For once, Nina Donovan actually stopped to think for two seconds.
She pointed at herself. "You mean I'm supposed to be the replacement?"
Misty confirmed, "Yes! That's how the plot plays out in the book."
Nina's face was blank. "...Did the author of this book ever stop to consider that the original owner was ranked dead last in the entire school?"
Misty: "..."
It stammered for a moment before finally saying, "Sometimes, you can't apply logic to novels. All the villainess needs to do is make people hate her."
'Right, right, right.'
'So to make people hate her, she has to enter a national competition, steal the male lead's spot, and then get utterly humiliated.'
Nina Donovan tossed her phone aside, washed up, and went to bed.
...
Aldoria General Hospital.
Jasper Sherwood waited outside the operating room.
Heather Sherwood had to undergo chemotherapy every month.
This time, because the payment was late, it had been delayed by a few days.
The hospital had scheduled Heather's procedure for today.
His gaze lingered on his conversation with "Sonnet."
'He was grateful, but Jasper Sherwood always felt there was something strange about chatting with her. He inexplicably felt that this Zola Keller seemed to be interested in him, but he had no desire to get too involved with her.'
'Not to mention they'd never even met. He was busy every day and wasn't in the mood for idle chat.'
'At that thought, he decided he needed to scrape the money together as soon as possible and cut back on their chats.'
The doors to the operating room pushed open, and Heather Sherwood was wheeled out by a doctor, lying on a gurney.
Her small face was pale, but when she saw her brother, her eyes still filled with joy. In a small voice, she asked, "Brother, where's my hat? I don't want to be bare-headed."
Because of the chemotherapy, Heather Sherwood had shaved all her hair off. Her round, smooth head resembled an egg. At only twelve, an age where looks were everything, she didn't want anyone to see her even though she had no hair.
Jasper Sherwood's eyes filled with doting affection. A smile graced his usually cold features, making his handsome, almond-shaped eyes seem all the more captivating and drawing the attention of several young nurses passing by.
He handed her the hat. "Here you go. Once you get better, you won't need to wear this anymore, Holly."
Heather's eyes grew moist, and she looked as meek as a rabbit. She blinked and asked, "Brother, will I really get better?"
"Yes," Jasper Sherwood said, his voice firm and decisive. "You will, Holly. You have to keep fighting. Once you're better, you can go back to school."
At the mention of school, a light sparked in Heather's eyes, and she nodded emphatically.
Then she looked at Jasper Sherwood. "Brother, have you been in contact with the nice lady?"
Heather was wheeled into her room. Beside her bed was a cot where Old Mrs. Sherwood slept. Jasper, on the other hand, would have to return to his rented room later.
He turned to pour Heather a glass of water and answered her question. "Yes, I've been in touch. Don't worry, Holly. I'll pay her back."
Seeing that Jasper Sherwood had misunderstood, Heather's face flushed. "No, that's not it! I... I want to meet the nice lady and thank her in person."
Jasper Sherwood froze for a second, a helpless look in his eyes. "There's no chance for that right now. She's a freshman at Aethelgard University, and classes are in session."
Heather's eyes widened, and her expression fell. "Valengard is so far from Aldoria... Does that mean I won't get to meet her?"
Unable to bear his sister's disappointment, Jasper Sherwood smiled. "How about this? I'll go find her during winter break and ask her to come visit you, okay, Holly? That means you have to be good in the hospital and listen to the doctors and Grandma."
Hearing she might still get to meet the nice lady, Heather's gloom vanished. Fighting back the post-chemo nausea, she drank all the water Jasper Sherwood had poured for her and gave him a sweet smile. "Mhm."
Once Old Mrs. Sherwood arrived, Jasper Sherwood left the hospital and returned to his cheap, rented room.
The place was quite a distance from Ninth High, forcing him to wake up an hour early every day to walk to school. It was already ten o'clock at night, but he still had another three hours of studying to do when he got back. Otherwise, who knew what kind of stunt Nina Donovan would pull tomorrow. She seemed to take special pleasure in disrupting his studies.
The only time he could actually study was when he was far away from her.
Besides, the selections for the math competition were being announced tomorrow. First place in the national competition came with a prize of thirty thousand, enough to cover his sister's medical expenses for a while.
With his grades, he was confident he would be selected. He was just annoyed, wondering what new trick Nina Donovan was cooking up. She was the one who'd sabotaged his spot in the competition last year.
'He swore he would make that arrogant princess experience what it felt like to be knocked off her pedestal.'
Jasper Sherwood's gaze darkened. He pulled out his phone, found a contact, and typed out a message: "Lure the Donovan family into the net. We'll spring it in six months."
A reply came back almost immediately: "So soon? Shouldn't we wait a bit longer?"
Jasper Sherwood didn't reply.
...
Nina Donovan slept soundly until morning.
The first thing she saw upon waking was that princess dress. 'It makes me look like I'm going to a funeral.'
She rummaged through her wardrobe again and found her school uniform, buried at the very bottom.
'The blue and white of the uniform was so much easier on the eyes.'
Nina Donovan put on the uniform and tied her hair into a high ponytail, giving her a lively, energetic look.
When Ian Donovan saw her, he froze for a moment.
In that instant, his image of the sullen, caustic Nina Donovan was shattered.
Before him stood a new, more approachable Nina Donovan.
Nina Donovan saw him. Leaning on her crutch, she changed direction and walked toward him.
She stuffed five hundred into his hand, her expression indifferent. "This is from Dad. He was afraid you'd starve, so this is to help you out."
Without waiting for a response, Nina Donovan turned and walked away, not bothering to engage with Ian Donovan any further.
'Some people's biases are just too ingrained. You can't make them see the truth; they have to figure it out for themselves.'
Ian Donovan looked down at the money in his palm and suddenly clenched his fist.
By the time he looked up again, Nina Donovan had already grabbed a carton of milk and a sandwich and was gone, backpack slung over her shoulder.
'For some reason, he felt that Nina Donovan was still angry with him.'
'Was it because he'd defended Vivian Sterling last night?'
He pressed his lips together. 'He didn't think he'd done anything wrong.'
'Vivian Sterling was just so exceptional; it was only natural that others would be jealous. He had no doubt Nina's slander was born from simple jealousy.'
He shook his head to clear it, finished his breakfast, and headed to school.
Nina Donovan arrived at school in a great mood, but that lasted only until she noticed people pointing and whispering as she passed, their gazes filled with mockery and scorn.
Nina: '???'
'Wait, have all these extras lost their minds?'
'She was a bona fide villainess, for crying out loud! The main characters mocking her was one thing, but how dare these NPCs?!'
Feeling creeped out by the stares, Nina Donovan glared. "What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a beautiful girl before?"
The passing students: "..."
They immediately stopped looking. Frightened by Nina, they just lowered their heads and scurried away.
Nina Donovan scoffed. As she was crossing the school field, Tara Sutton ran up to her, looking frantic. Like a human megaphone, she yelled, "Cousin! This is bad! The whole school knows you cheated on the mock math exam!"
Nina Donovan: "..."
'Thank you, my dear cousin. Thanks to your little broadcast, now the entire school really *does* know.'
Nina Donovan stopped in her tracks. A crowd had gathered a short distance away, watching.