Reborn, She's Back for Revenge novel Chapter 138

Chapter 138

Chapter 138

55 vouchers

The dinner wrapped up, with everyone keeping their own secrets and worries.

Afterwards, Harvey offered to drive Joselyn back to her hotel.

Karen, June, and Hallic all let out a breath they’d been holding. It turned out Joselyn really was as tough to please as the gossip said. That meal left their nerves frayed and stomachs tied in knots.

“Ms. Cornell agreeing to sit down and cat with us is already a miracle,” June remarked with a grin. “She only came back for personal reasons, and almost nobody even knows.

“Even fewer had the chance to sit down with her ahead of time. Hallie’s got the early advantage; there’s no way anyone but Hallie will win first place at the National Piano Competition.”

After hearing June’s words, Karen finally felt genuinely at ease.

Her eyes flickered as she said, testing the waters, “If only Edith had come along tonight, it would’ve been a great chance for her to meet Mr. Raine and Ms. Cornell.

“That alone might’ve helped her breeze through the preliminaries and straight into the finals.”

June’s face turned frosty. “She’s so sure of herself. No way she’d lower herself for a dinner like this. Don’t bring her up.”

Karen smirked. ‘That little bitch has totally pissed off June,’ she thought with satisfaction. ‘She can forget about ever making it big in the piano world now!

Meanwhile, Edith was grinding away at her practice papers.

She and Kerrie were holed up at a pretty decent three–star hotel. Dinner got sent up to their room, and as soon as Edith finished eating, she dove right back into her science problems.

She’d only packed five sets of practice tests for the trip; once she knocked this one out, she’d be fresh out for the next few days.

Just the thought of having nothing to solve for three or four days made her fingers itch for more. Edith caught herself before she could even go there.

Edith knew if she kept thinking about it, the System would come up with some excuse and dump another science workbook on her.

Those booklets were so easy that it was like cheating; even someone with zero brains could get every answer right. Edith didn’t want to lean too much on the System just for higher grades.

Honestly, the System was the real reason her scores had shot up lately; her ability to understand, memorize, and adapt had all skyrocketed, and that was the real game–changer.

9:04 Fri, Sep 12

Chapter 138

With all that, Edith didn’t need a workbook to game the system.

Suddenly, her phone started vibrating loudly on the table.

84

55 vouchers

She glanced at the screen; it was Larry calling. She set her pen down and answered.

“Hey, Edith, hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Larry said. “You got any plans after the prelims tomorrow? If not, I was thinking you could come over to my place for dinner.”

Edith didn’t really have anything going on, but honestly, it felt weird. When they were both in Sunspire, their families lived practically next door, and she’d never made the effort to eat at the Larson Residence.

Now, coming all the way to Bonrea and suddenly going out of her way to show up at their house just felt kind of awkward.

But that was only part of it. The bigger issue was that she just wasn’t good with strangers. With people her own age, she could just keep quiet and put on a blank face, but the Larson family was all elders.

If Edith acted standoffish, she’d come off as rude, but the idea of playing nice, saying hi to everyone, and chatting away was exhausting just thinking about it.

Before Edith could respond, she overheard a voice whispering in the background. It sounded like Fiona. “Larry, what did Edith say? When’s she coming over? I want to tell the chef to start preparing.”

Edith sighed and wondered, ‘Mrs. Larson is something else. She must really, really like me. Otherwise, the System wouldn’t have handed out a reward.‘

Given all that, Edith supposed she really ought to visit them.

“I should be free the day after tomorrow. Let’s just check in then, okay?” Edith said.

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll figure it out then,” Larry replied. Larry hung up in a hurry, worried Edith would pick up on all the people eavesdropping around him.

Larry sat on the couch, Fiona loyally by his side to the left. In front of him, a crowd of family servants stood waiting, with the chef standing by for instructions.

On the opposite couch sat his mom, Stella. Everyone was staring straight at him.

Larry felt the pressure building. “Grandma, Edith said she’s not sure about the day after tomorrow.”

“Not sure?” Fiona frowned and sighed. “Larry, where’s your backbone? You ought to be more direct–just tell her she has to come over for dinner. She’s your girlfriend. We need to meet her.”

Larry was just about to take a sip of water to calm down, but he ended up spraying it all over the coffee table. “Grandma, what did you just say?

“Edith’s not my girlfriend. Seriously, she’s not. We’re just friends, and that’s it. Please, don’t ruin the totally innocent friendship I have with her.”

Fiona gave him a wise, all–knowing smile. “Listen. You two are still kids, so it makes sense to start out as just

9:04 Fri, Sep 12

Chapter 138

friends.

:

84

55 vouchers.

“Once high school’s behind you, then you can start dating for real. There’s nothing wrong with letting us meet her now, right? What do you think, Stella?”

Stella looked conflicted. She honestly didn’t have a good feeling about Edith. She always thought the girl was way too shrewd and impossible to read.

Even as an adult, Stella sometimes had no clue what Edith was thinking. With Larry being so straightforward and trusting, he couldn’t handle it at all.

But Edith had bailed Larry out of a major mess. If Edith hadn’t seen through May’s tricks, Larry’s SATs could’ve been totally screwed.

If Larry really did have feelings for Edith, well, Stella would just have to turn a blind eye and let things play out. But she wouldn’t openly approve it.

Stella forced a smile. “Mom, Larry’s still just a kid. Let’s talk about this after he’s done with the SATs, okay?”

Fiona let out a sigh. “Who knows if Dwight will even make it to Larry’s SATs? If he saw Larry bring home a girlfriend, he might get so happy he’d bounce right back.

“I even had a guy do a reading for us; he said as long as the Larson family has a big happy event, Dwight’s definitely going to pull through.”

Stella stayed silent. Fiona was fantastic in all sorts of ways–except for being way too into worrying.

Fiona went to church to pray every month, and the Larson family donated a large sum of money to the church every year.

When Dwight fell ill, instead of going abroad to seek a famous doctor, Fiona actually believed the words of a priest at a temple. Stella was completely at a loss for words.

“Larry, be straight with me. What’s the story with you and Edith?” Fiona pressed, her tone dead serious. “Back in my day, I was already betrothed to your grandpa when we were only fifteen or sixteen.

“You’re eighteen now; having a crush on a girl isn’t even close to being an early romance. If your mom dares to say a single bad word about it, I’ll be the first to have your back.

“So come on, Larry, don’t keep secrets from me. Spill it and don’t bottle anything up.”

Larry forced a smile and wondered, ‘I seriously don’t see Edith that way at all. If I ever actually liked her, I wouldn’t need Grandma nagging me; I’d go tell her myself.

‘But I’ve just never thought about being together with Edith, not even once. I don’t have those kinds of feelings for her. Why won’t Grandma believe me?‘

Just as Larry was about to lose it, he looked up and saw Marcus walking through the front door. He greeted Marcus in desperation, “Uncle Marcus, you’ve gotta save me; Grandma’s totally lost it.”

9:04 Fri, Sep 12

Chapter 139