The Second Life of a Discarded Heiress novel Chapter 257

Seeing Clifford mocked by the others, a flash of embarrassment crossed Jeanette’s face.

She hadn’t expected to stumble onto this scene in the cafeteria. How humiliating.

And wasn’t Clifford expelled already? Why was he still showing up at school?

She used to be close to Clifford—so close that whenever someone saw her, they’d think of him, and vice versa.

If only the Iverson family hadn’t gone bankrupt, maybe things would be different. But now that they had, staying close to Clifford meant dragging herself down with him.

The thought made Jeanette’s expression darken.

Noticing that no one had spotted her yet, she quickly turned on her heel and started walking in the opposite direction.

Just as her foot touched the first step down the staircase, a sweet—almost sickeningly so—voice called out behind her.

“Jeanette, your brother’s being bullied right in front of you and you’re just going to pretend you didn’t see?”

A girl stood there, arms folded, the sharp click of her high-heeled shoes echoing with every step.

It was already pretty empty in the cafeteria, and her voice carried. Before she even finished, people were turning to stare at Jeanette.

Someone chimed in, baffled, “Yeah, Jeanette, your brother’s here and you’re not even going to help?”

“Look at him—he’s getting humiliated and you’re just going to walk away?”

“Miss Iverson’s already latched onto the piano prodigy. Like she’d bother with someone like Clifford anymore.”

...

That wretched little brat.

Clifford, standing nearby, heard every word—his hearing had always been sharp. Each syllable landed like a blow.

For a moment, he froze, as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over his head.

Before he could react, Jeanette continued, “My mother and Sawyer are divorced. I’m with my mom now, Clifford’s with Sawyer. We have nothing to do with each other anymore. So please, stop lumping us together.”

With that, Jeanette walked away. A few people muttered under their breath about how cold-hearted she was, but with the renowned pianist Dick backing her, no one dared say anything to her face.

After Jeanette left, Laird and Gideon kept mocking Clifford for a while longer, but soon grew bored and drifted away.

When the cafeteria finally emptied out, Clifford slowly picked himself up, brushed what remained of lunch off his clothes, and left in silence.

The only reason he’d been allowed back at Primus Academy was because Sawyer had begged—swallowing his pride to keep Clifford enrolled. Knowing that, Clifford couldn’t bring himself to fight back.