The younger generation of the Scott family was at each other’s throats, fighting for the shares left behind by their late patriarch.

At a time like this, even the smallest mistake could be turned into a weapon.

Juliette would never let her brother ruin her plans, but she also wouldn’t take kindly to being used by me.

Before leaving, she shot me an emotionless glance, as if I were nothing more than an ant on the side of the road.

The message in her eyes was clear—once the internal power struggle in the Scott family settled, Nicholas would be free to deal with me however he pleased.

I met her gaze head-on and silently mouthed, “See you next time.”

…

Stacy stared at me for a long moment before suddenly breaking into a laugh.

"Juliette Scott actually showed up here… I see now. You’ve come back from the past too."

She gave me a smug, taunting look.

"But so what? Now, I’m Nicholas’ first love. You’re the one getting bullied. And once the Scott family sorts out their internal mess, let’s see who’s left to save you."

With that, she strutted out, her confidence unshaken.

The equipment room was quiet again, leaving only me and Sophie’s group behind.

"Lucy, since you’re fine, we’ll be heading out first," Sophie said, gripping her old, chipped cell phone tightly.

She forced a weak smile.

"Wait."

I stopped her.

"The monthly exam results came out today. Don’t you have any questions you need help with?"

She froze mid-step, staring at me in disbelief.

"It’s not just you, if anyone in Class Thirteen has trouble with their studies, they can come ask me."

I draped an arm over their shoulders with a smile.

"We’re a team now. And if we’re going to survive here, we need to stick together and help each other improve. Don’t you think?"

In this world, the odds of someone from a rough background climbing the social ladder were nearly impossible—like winning the lottery.

More often than not, people like Sophie and the others, ordinary students from struggling families, neither exceptionally talented nor privileged, had to fight just to survive.

For them, simply making it through each day took everything they had.

And yet, they still had to endure the oppression and humiliation of people like Nicholas.

"But why should they?"

In the dim light of the equipment room, I met their eyes—flickering with a growing spark like embers flickering in the dark.

I looked at them and spoke, enunciating every word.

"This world was never meant to belong to the privileged few. It belongs to us—the ordinary people."

…

The next day, Nicholas didn’t show up at school.

I knew why. The Scott family’s internal power struggle had reached its peak.

He had far bigger problems to deal with than tormenting me, which meant I could take over Class Thirteen’s self-study period without any interference.

The time that Nicholas and his gang would have spent making a spectacle of themselves, disrupting the class and ensuring no one could study in peace became my time.

I got the chance to tutor the others.

In both my past and present lives, I poured everything I had into learning.

I stayed up late, burning the midnight oil to compile key exercises and problem sets.

After printing them out, I distributed them to the class.

They threw themselves into the work, solving problem after problem.

Whenever they got stuck, they noted their questions down, collecting them into a list.

The next day, I would go through each one and explain them in detail.

During this time, Nicholas’ usual lackeys tried to stir up trouble.

They laughed and splattered paint across my neatly written notes on the board, then turned to me with smug, taunting expressions.

"Don’t think you can do whatever you want just because Nick isn’t here. The day he comes back will be the day you’re finished."

At my silent cue, Sophie’s deskmate, a girl named Jenna Smith, quietly walked over and locked both the front and back doors of the classroom.

Then, one by one, the students stood up.

They slowly stepped forward, closing in on the troublemakers.

"You guys still don’t get it, do you?"

I raised my cup, then swung it with full force, smashing it straight into the face of the ringleader.

"Before that happens, you might just meet your end first."

…

By the time the second monthly exam results were released, the entire school was in an uproar.

Class Thirteen, the so-called worst class in the grade, had skyrocketed to third place in average scores.

What even more shocking was that the two spots in the top ten rankings now belonged to students from Class Thirteen.

It didn’t take long for the school administrators to take notice.

They showed up at Class Thirteen’s classroom, wanting to understand what caused such a drastic change.

Sophie gave them a straightforward answer.

"It’s all thanks to our class rep, Lucy Lowe. She’s been tutoring all of us in private."

"Lucy Lowe? The girl the Lowe family adopted? If I remember correctly, she placed second on the entrance exam, didn’t she?"

"She ranked first this time."

"Who transferred her to Class Thirteen?"

Some of the school leaders still remembered me and exchanged looks before asking Sophie, "Where is she now?"

…

That same day, the chaos within the Scott family had finally settled, and Nicholas returned to school.

Naturally, the first thing he did was block my way on my walk to school.

In the shadowy alley just outside the campus gates, he kicked over a trash can and sneered darkly at me.

"Lucy Lowe, didn’t I tell you? The moment I get back, you are finished."

Stacy stood to the side, making a half-hearted attempt at persuasion.

"Don’t take it too far. If things get out of hand, it’ll be hard to clean up."

"Relax."

Nicholas let out a low chuckle. "This time, my sister won’t be coming to save her."

The lackeys I had beaten before stepped forward, closing in.

"I heard you ranked first in the grade this time?"

"Smart, talented, and a violinist too—bet you’ll cry like hell once those hands of yours are ruined."

They grabbed my wrist, yanking me toward the rough brick wall, ready to slam it against the surface.

At that very moment, the school administrators arrived with Sophie.

"Stop!"

The discipline director’s sharp reprimand rang through the alley.

Nicholas’ lackeys flinched instinctively, their grip on my wrist loosening.

"This is school hours! What do you think you’re doing here?"

Before Nicholas could speak, I beat him to it.

"Teacher, they said they were going to break my hands!"

…

In the large conference room of the administration building, Nicholas and his gang stood lazily in front of the school board, looking completely unbothered.

The principal cleared his throat. "We’ve already looked into the situation."

"It’s true that Nicholas and his friends were in the wrong, but since we intervened in time and no real harm was done, let’s not make this bigger than it needs to be.

"Let’s all take a step back and put this matter to rest."

A classic move—sweeping everything under the rug.

I smiled. "Is that so? Then I’d like Nicholas Scott to apologize to me. That’s not too much to ask, is it?"

"Apologize? To you?"

Nicholas let out a laugh, as if I’d just told the funniest joke in the world.

"You think you deserve that?"

I leaned back casually. "Well, I do have the security footage. If that’s the case, let’s just call the police and let them handle it."

The tension in the room spiked.

Neither of us backed down.

On one side was Nicholas, the so-called golden boy of the elite circle, backed by wealth and power.

On the other was me, the top-ranked student in the grade, someone who not only excelled but had also helped lift an entire class of underachievers.

If this incident escalated into a full-blown police case, it would be a disaster for the school’s reputation.

The principal couldn’t afford to openly offend either side, so he signaled for a teacher to pull me aside for a private talk.

"Lucy, we understand that you’ve been wronged. It was our oversight not to step in earlier.

"As compensation, the school will award you this year’s highest academic scholarship.

“Additionally, we’ll be implementing stricter policies to ensure that no student in Class Thirteen will get mistreated again. Would that be acceptable?"