The table in the cafeteria was laden with delicious food.
Salads, hamburgers, fried chicken, steaks, pasta.
No wonder it’s the best high school in J City—the cafeteria food is always something to be proud of.
I scratched my head again. "Oops, I ordered too much."
"Wasting food is shameful. You haven’t eaten dinner either, right? How about we share?"
Claire was silent for a moment before finally picking up her chopsticks and eating small bites.
I watched her wrists, visible under her school uniform sleeves, thin and bony.
Actually, girls like the class president are the ones who truly need help.
But since they aren’t pretty and don’t cry out in pain, they become the barren weeds of our youth, never even qualifying to be the heroine of an romantic drama.
In this life, I’m not only going to save myself, but also her.
Having made up my mind, I spoke:
"Wow, conic sections are really tough. I can’t understand them at all."
"Since you’re good at studying, how about tutoring me?"
Claire, with a pie in her mouth, looked surprised as if to say, "Are we close?"
I didn’t give her a chance to refuse.
I put my arm around the class president and said happily, "It’s settled then! I’ll pay you for tutoring me!"
I gave her part of my living expenses, calling it "advance payment for tutoring."
She looked at the hundred red bills in the envelope, speechless.
In truth, whether in the previous life or this one, the Daugherty Family never neglected their adopted daughter in terms of basic necessities and living expenses.
But for Cayden’s small change, it was enough for Claire to buy medicine for her grandmother and cover hospitalization fees.
It could even allow her to rent a small house off-campus, away from her abusive father.
After setting the tutoring time for the next day with the class president, I headed home.
The luxurious villa was empty. Mr.Daugherty was out entertaining clients, and Ms. Daugherty was at the beauty salon getting pampered.
As for Cayden, he was probably having dinner at the Burke Family’s home.
In the previous life, when Cayden sent me home via his driver, the Burke Family’s foster parents saw him and warmly invited him to dinner.
And just like in an romantic drama, that one dinner made the young master, accustomed to the cold life of a wealthy family, feel the warmth of familial love in a poor household.
The Burke Family’s parents always had simple, honest smiles on their faces.
Their small, dilapidated room was full of homely charm.
All of this made Cayden yearn for it and made him like the impoverished little flower born into such a family even more.
At that moment, although they were eating plain food, both Cayden and Asia were likely very happy.
I slowly put on a luxurious robe, washed my face with branded face wash, ate a bowl of high-end fish oil brought by the maid, and smirked coldly.
No one knew that although the Burkes was indeed poor, they weren’t simple and honest.
The couple favored boys over girls and originally wanted to adopt a boy.
But since there were no non-disabled boys available at the orphanage, they settled for adopting a pretty girl, hoping to attract a wealthy son-in-law later on.
When they saw Cayden sending their daughter home, the couple’s blood boiled, and they immediately seized this potential son-in-law, treating him well.
The so-called familial love and homely charm were nothing but a performance.
After all, these were the only things they could offer to win over a young master from a wealthy family.
And in the previous life, when I told them I didn’t want to marry Cayden, my foster mother locked me in a room, and my foster father beat me half to death with a table leg and a belt.
Asia thought that in this life she had entered paradise, not knowing that there is no true paradise in this world.
The Daugherty Family is a hell of wealth, and the Burke Family is a hell of poverty.
And who can climb out of hell alive depends on one’s own abilities.
