NovelEndChapter 257 Seeing Clifford mocked by the others, a flash of embarrassment crossed Jeanette's face.
She hadn't expected to stumble onto this scene in the cafeteria. How humiliating.
And wasn't Clifford expelled already? Why was he still showing up at school? She used to be close to Clifford-so close that whenever someone saw her, they'd think of him, and vice versa.
If only the Iverson family hadn't gone bankrupt, maybe things would be different. But now that they had, staying close to Clifford meant dragging herself down with him.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThe thought made Jeanette's expression darken.
Noticing that no one had spotted her yet, she quickly turned on her heel and started walking in the opposite direction.
Just as her foot touched the first step down the staircase, a sweet-almost sickeningly so-voice called out behind her.
"Jeanette, your brother's being bullied right in front of you and you're just going to pretend you didn't see?" A girl stood there, arms folded, the sharp click of her high-heeled shoes echoing with every step.
It was already pretty empty in the cafeteria, and her voice carried. Before she even finished, people were turning to stare at Jeanette.
Someone chimed in, baffled, "Yeah, Jeanette, your brother's here and you're not even going to help?" "Look at him-he's getting humiliated and you're just going to walk away?" "Miss Iverson's already latched onto the piano prodigy. Like she'd bother with someone like Clifford anymore." That wretched little brat.
Gritting her teeth, Jeanette drew her foot back from the stairs, turned, and strode straight toward Lindy Swift, who stood in the center of the cafeteria.
She faced Lindy and, loud enough for everyone to hear, declared, "Lindy, didn't you used to have a thing for Clifford? If you care so much, why aren't you helping him?" Lindy's face flushed crimson, her voice suddenly sharp and shrill. "What are you talking about?" she snapped. She hadn't expected Jeanette to blurt out her old crush in front of everyone-now she was furious, like shumiliating secret had just been dug up.
With a cold snort, Lindy sneered, "Please. I'm the Swift family's eldest daughter. Clifford's just an adopted charity case. Maybe, back then, it didn't matter, but now that the Iversons are broke? He's not even fit to shine my shoes." Now that the Iversons had fallen from grace, everyone wanted to kick them while they were down. No one wanted to be associated.
Jeanette let out a laugh, her tone dripping with false sweetness. "Since you brought it up, Clifford's just the Iversons' adopted son. I'm my mother's daughter by blood. Why would I stand up for him?" She glanced at Clifford, who looked utterly defeated. "He's not really my brother, after all. We were never that close." Lindy was left speechless, her mouth opening and closing in silence.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmClifford, standing nearby, heard every word—his hearing had always been sharp. Each syllable landed like a blow.
For a moment, he froze, as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over his head.
Before he could react, Jeanette continued, "My mother and Sawyer are divorced. I'm with my mom how, Clifford's with Sawyer. We have nothing to do with each other anymore. So please, stop lumping us together."
With that, Jeanette walked away. A few people muttered under their breath about how cold-hearted she unbout how cold.hearted she was, but with the renowned pianist Dick backing her, no one dared say anything to her face. After Jeanette left, Laird and Gideon kept mocking Clifford for a while longer, but soon grew bored and drifted away.
When the cafeteria finally emptied out, Clifford slowly picked himself up, brushed what remained of lunch off his clothes, and left in silence.
The only reason he'd been allowed back at Primus Academy was because Sawyer hadve begged swallowing his pride to keep Clifford enrolled. Knowing that, Clifford couldn't bring himself to fight back.
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