Chapter 5 Why Not Help Her?

"Easton, what do you think I should say?" Arabella shot back.

Easton's expression darkened, and he was about to blow up when Regina suddenly spoke: "Easton, I lost my balance on my own. Arabella was just trying to go upstairs. I wasn't paying attention because I was so worried about the entrance exam."

"Really?" Easton wasn't quite convinced.

Regina nodded. "Yes. Easton, don't blame Arabella."

Her words did take the edge off Easton's anger, but even though Regina was speaking up for Arabella, he still felt deep down that it had to be Arabella's fault.

Regina had a rough background and no mother. She was in a vulnerable position here and didn't dare say anything bad about Arabella.

"I know you're trying to protect her, but you got hurt because she pushed you. She owes you an apology," Easton said coldly.

Arabella hadn't expected Easton to take Regina's side so quickly after she'd only been here a few days.

She let out a cold laugh, dropped her gaze, and looked away from the scene in front of her.

"She doesn't need to apologize," Regina said, while glancing out of the corner of her eye at Arabella on the stairs.

Just moments ago on the stairs, she had timed her fall perfectly as she saw Easton about to walk in. She wanted Arabella to see that her brothers cared about her — only then could she use that leverage once all three Obelon brothers were together to pressure Arabella into helping her get into the school.

As for the injury on her foot, she had done that to herself on purpose. Otherwise, how would she look pitiful enough?

"Easton, I care a lot more about tomorrow's entrance exam than this little cut on my foot. Thanks to Arabella helping me get my documents to the school, Summit Academy is now letting me take the entrance exam. The thing is, I went to school in a small town before, and the education there was really behind..."

Regina trailed off at just the right moment, making it easy for anyone to fill in the rest.

Winston walked in at that exact moment and caught the tail end of what Regina said.

His face went serious. He loosened his tie and said, "Getting her into school should be Arabella's problem to handle."

Arabella, who had been about to slip away from the whole situation, felt her expression shift slightly when she heard that. She took a deep breath and pushed down the cold feeling rising inside her. "Winston, the entrance exam is a long-standing tradition at Summit Academy. I'm just a student — what am I supposed to do about it?"

Arabella came downstairs. She knew that once Winston got involved, things would get complicated.

There was no way she was getting out of this.

"Isn't the Obelon name enough to handle something like this?" Winston's expression grew even darker.

The Obelon family had been donating to Summit Academy for years — buildings, teaching equipment, over a million dollars every year. With that kind of backing, slipping one person in would be nothing.

"Using the Obelon name to pressure them might work, but I've thought about it — if Regina gets in through our connections, how is she supposed to handle everything that comes after? Summit Academy is a highly competitive school. Everyone there is among the best in the city, and they all got in through a fair process. If Regina becomes the first person to break that rule, what will everyone else think of the Obelon family? If our integrity and fairness come into question, could that end up hurting the company?"

Arabella paused for a second, then looked straight at Regina. "Can she afford to take responsibility for those consequences?"

Of course the answer was no.

The consequences she'd laid out were serious enough that Regina, smart as she was, would never let herself carry that kind of weight.

But getting into Summit Academy still mattered just as much to her.

She lowered her head, choking up and about to speak, when Winston's voice cut through: "Your concerns aren't without reason, but Regina needs to go to school."

"I never said she couldn't," Arabella said with a smile. "I'm just saying she needs to take the entrance exam."

"Winston, Easton, I'm saying this for Regina's sake too. There's still a little time before the exam — plenty of time to study. I have homework to get to, so I'll head up." And with that, she went upstairs at a brisk pace.

She looked like she was afraid that if she waited even a second longer, someone would make her stay and tutor Regina.

After she left, Regina sat in the living room, feeling like she'd come out on the losing end — and it only hit her after the fact.

It wasn't until she heard the door close upstairs that she snapped back to herself.

Since when had Arabella become a completely different person?

Before, all she ever had to do was ask, and Arabella would take care of it. But these past two days, nothing she'd tried seemed to be working.

Could it be that Arabella had figured something out?

"Regina, if you're really worried about tomorrow's exam, I can help you study tonight," Easton offered.

Regina pulled herself back to the present. She deliberately raised a hand to wipe away tears that weren't there. "Thank you, Easton."

After a whole night of Easton cramming with her, whatever little knowledge Regina had managed to hold onto completely disappeared. By the time she sat down for the exam, she could barely make sense of the questions, and nearly passed out face-first on the desk.

She even had to be woken up by a teacher tapping on her desk when the exam ended.

The entrance exam results came that same afternoon.

Regina didn't get in. She came in dead last.

When she got back to the Obelon house, she walked in with her head down, looking completely defeated. Justin noticed and asked, "What's wrong?"

At the sound of his voice, Regina slowly looked up, and tears immediately spilled down her face. "I can't go to Summit Academy."

"Can't go? Why? Who said you can't? What happened?" Justin quickly set down his laptop and stepped forward with a string of questions.

The living room was quiet except for Regina's sobbing. She cried hard, and all three brothers patiently gathered around her, speaking softly to comfort her.

"Did someone at the school give you a hard time? Didn't Arabella go with you to Summit Academy for the exam?" Winston asked, his brow slightly furrowed.

She shook her head through her tears without explaining anything.

But the more she acted that way, the more worried the three brothers became.

Then suddenly, there was a sound from the entryway.

Justin glanced over, and his brow tightened when his eyes landed on Arabella.

Regina was crying her heart out over what happened at school — so why did Arabella come home looking so cheerful?

Arabella had changed her shoes and was looking down at a message Flora had sent her, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

【Someone actually fell asleep during the entrance exam today. I can't tell if they just didn't care or if they've got serious connections.】

Arabella typed back: 【Maybe they knew they weren't getting in and just gave up.】

She had just hit send when she nearly walked into a tall figure blocking her path.

Arabella slowly looked up, and her eyes met Justin's unmistakably displeased expression.

"Justin, something wrong?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Something happened to Regina at school. Did you know about it?" Justin's tone was heavy with accusation from the start.

Arabella glanced sideways at Regina, who was surrounded by Winston and Easton not far away. "No, I didn't."

That answer did nothing to improve Justin's mood.

They were all family — how could Arabella be so indifferent to what happened to Regina? She could see her crying like this and still not show the slightest urge to comfort her.

When had his sister become so cold?