Everyone in the family knew Chloe Sinclair was a diligent student.
Before being brought back to the Sinclair family, Chloe had been first in her class, the only student in her village with a chance of making it to a big city.
But things were far from as simple as they imagined. Chloe's adoptive parents were both avid gamblers, and they also had a son.
In the impoverished mountain village, the preference for boys over girls was still a common mindset. If Chloe hadn't insisted on continuing her education, relying on school subsidies to do so, she would have ended up like the other young people in the village—married with children before she was even an adult.
After returning to the Sinclair family, Chloe continued to study diligently, but her grades plummeted.
She had taken several pop quizzes before, and the results had all been unsatisfactory.
As a result, everyone in the family knew not to bring up the subject of grades in front of Chloe Sinclair.
At this, the three men turned their gazes to Chloe Sinclair in unison.
However, Chloe assumed her father and brothers wanted to see her test scores. After a moment of hesitation, she pulled all the papers she had stuffed into her schoolbag.
The test papers were wrinkled, and a few had even been crumpled into balls.
Chloe slowly smoothed them out. The sight of pages filled with red X's, and a combined score of less than one hundred points across all the tests, stung the three men's eyes.
"Don't worry about not doing well this time, little sis. Now that your second brother is back, I'll definitely help you get good scores."
"That's right! Your second brother got a direct admission to Aethel University, and now he's the director of a national research institute. Tutoring you will be no problem for him."
The three men watched Chloe on the sofa with caution, afraid she would get upset.
Nina Sinclair had expected Mr. Sinclair to be disappointed by Chloe's grades.
In reality, however, her father and brothers only wanted Chloe to live a safe and peaceful life.
Her grades were not within their scope of concern at all.
Although Chloe felt embarrassed showing them her grades, she was overcome with an indescribable warmth as she watched her father and brothers comfort her.
"Dad, I'm fine. I'll definitely do well next month."
'There's still a month until the midterm exams. At my current pace, I can get the system's progress bar to at least 40% in a month.'
'And I'll still have plenty of time to study other things.'
"However..."
The three men immediately tensed up.
Chloe glanced at them, rubbed her nose, and looked down, a little embarrassed. "The school wants to see my parents... again."
Mr. Sinclair immediately said, "I'll go to school with you tomorrow."
Her eldest brother said, "Dad, don't you have a meeting with Chairman Warren tomorrow? Why don't I go instead?"
Her second brother chimed in, "Dad, big brother, don't you two have work tomorrow? I just got home, so why don't I go?"
Chloe Sinclair was speechless. "..."
'This is supposed to be a serious and embarrassing situation, so why do I feel like they're fighting over who gets to go?'
'It's almost like they think it's... an honor.'
In the end, Landon was the one who won.
He comforted her again before leaving, then went upstairs, looking pleased with himself.
「The next morning」
Chloe went to the athletic fields to exercise with her eldest brother.
They returned at seven o'clock sharp.
Today, Chloe was riding in Landon's car.
As the nation's youngest physicist, Landon was a hot commodity, so his travel was handled by a dedicated team.
Even the car he was chauffeured in was made from materials with the highest safety rating in the world.
Nina had left early that morning to attend a piano competition.
Chloe finally relaxed, slumping into the car seat.
Landon found it amusing. 'My little sister really is just a kid,' he thought.
"Second brother, when are you going to start tutoring me?"
Landon hadn't expected her to bring it up so suddenly. He thought for a moment, then said, "How about today? I'll go back and prepare."
"Okay."
They arrived at the homeroom teacher's office as they were talking.
Students were beginning to arrive at school, but the teachers hadn't come in for the day yet.
Seeing this, Landon said, "Little sis, you should head to class first."
Chloe hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Okay."
With that, she turned to head upstairs.
Unexpectedly, she ran into her homeroom teacher at the turn of the staircase.
The teacher looked unwell, with dark, bluish circles under her eyes.
She had just gotten home last night when she received a call from the principal.
Her teaching skills were excellent, and she was on good terms with the principal privately, so she answered without hesitation.
But she was met with a furious tirade from the principal.
The reason was simple: that important official had seen her make Chloe take out the trash yesterday.
Apparently, he had been very displeased.
The principal had ordered her to his office first thing in the morning, so she hadn't slept a wink all night.
Now, running into Chloe, her anger flared. With a cold expression, she snapped, "Why are you walking so fast? What if you run into someone? And look what time it is! You might as well just drop out of school."
Chloe was speechless. "..."
'I'm just minding my own business, and suddenly I'm getting an earful. This woman must be crazy.'
Chloe stood frozen at the turn of the stairs.
Students passing by heard her shouting and turned to look. This seemed to embolden the teacher, and her scolding grew even nastier. "And look at how you're dressed! Getting into trouble day after day! Where are the parents I told you to bring? Why isn't anyone here?"
Chloe instinctively glanced down at her school uniform.
She was wearing the complete set, uniform shirt and pants. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it.
Chloe's expression faltered. "Ma'am, is there a problem with what I'm wearing?"
The teacher froze.
She subconsciously glanced at Chloe's clothes and was struck speechless.
Caught off guard and rendered speechless, she grew angry. "What's that supposed to mean? Are you saying I can't even criticize you?"
"And another thing! Where are the parents I told you to bring! Where are they!"
She assumed Chloe had come alone, which only further confirmed her suspicions.
'Chloe Sinclair must be the Sinclair family's adopted daughter, and clearly not a favored one.'
With that, she took out her phone, ready to make a call.
"No need to call. Her guardian is here."
Unlike the students bustling through the hallway, Landon stood out in a black suit. His hair was styled back with gel, revealing a smooth forehead and a handsome profile so striking it was hard to look at him directly. His entire aura seemed out of place in the school environment.
The teacher's eyes were drawn to him instantly.
Before she could react, the man pulled Chloe protectively to his side. He looked down at her, his expression gentle, and he seemed to radiate a soft light.
But when he looked up again, his eyes were clearly impatient, glinting with a cold light.
"Hello, Ma'am. I am Chloe Sinclair's older brother, Landon Sinclair."
The teacher was a bit slow to react. She looked at the man before her, feeling certain she had seen his face somewhere before.
Soon enough, however, her confidence wavered.
After all, she had just been caught red-handed insulting a student by that student's guardian.
Moreover, Landon's presence was simply too overwhelming.
"I-It's... it's like this. I asked you to come in today because of Chloe Sinclair's grades."
The teacher stammered out a long string of words, and the thought of Chloe's academic performance seemed to restore some of her confidence.