean you haven’t been paying
<
attention to your younger daughter’s grades?”
“Impossible…” My dad muttered, “I’ll check
again!”
My dad stubbornly operated the computer
again.
The system crashed. Then, a hospital abortion report flashed on the screen, followed by photos of Chad helping Chelsea wait for an abortion.
My dad was stunned. When he saw that the person on the abortion report was Chelsea, his hands trembled, and he turned off the computer.
<
But the hundreds of guests and media
cameras had already recorded everything.
“Oh, my God, what’s going on? Did the sister
sleep with her younger sister’s fiancé? That’s
why they wanted to change the marriage
candidate.”
“Yeah, she’s doing this at such a young age.
She’s shameless!”
“Her grades are so bad, but she still does this
kind of stuff. The hell was your dad saying
about his oldest daughter being so talented?
He’s lost it.”
Chad stood below the stage, looking at me.
<
and Chelsea with a pale face.
Chelsea looked like she was about to cry. She
turned and ran upstairs.
My dad’s face was ashen. He said to
everyone, “I’m sorry, guests. Something came
up today. Please enjoy yourselves. I’ll explain
later!”
My dad wanted to run away, but Brandi
grabbed him and whispered, “Honey, what about our thing…?”
She was talking about announcing the divorce.
My dad chooks off hav A
L
My dad shook off her arm. “Aren’t you
humiliated enough?”
That was the first time I had seen my dad
treat Brandi like that.
She cried and left like her daughter.
In the end, my dad was protected by
bodyguards to escape the reporters.
With my dad gone, the reporters turned their
attention to me.
“Willow, can you show us your study
environment?”
<
“Do you have any studying tips to share?”
I led the reporters to the guest house, where I
had lived for three years, and introduced my
mom.
The reporters were shocked. “You’re the
daughter of a wealthy man. Why is your living
environment so poor?”
I smiled. “My mom and I have been living here
since my dad brought my sister back.”
I said it so lightly, but the next day, the
tabloids were all over the headlines.
“Local Billionaire’s Youngest Daughter
<
Achieves Valedictorian Status, While Fiancé is
Stolen by Older Sister.”
