Time flew by, and before anyone realized it, the new school year had arrived.
Petersburg International Academy.
The most prestigious private school in Port City.
Tuition alone ran well into six figures each year.
The students who walked these halls were either heirs to fortunes or scions of old money.
For the wealthy, this place was a playground; for everyone else, it was a distant dream.
Every year, the school admitted a handful of outstanding scholarship students—bright, hardworking kids from ordinary families.
The school needed them to boost its college acceptance rates.
After all, you couldn’t count on the trust fund crowd to lift the numbers—most of them weren’t here to study at all.
These special students earned their spots on sheer merit. Not only did they get a full ride, but the school also provided a generous monthly stipend—enough to make a real difference back home.
And for the truly exceptional? The school even arranged jobs and housing for their parents.
It made sense. Most of the students at Petersburg International were rich kids more interested in parties and gossip than lessons.
They slept through class, whispered and giggled during lectures, and openly ignored the teachers.
The faculty wouldn’t dare discipline them; after all, their own paychecks often depended on the goodwill of these students’ powerful families.
To put it bluntly, it was like employees teaching their own bosses’ children—best to keep a smile on your face and your complaints to yourself.
So the school’s reputation rested on the shoulders of the scholarship kids.
Many of these students came from families that struggled to make ends meet.
A free education plus a monthly stipend was already a godsend for them.
But the school dangled an even greater prize: any student who made it into Crowncrest University—the top school in Veridia—would get a million-dollar reward.
A million dollars!
For most families, that was beyond imagination.
No wonder people were desperate to get into Petersburg International Academy. Each year, the admissions bar crept higher, the competition fiercer.
Unless, of course, you were one of the privileged few who could buy your way in.
Sabrina stepped onto the grounds of Petersburg International once again, the memories flooding back as if she’d been gone for decades.

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