Chris rolled his eyes. “Grandpa, do you just not like me or something? If I tell Connor what you’re asking, he’ll probably come after me himself.”
Grandpa Samuel just laughed. “Lydia has a whole crowd of admirers at school right now. We all need to stay alert. Can’t let someone else swoop in and steal her away.”
Chris let out a sharp breath. “Honestly, that Jay guy is definitely up to something. Good thing Lydia wants nothing to do with him.”
Grandpa Samuel huffed. “If he tries anything with Lydia again, I’ll make sure someone teaches him a lesson.”
Chris gave another helpless sigh. “Grandpa, times have changed. Before Lydia marries Connor, anyone’s free to chase after her.”
“Nope. I need to talk to Connor and tell him to get married fast. There are way too many good-looking guys at her school. We need to stay on our guard.”
Chris just stared, at a complete loss for words.
***
After ten days, field training was finally over.
As expected, Lydia led her Class Three to take first place. No surprises there. Rosie, on the other hand, was left humiliated. She thought Dennis would step in and help her reclaim the top spot. Instead, Dennis ended up under investigation, and their entire five-person group was called in to be questioned.
If Jackson hadn’t pulled some strings to get her and her teammates out, Rosie would probably still be sitting in that investigation room with Dennis.
“I’m not going back. I want to transfer. I can’t do this anymore.”
Back home, Rosie collapsed into the couch, sobbing so hard her whole body shook. She’d never been so embarrassed in her life. Now that everyone knew she cheated, how was she supposed to show her face at school again?
“So what? People are still going to talk behind my back. They’ll never let the cheating go.”
Mandy’s heart broke at the sight of her daughter in tears. She turned to Benjamin, voice serious. “Benjamin, this needs to get fixed before Monday. Or there’s no way Rosie can go back to school.”
With training finished, everyone was sent home. The next two days were the weekend. The official opening ceremony was on Monday. Given everything that happened, asking Rosie to go back now just felt cruel.
Benjamin frowned. “So nothing’s working. What do you want me to do?”
Jackson had already used Dennis as a scapegoat and warned them not to make any reckless moves. He obviously wanted them to keep a low profile and not mess up his shot at a promotion.
Mandy’s expression hardened. “This is all Lydia’s fault. If she hadn’t stuck her nose in, none of this would have gotten so out of hand.”

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