Two Reborn, One Throne novel Chapter 71

Grace Walters threw down the twelve hundred dollars and stormed back into her two-bedroom apartment, still fuming.

Slam! She shoved the door shut with every ounce of her strength, then glared at it, practically spitting venom. "Damn that Amber Newman! Twelve years of feeding her, and for what? Thank God I always knew she was a stray that couldn't be tamed. Good thing I only gave her the cheapest scraps."

"She wants to count pennies with me? Can she even do the math? It’s my own charm that kept her dad wrapped around my finger. Just because she’s a useless brat, she’s taking it out on me? Little ingrate. Raising her was a complete waste of time."

"Just you wait. Tomorrow I'll have Arthur drag you by the ear to apologize to me. You think you can fly the coop now? In your dreams!"

Lucian Juarez crossed his arms, watching his mother curse at the closed door.

She was still a tyrant at home—that hadn't changed. In his past life, Lucian could never understand why his mother despised Amber so much, yet constantly forced her to monitor and push him.

Did she have any idea how suffocating it was? Every single day at home, he was brainwashed with her endless lectures about getting into an Ivy League university, only to go to school and face Amber doing the exact same thing.

Amber had essentially been an extension of his mother. Everywhere he looked, every time he tried to take a breath, she was there, irritating him to no end.

He hated Amber, but he hated his mother even more. The difference was, he could kill Amber. He couldn't kill his own mother.

In this life, he was going to live entirely on his own terms. So, when it came to Amber dragging her father away, Lucian turned a blind eye. He only wanted to be with Joanne. Whatever happened to his mother was none of his business.

Once Grace had cursed herself hoarse, she turned around to find Lucian leaning against the kitchen door frame like a statue.

She shot him a vicious glare. "You're an ingrate too! Tell me, what’s the deal with Amber's five-figure laptop?"

"Lucian, you really take the cake. What exactly do you get out of being with Joanne Xavier? Shouldn't you secure your own future first? Once you have it all, women like her will come crawling if you so much as snap your fingers."

"Do you know what Amber just told me? She said you eating takeout and doing your own laundry was your own fault. And honestly, she's right. But don't drag me down with you."

"Arthur is a complete pushover, but I spent twelve years carefully stringing him along to get to this point! While I was lying in a hospital bed, he was delivering my meals and running my diner to make me money."

"I had it made! But because of you, you ungrateful brat, Amber made me pay up for all these days. Twelve hundred dollars! Lucian, you've never worked a hard day in your life, so you don't know how grueling the food business is. Fine, I can let that go. But why the hell did you blow thirty grand on Joanne? If you hadn't done that, would I be taking this kind of abuse?"

"Speaking of that thirty grand, I still haven't gotten it back! Tomorrow is the Physics Olympiad. If you don't bring home that fifty-thousand-dollar prize, I'll skin you alive!"

Grace was practically hyperventilating. She simply couldn't swallow this insult.

Why was her son such a disappointment? Why couldn't he learn a thing or two from her?

Lucian's eyes were ice cold. He didn't need her to remind him about the Olympiad; his mind was already made up.

She must have owed him in a past life.

Grace boiled the pasta, making a bowl for herself as well. Once her stomach was full, her anger seemed to dissipate. When her son brought home the fifty grand tomorrow, she’d have to figure out the best way to rub it in Arthur's face.

Meanwhile, Lucian was already scheming. Once he got the prize money, how could he lie to his mother and say it was gone? Maybe he could say he was robbed! He didn't doubt for a single second that the fifty grand was as good as his.

His first real battle with Amber would force her to realize her place. Without her, he was still the undisputed number one in their grade. She was completely obsolete.

Just wait. He'd make her regret everything.

The Olympiad was an annual event rotated among the city's top high schools, designed to encourage academic exchange and practical application.

This year, the physics competition was being held at Riverport High. All competitors from across the city were scheduled to gather at 10:00 AM. To encourage more students to participate and watch, the school had opened the competition to the public.

Amber hadn't slept well. Nightmares had plagued her all night. To say she wasn't nervous would be a lie. First, she had graduated a long time ago in her past life, and she genuinely wasn't sure how much of the material she retained. Second, once she and Lucian made it to the sudden-death round, it would be an absolute bloodbath. Even with her confidence, Amber dreaded the "what ifs."

Sporting dark circles under her eyes, she rushed onto the school grounds, only to see Joanne fawning over Lucian as if he had already won.