Five Years Wasted Now They Beg Her Back novel Chapter 24

After Damien, she was the first person to believe in her, so unequivocally.

Ivy seemed to have opened a floodgate and continued, "As for you... Grace..."

She paused, her gaze drifting into the distance as if lost in memory.

"I know exactly what kind of person you are. We were rivals for four years, how could I not?"

"You're a science freak, a single-minded monster."

"You'd lock yourself in the library for three days straight, poring over research for a single data model."

"You'd spend every dollar you earned from your part-time job on lab materials to test a hypothesis, while you survived on instant ramen."

"Someone like you is too proud. You value academic integrity more than your own life. You, plagiarize? Steal someone's work?"

Ivy let out a derisive laugh.

"If you ever did something like that, I'd eat my hat."

Grace stared at her, stunned.

She was looking at the girl who, for four years of college, had seen her as a number one rival, who had competed with her over everything.

She never imagined that the person who understood her best was her "enemy."

Ivy's feelings ran much deeper than she let on.

She remembered at graduation, because of a discrepancy in the third decimal place, her thesis's overall score was a fraction of a point lower than Grace's.

Because of that, she had missed the chance to study under the renowned professor she had long admired, watching as Grace became his final protégé.

That feeling of resentment and failure had bothered her for years. After graduation, she had never even tried to contact Grace.

But that was just who she was.

A respect for strength was etched into her very bones.

She could accept losing, but only to someone who had beaten her fair and square.

Grace was that person.

So, when she saw the news that Grace was being smeared with accusations of plagiarism by the combined forces of the Hart and Ward families, her first reaction wasn't glee, but rage.

"Hurry up. After you're done, I'll make you some soup. Look at you, you're so thin you could blow away in the wind."

As she spoke, she pushed Grace into the tiny bathroom and shut the door with a bang.

Hearing the sound of the running water, Ivy let out a long sigh.

She went out to the balcony, closed the glass door, and pulled her phone from her pajama pocket.

After a moment's hesitation, she dialed the number saved only as "C."

The call was answered almost instantly.

A deep, magnetic male voice came through, tinged with an almost imperceptible urgency.

"How is she?"

Ivy leaned against the railing, the night wind tousling her messy hair.

She was concise. "Mr. Clarke, I've got her."