"Hera, you're here. Take a seat and have some coffee," Robert greeted Hera with a smile.

"Hera, I've completed the admission procedures for you. Shall I take you to Class A?" Melanie also stepped forward and asked with a smile.

Hera glanced at Melanie coldly. Melanie's flattering smile right now was utterly different from her aggressive behavior the previous day. Hera couldn't help sneering inwardly.

Robert's and Melanie's flattering attitude puzzled James and Giselle. 

Admission procedures? Didn't Hera skip the exam? How could she enter Class A?

"Mr. Larkin, is there a mistake?" James asked in shock.

"What mistake?" Robert questioned with displeasure.

"Didn't Hera skip the exam? Why did she get admitted to Class A?" James enquired.

Robert stared at James' confused expression. It seemed James wasn't aware of Hera's achievements.

Then, he turned to look at the aloof Hera. It was 

"Ms. Miller, what are you doing? Please get up." Shocked, Giselle hurried to help Melanie.

Hera cast Melanie a cold look.

Melanie thought her sincerity had moved Hera. She pushed Giselle away and looked toward Hera.

"Hera, you're a kind person. I've been ignorant. I'll turn over a new leaf. You'll forgive me, right?" 

Melanie was confident that Hera would forgive her. After all, she would be Hera's homeroom teacher from now on. They would be under one roof.

Now that she had apologized, most people would be moved by such sincerity. She believed Hera had no reason not to forgive her. Unfortunately, she didn't know Hera wasn't an ordinary person.

Hera glanced coldly at Melanie, then looked toward Robert and uttered lightly, "Mr. Larkin, what we mentioned yesterday was an apology at the flag-raising ceremony."

"Uh… yes." Robert nodded.

Melanie stared at Hera blankly, her expression s

Hera tilted her head slightly. The ashtray brushed against her ear before smashing onto the floor.

Terrified, Lilith looked at Hera with worry. Seeing Hera was fine, she turned to beg James for mercy. "James, calm down. Let's talk things out. Please don't beat Hera."

"Get out of my way! I need to teach her a lesson to let her know I'm her father!" After kicking Lilith away, James grabbed the prepared whip and whipped the carpet before Hera's feet. "Get on your knees!"

Glancing at Lilith, who was kicked away and ended up hitting the coffee table's edge, Hera frowned slightly.

"Dad, please calm down." Giselle stepped forward to comfort James. 

Then, she turned to advise Hera earnestly, "Hera, just kneel down and apologize to Dad. I believe you didn't skip the exam on purpose. Explain it to Dad. He'll forgive you."

"Who said I skipped the exam?" Hera asked in an indifferent tone. Her cold eyes swept across James' face before falling on Giselle's.

Faced with Hera's chilly pressure, Giselle felt inexplicably guilty.

But then she reminded herself that Hera was just a country bumpkin. What was there to fear about her? She had to be pretending!

"If you didn't skip the exam, why did you hang up and turn off the phone? And you went missing all afternoon!"

Recalling Hera hanging up on him in the morning, James angrily raised the whip and flung it toward her.

When Hera was about to catch the whip with her hand, Lilith suddenly pounced on her, taking the whipping for her.

Lilith grimaced in pain but didn't groan. Instead, she asked with concern, "Hera, are you okay?"

Hera helped Lilith, who was unsteady on her feet. She somehow felt touched. 

Since Daphne passed away, she had shut herself off from the world. Except for Catherine, no one had ever protected her like this.

"James, please don't hit Hera. Hit me if you want," Lilith pleaded with James, protecting Hera behind her.

James didn't expect Lilith to take the whipping for Hera. For a moment, he regretted having swung the whip.

But he would lose his authority as the head of the family if he didn't teach Hera a lesson today. "Move! Or I'll hit you too!" he snapped.

Giselle didn't expect Lilith to be so protective of Hera. She felt extremely jealous.

Although Lilith had a humble status in the Everett family, she was nevertheless the lady of the family. Giselle couldn't accept any of the Everetts being kind to Hera, because all this originally belonged to her!

"Now that things have come to this, Hera, stop lying," Giselle advised with a kind look. 

"Ms. Miller contacted Dad because she didn't find you in the exam hall. This matter is now spreading wildly on the academy forum. It'll affect our family's reputation. You'd better explain the situation honestly so that Dad can figure out how to deal with it."

On the surface, Giselle seemed to be persuading Hera. But in fact, she kept reminding James that the news about Hera skipping the exam had gone viral on Cavenridge's forum, and everybody was criticizing Hera and the Everetts.

If this went on, everyone in Norburgh would know by tomorrow that the adopted daughter of the Everett family, Hera, skipped the entrance exam.

James cared about reputation. He couldn't tolerate anyone disgracing the Everett family.

"I think you just want to embarrass our family!" James raised the whip again.

Lilith wanted to protect Hera but was stopped by her.

Hera grabbed the whip swinging down with her left hand. "Once the results are released tomorrow, the rumors will naturally disappear."

"It's easy for you to say that now! Why did you skip the exam earlier?" James snapped. "Come with me to Cavenridge tomorrow morning and apologize to the academy."

Hera was at a loss for words. How many times did she have to tell them she didn't skip the exam?

James turned to Giselle and said gently, "Giselle, ask Mr. Gaskell to help us request Cavenridge's PR department to delete those posts."

Zyler Gaskell was Giselle's fiancé. Because his mother was from a branch of the Killian family, the Gaskell family had a certain status in Norburgh. 

Therefore, the academy's PR department shouldn't refuse if Zyler interceded for them.

"Okay, Dad." Despite her obedient look, Giselle was grinning slyly in secret.

Hera would never have an easy life in Norburgh once her reputation was ruined. For the sake of their reputation, the Everett family wouldn't support her even though she was the real daughter.

…

Early the next morning, James, led by Giselle, arrived at the Dean of Students' office.

Robert and Melanie were already waiting inside.

"Dad, this is Mr. Larkin, the Dean of Students. And this is Ms. Miller, my homeroom teacher this semester," Giselle introduced.

"Mr. Larkin, nice to meet you." James went up to shake hands with a warm smile.

"Hello." Robert shook hands with him amiably. "You're Giselle's father. So you're also Hera's guardian?"

James understood as soon as he heard this. Zyler had to have arranged it.

With his other hand, James took out an envelope from his trousers pocket and stuffed it into Robert's hand. "Mr. Larkin, I'm sorry. My ignorant adopted daughter has brought unnecessary trouble to the academy. Please forgive her."

Robert immediately caught on upon receiving the envelope. Sometimes, parents offered teachers money in the hope that the teachers would give special treatment to their children. 

However, bribery was strictly forbidden at Cavenridge. Not to mention, it involved the student Andrew paid special attention to.

"Mr. Everett, bribery is illegal." Robert pushed the envelope back with a stern look.

James didn't expect Robert to reject. For a moment, he couldn't react.

The envelope fell to the floor with a thud. Judging from the echo, it was quite thick.

The sound attracted everyone's attention.

James' face suddenly flushed. He cared about dignity the most. At this moment, he seemed to have been slapped hard in the face.

He turned to Giselle with reproach and anger in his eyes. Didn't Zyler make the arrangement?

Giselle was terrified. Why did things turn out differently from what they were supposed to?

"It's so lively here!" At this time, Hera walked in calmly.

"Hera, you're here. Take a seat and have some coffee," Robert greeted Hera with a smile.

"Hera, I've completed the admission procedures for you. Shall I take you to Class A?" Melanie also stepped forward and asked with a smile.

Hera glanced at Melanie coldly. Melanie's flattering smile right now was utterly different from her aggressive behavior the previous day. Hera couldn't help sneering inwardly.

Robert's and Melanie's flattering attitude puzzled James and Giselle. 

Admission procedures? Didn't Hera skip the exam? How could she enter Class A?

"Mr. Larkin, is there a mistake?" James asked in shock.

"What mistake?" Robert questioned with displeasure.

"Didn't Hera skip the exam? Why did she get admitted to Class A?" James enquired.

Robert stared at James' confused expression. It seemed James wasn't aware of Hera's achievements.

Then, he turned to look at the aloof Hera. It was as if what they were talking about had nothing to do with her.

She was like this yesterday as well.

Chapter 20