Rebirth of the Deadly Beauty
Chapter 83

Yolanda hung up the phone and glanced across the street. There was a fruit store right there.

"I've got some plans tonight. I won't be heading back with you," she said to Bryce before heading toward the fruit store across the road.

"See you tomorrow..." Bryce muttered. He felt a bit down as he watched her walk away.

He couldn't quite explain it. Ever since Yolanda came out of the juvenile detention center, she seemed to possess an inexplicable air that irresistibly drew him.

However, he also felt like the distance between them was growing. It was as if the good times when they used to be friends were slipping away beyond his reach.

...

Yolanda bought a fruit basket from the store and then took a taxi to the Regency Hotel. By the time she arrived, dinner had already started.

As she entered the banquet hall, Alice and Joe Henderson were busy making rounds and toasting with guests as if this were their event.

The moment Alice spotted Yolanda walking in, she raised her voice and chastised her loudly, "Yolanda, why are you so late? It's been over half an hour. I thought you weren't coming." "School ended late," Yolanda replied coolly.

After responding, she glanced around the room. Soon, her gaze fell on a couple sitting at the main table not far away.

They were Alice's older brother, Neil Lawson, and his wife, Elena Silva. They were also the organizers of the event.

It was clear from their expressions that Alice had probably bad-mouthed Yolanda to them as they looked at her with thinly veiled disdain.

Most of the other guests present were Alice's relatives from her family home. Seeing Yolanda's plain outfit and overweight figure, many of them frowned in disapproval.

Yolanda ignored the unfriendly stares around her. She focused instead on her purpose for being there.

She walked directly up to Neil and Elena, presenting them with the fruit basket. The couple glanced at the modest gift with faint disapproval.

After that, Elena accepted it with a cold expression. She said, "That's thoughtful."

She then directed Yolanda to a seat near the door of the private room.

Once Yolanda sat down, the guests around her subtly moved their chairs away as if sitting with her was a disgrace.

Seeing this, Alice held her glass and approached Yolanda with a smug expression. "Yolanda, I heard you've started school. How are you adjusting to the new environment?"

Before Yolanda could respond, Alice pretended to remember something and continued with a mocking smile, "Oh, I almost forgot. You won't need to adjust for long. Soon enough, you'll be dropping out."

"Alice, what happened? Why would she be dropping out?" someone nearby asked with curiosity.

"Isn't it just because she loves to brag," Alice replied with a smirk.

"At Mrs. Henderson Senior's birthday party, Yolanda boasted she would top the entrance exams. If she didn't, she said she would drop out and give her spot to our son, Paul."

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"Exam results should be coming out soon, right? I've already booked a private room at the hotel. Everyone is welcome to celebrate Paul's entrance into the First Academy."

As Alice spoke, she looked at Yoland with a triumphant air, as if Yolanda had already lost the bet and handed the spot over to Paul.

Upon hearing Alice's words, the guests around them started chiming in.

"Congratulations are in order, then!"

"I always thought someone as smart as Paul deserved to attend the First Academy."

Even though the guests didn't know Yolanda personally, Alice's constant chatter had spread Yolanda's "reputation" far and wide.

Though they had never met Yolanda,

the relatives from Alice's family home were aware of her as a poor student with consistently failing grades who didn't even finish middle school before ending up in a juvenile detention center.

Upon hearing that Yolanda might have gotten into the First Academy, their first assumption was that the Hendersons had pulled strings to get her admitted. Therefore, when Alice mentioned Yolanda's boast about topping the exams, they all displayed contemptuous smiles.