Chapter 369

In the dorm, Sophie was clearly the one rolling in dough. Her parents raked in millions annually, and they lived in a quaint two-story Victorian house—a stark contrast to the rest of us who, though locals, only had a fraction of the Sophie family's wealth. Sophie had always shown a particular fondness for Kara, making her immediate acceptance unsurprising. After all, she was potentially securing a future as Mrs. Sutton.

“Of course, why not!” Sophie exclaimed. “I just can’t fathom why you wouldn’t want to move into the Sutton estate sooner; it’s practically a castle, with gardens that could put our backyards to shame! What’s holding you back?”

Blushing, Kara stuttered a bit before she confessed, “I’m… I’m kinda scared.”

Even though she didn’t spell it out, it was clear what Kara was worried about. The revelation prompted a wave of shock. “No way! Has Mr. Sutton really never… you know?”

“Heard your cousin threw herself at him to catch his attention. Once a man’s got a taste for it, it’s hard to stop. And you’re practically his fiancée. How could Mr. Sutton resist?”

We crowded around, eager for the juicy details. Kara, visibly uncomfortable from Freya’s mention, found an ally in Sophie, who quickly came to her defense. “Please, Freya’s hardly a role model. But our Kara? Mr. Sutton adores her too much to rush anything.”

Kara managed a small smile thanks to Sophie’s support.

“Did you guys hear about Jenny being expelled?” Sophie changed the subject.

“Really? Where’d you hear that?”

“It’s all over the school bulletin and the group chat. Haven’t you seen it?”

We scrambled for our phones, and sure enough, there was Jenny’s expulsion notice. Sophie had never been fond of Jenny’s arrogance, backed by Eloise’s influence. “Jenny finally got what was coming to her. Heard her dad got booted from the board, too.”

“Eloise always had her back. What happened this time?”

“Don’t you know? It was Mr. Sutton’s doing. Once he speaks, not even Eloise can sway him.”

Sophie nudged towards Kara, “Plus, now that Mr. Sutton’s got Kara, Eloise is probably the last thing he’s thinking about. I bet it was Kara, sticking up for Freya, right?”

Kara was taken aback by Sophie’s assumption, but the others seemed to buy it. “Yeah, Kara’s too kind. She must’ve gone to Mr. Sutton on behalf of her cousin.”

“Kara, you really stood up for us. You’re amazing!”

The room buzzed with excitement, elevating Kara to almost heroic status. In truth, Kara was clueless about the recent events. Faced with the adoration, she couldn’t bring herself to confess her ignorance. “Freya is my cousin, after all. I couldn’t just watch her suffer… I only mentioned it to Mr. Sutton; never expected him to take it to heart.”

“Knew it! Mr. Sutton treasures Kara above all.”

“Absolutely. Remember how everyone said Mr. Sutton favored Eloise? Looks like, for Kara, he’d throw all that away. Our Kara’s destined to be Mrs. Sutton.”