Don't Mess with the Girl with Candy novel Chapter 268

“Dana, is Ms. Payne’s backpack ready?”

As they finished eating, Shanley instinctively reached for a napkin to wipe Juniper’s hands, but he caught Jimmie’s stare out of the corner of his eye. His fingers twitched, and he awkwardly dabbed at his own lips instead.

“It’s ready.” Dana brought out the backpack.

Shanley checked its contents. “Put some bread in there. Juniper gets hungry in the afternoon.”

“Oh, my memory, I completely forgot,” Dana said with an embarrassed laugh, rushing to add the snack.

Jimmie, who had lost his appetite, simply watched the entire exchange in silence.

“Let’s go, Juniper.” After a final check to ensure nothing was missing, Shanley turned to her. “Bring a jacket. It’s supposed to rain today.”

“Okay.” Juniper obediently grabbed her jacket and followed Shanley out the door.

From start to finish, aside from peeling a few shrimp, Jimmie hadn’t been able to contribute at all.

...

On the way to school, Juniper sat quietly in the corner, playing a game on her phone.

“Ahem.”

She had eaten too much that morning, and her stomach felt a little upset.

“Have some water.”

Just as Jimmie was about to find her some water, Shanley had already twisted open a bottle and was holding it to her lips. Juniper didn’t even have to turn her head; she just drank from it as it was held.

The motion was so practiced, so familiar, it was as if they had done it a thousand times before. Was this how they always were? What kind of brother was so meticulously attentive to his sister?

After watching his sister walk into the school, Jimmie felt a growing sense of unease on the drive home. He pulled out his phone and called his agent. “I need you to find out which girl Shanley is seen with the most.”

The arguing gave Juniper a headache. Finally, unable to take it anymore, she was forced to create a tutoring schedule. Half an hour every afternoon. For her teachers. Today’s lottery winner was the math teacher.

After the session, the math teacher walked her to the school gate. “I heard you have something on tonight, so you’ll be a bit late for evening study hall?”

“Yes,” Juniper nodded. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“No rush,” the math teacher chuckled. “Just be safe. As long as you’re here before class ends, it’s fine.”

He’d heard the physics teacher was always giving her time off. After all the tutoring Juniper had given him, that old man was now confidently preparing to enter the Global Physics Olympiad. He wanted to enter the math one himself but was just missing that special something. Juniper was that something. He had to keep her happy.

“Thank you, sir.” Juniper politely bid him farewell and hailed a cab to the lab.

The preliminary genetic analysis report was ready. Her fingers trembled as she read the word “similarity.” The matching genetic markers indicated an extremely high probability of a close familial relationship. Just two more tests, and it would be confirmed.

The likelihood that Melvin was her brother was incredibly high. Barring any surprises, she would have her answer tomorrow.