When They Beg, I Rise!

When Lemira heard "us all together," she couldn't help but scoff at the absurdity of the notion. It was a sentiment she had harbored in her previous life as well.

But on the eve of the championship, her spot was replaced by Evelina.

Lemira firmly replied, "I'm not planning on joining the team. I wanna focus on my studies and prepare for exams."

Alaric mocked her, "But you were the one begging me to teach you how to play games, chasing after me to train together at night, and even said you wanted to be an official member. Why didn't you say you preferred to study then?" Lemira felt a pang of hurt. She had pursued gaming with Alaric to build a better relationship with him, to have more in common! But now, it seemed unnecessary.

Lemira answered, "I realized gaming was distracting me from my studies. My grades dropped significantly last semester, so I decided to quit."

Alaric was left speechless, "Fine, just don't regret it! When the competition starts, everyone will only see Evelina as a member of the Langston family." If Lemira was going to be ungrateful, then fine, he didn't care. "That's fine by me."

Lemira didn't want to argue any further and walked away from the dining room.

Back in her room, she adjusted her mood and started doing her homework attentively, revisiting concepts she had forgotten.

The next day after school.

Lemira and Evelina left one after the other to the school gates, where their chauffeur was waiting.

Evelina stood by the car and said, "Oh, I have to head to the training camp today, so the chauffeur will drop me off first. Looks like we can't share a ride."

The chauffeur spoke up with a stern face, "Ms. Langston, I received a call from Mr. Alaric Langston, instructing me to drop Ms. Sterling off first. We can't delay." Lemira nonchalantly replied, "I'll take a cab."

As Evelina got into the car, a hint of excitement showed on her face, "Lemmy, I'll talk to Ari for you."

Lemira turned and walked away, leaving Evelina with a view of her retreating figure. Evelina bit her lip as she watched, thinking, "Lemira, just you wait. One day, I'll take everything from you! You owe me that!" Standing bored on the sidewalk, Lemira suddenly didn't feel like returning to the Langston mansion. Maybe she should look for a study hall near the school.

"Hey, school's out. Why aren't you heading home instead of loitering around here?"

Lemira turned to see a handsome man, stunned for a moment, and after meeting that pair of eyes, recognized him.

It was the school doctor with a sharp tongue. He usually wore a mask and a white coat, but now changed to another attire, which almost threw her off. Orion stood before her, "I asked you a question."

"I don't feel like going back right now. I was looking for a place to study."

"Follow me."

Lemira looked at his back; hesitant at first, she followed him anyway.

They ended up at the school's infirmary, and she questioned standing at the door, "Why are we here? I'm not sick."

Orion tapped the desk, "It's quieter and safer here than any study hall."

After thinking it over, Lemira thought it made sense. She put her backpack down, "Thank you for offering the place then." She took out her textbooks and got to work.

Orion glanced at her, his gaze cool, before turning to enter the consulting room, closing the door behind him.

When Lemira realized how late it had gotten, she saw a nameplate on the desk with Orion's picture, revealing his name. "Done snooping?"

Caught in the act, Lemira blushed and put the nameplate back, "I wasn't snooping. Just saw it by accident." "Finished with your homework?"

"Yeah, some questions I couldn't solve. I'll ask the teacher tomorrow."

Orion walked over to her, and took her workbook, "You don't know how to solve these simple questions?"

Lemira felt a bit discouraged, looking down at the textbook, "Yeah, I got sidetracked by other things and didn't concentrate on my studies before."