Chapter 156
Zima remained silent, taking a bite of the strawberry tart. She couldn’t figure out why Anne would ask to transfer to their class
Noticing that Zinnia seemed distracted, Lydia reached over and gave her hand a gentle, encouraging pat. She said, “Hey, don’t worry, we’re all here for
you
Maisie hadn’t returned to her seat yet. At that moment, she gently ruffled Zinnia’s hair and comforted her, “Yeah, Zinnia, don’t be scared. We’ve got your
back.
“Anne was pretty normal when Betty wasn’t involved. Now that they’ve fallen out for good, she should be back to her usual self. And even if she isn’t, no big deal. We’ll just keep our distance.”
Maisie thought, ‘Given the bad blood between Zinnia and Betty, and how Anne used to side with Betty, it’s puzzling why she’d want to transfer here now.
The bell soon rang, and everyone returned to their seats.
William walked into the classroom and said, “Alright, everyone, I have an announcement to make. As you may have heard, Anne will be joining our class
next week.
“I know there’s been a bit of tension among you, but I really hope you can try to get along. Even if you can’t, please don’t ostracize her, alright?”
After school was over, Zinnia packed up her things and left. She had just reached her residential complex and was about to scan her face to enter when suddenly, the door of a car parked by the curb swung open.
A female voice called out, “Zinnia!”
Zinnia turned and was surprised to see several unexpected faces.
There was Maelis, whom Zinnia hadn’t seen in ages; in just a few days, Maelis looked much older. Then Yosef, Howard, and Timothy stepped out of the car. Barred from entering the gated community without a resident’s permission, they waited in the car for Zinnia.
Seeing them, Zinnia pressed her lips together and frowned. She thought, ‘Why won’t they just leave me alone?‘
“Zinnia,” Howard called out, his eyes lighting up with hesitant joy. After being scolded by Yannis last time, Howard finally recognized his own mistakes. This time, he came prepared, his hands full of carefully selected gifts.
Hearing Howard’s voice, the other three snapped out of their stupor. They gazed at Zinnia with a mix of regret and guilt. The incident at school hit them like a sledgehammer. Only then did they come to realize how profoundly they had wronged Zinnía.
They thought, ‘Betty, whom we least expected to do such things, turned out to be the one who deceived us the most. Zinnia, the one we trusted the least, was the one we wronged the most. No wonder Zinnia has kept her distance from us.
‘So much had happened, yet we rushed to conclusions and blamed Zinnia, never bothering to find out the truth. If only we had investigated, none of this would have happened, and our family wouldn’t be in such a mess.‘
“Zinnia,” Yosef called softly, supporting Maelis as he walked toward Zinnia. Yosef’s heart was heavy, especially Zinnia had said the Shaw family had never given her any allowance.
Only now did Yosef come to realize Zinnia had been telling the truth.
as he recalled their last encounter, when
Maelis had meant to give Zinnia the allowance, but after the incident with the broken necklace, she got upset and decided to delay it for a couple of days, leaving the matter to Betty to handle.
Little did anyone know that Betty pocketed the money and never gave Zinnia a cent.
Chapter 156
Watching the Shaw family approach slowly, Zinnia recalled what Yannis had taught her: better to wrong others than to be wronged by them it didn’t retreat. Instead, she glared at them and snapped, “Why can’t you just leave me alone?”
Zinnia didn’t bother mincing words this time. Her sharp, barbed remarks cut deep, each one stinging like needles in the heart.
AD
