Chapter 4: No More Patience, Fight!

Chloe had no idea why a girl from a noble family like Mia would show up at an ordinary school like St. Andrew's Preschool.

All she knew was that she wanted to rip that pretty dress right off Mia's body, knock her to the ground, and grind her face into the dirt with her muddy shoes.

But she couldn't do that.

Even though everything pointed to her new parents being people of some importance, they might still be no match for the Sterling family.

Having lived two lifetimes, Chloe was feeling what it meant to have a home for the very first time.

She loved the cakes Mom made. She loved Dad's quiet, unspoken care. She loved bickering with Leo...

So she couldn't let her own hatred drive her to cause trouble for Mom and the others.

She had to hold it together. She could do this.

Chloe closed her eyes and pretended she hadn't heard a word Mia said.

But the little demon hiding behind an angel's face wasn't about to let her off so easy.

"Why aren't you saying anything?"

Mia leaned in closer, her voice dripping with fake sweetness.

"Are you mute?"

"Haha..."

A few kids behind her burst out laughing.

Chloe looked up and met Mia's eyes.

Those blue eyes were wide and round, the corners of her mouth curved up, the picture of innocence.

But Chloe knew that look. In her past life, every single time Mia watched her make a fool of herself, she wore that exact same expression. Like she was watching something entertaining.

That look made her sick.

"What are you staring at?"

Mia's voice rose, as if she'd been personally offended.

Boring. So childish.

Chloe had no interest in wasting another second on Mia. She stepped to the side, trying to walk around her.

"Hey, wait!"

Mia threw out her arm to block her. "Did I say you could leave?"

Chloe stopped.

"Do you even know who I am?"

Mia lifted her chin. "My dad is a Sterling. The Sterling family — ever heard of them? One of the richest families in New York."

Chloe said nothing.

"By the look of you, probably not."

Mia looked her up and down, her eyes traveling from her messy hair down to her mud-caked sneakers. "What does your family even do? Don't tell me you're on welfare?"

Another kid laughed.

Chloe's fingers curled into fists.

"I'm talking to you. Can you not hear me?"

Mia rose up on her tiptoes, trying to look taller. "Why are you so rude?"

Rude.

Those words hit Chloe's ears like needles.

She thought back to her past life.

Mia had done the same thing back then — telling everyone that she had no manners, that she was some wild country girl who didn't even know basic etiquette.

And every time, the people around her laughed right along. Mr. Sterling never once stood up for her.

Enough.

Chloe looked up and stared straight at Mia.

"Move."

Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried weight.

Mia froze. She clearly hadn't expected her to speak like that.

"What did you just say?"

"I said... move." Chloe repeated. "You're in my way."

Mia's face turned red.

She bit her lip, and tears quickly welled up in her eyes.

Not the crying kind of tears. The angry kind.

"D-do you even know who you're talking to?"

"I do," Chloe said. "Someone who's in my way."

"You're dead!"

Mia reached out and shoved at her.

Chloe stepped aside.

Mia's hand caught nothing but air. The force sent her stumbling forward, almost falling flat on her face.

She caught herself, spun around, and shot Chloe a glare. The tears in her eyes had turned to something closer to hatred.

"You actually dodged?"

"What, I'm supposed to just stand there and let you push me?"

Chloe almost laughed. "I'm not an idiot."

Mia was shaking with rage.

She'd grown up getting whatever she wanted. No one had ever dared speak to her like this.

"You'll regret this!"

She stormed back to her seat, dug through her backpack, and pulled out a small pink box, holding it up in the air.

"Whoever helps me teach her a lesson,"

Mia's voice was sharp and loud, "gets this whole box of Emma's limited edition chocolates!"

The classroom exploded.

Emma's limited edition chocolates. The kind you couldn't even buy with money.

Several boys' eyes lit up. They pushed back their chairs and slowly closed in around Chloe.

Chloe took a step back.

She glanced over at Leo.

Leo was sitting in his seat with a book open, hadn't even looked up.

That useless jerk.

"Get out of my way."

Chloe looked at the chubby boy standing right in front of her.

The boy swallowed. But Mia's voice rang out from behind him: "Don't be scared of her! She's just some poor kid. If anything happens, my family will pay for it!"

The chubby boy didn't hesitate anymore. He reached out to shove Chloe.

Chloe shifted and dodged.

But there wasn't just one of them.

Two other boys rushed in from the sides — one grabbed her arm, the other yanked her backpack strap.

Chloe was pinned.

She struggled twice. Her arm was locked tight. She couldn't shake free.

"Let go of me!"

Nobody listened.

She got shoved. Her back slammed into the corner of a desk, and the pain made her hiss through her teeth.

Mia stood at the back of the room, still holding that chocolate box, a smile playing on her lips.

Chloe looked at that smile.

Something inside her head snapped.

Forget holding back.

She sucked in a breath, grabbed a hardcover picture book off the nearest desk, and cracked it down on the head of the boy gripping her arm.

Smack!

Clean and sharp.

The boy yelped and let go, clutching the back of his head, eyes going red.

"You actually hit me?"

Chloe didn't bother answering. She lifted her foot and kicked him square in the shin.

He crumpled to the ground.

The other boy froze, his grip going loose without him even realizing it.

Chloe broke free, spun around, and threw a punch straight into his nose.

Blood started flowing immediately.

The classroom erupted into chaos.

Screaming, crying, desks and chairs scraping and crashing — all of it tangled together.

The kids split into camps. Some sided with Mia. Some tried to break it up. But most were just watching.

Leo finally put his book down.

He watched Chloe getting swarmed, frowned, stood up, and walked over.

"Out of the way."

He pushed past two kids blocking the path and stepped up beside Chloe.

"You okay?"

"What does it look like?"

Chloe was breathing hard, wiping the corner of her mouth. She didn't even know when it had split, but blood was seeping out.

Leo looked at the boys still circling them, then looked past them all to Mia standing at the back.

"Can't win, so run," he said.

"Run where." Chloe gritted her teeth. "We fight back."

Leo looked at her for two seconds. The corner of his mouth twitched.

"Fine."

He turned and threw a punch straight into the nearest boy's face.

The two of them stood back to back. One swinging left, one swinging right, moving like they'd drilled it together a hundred times.

Chloe was only five years old, but the way she fought had a desperate, all-or-nothing edge to it.

She didn't bother picking her shots. She hit whatever she could reach — scratching with her nails, biting with her teeth, kneeing with her knees. Like a cornered wild cat with nothing left to lose.

Leo needed no explanation.

His strength was way beyond any kid his age. Every punch landed solid, the kind that would leave someone sore for days.

Less than five minutes. Four of them were on the ground.

The ones still standing looked at each other. Nobody stepped forward.

"Anyone else?" Chloe asked, chest heaving.

Silence.

Mia stood at the far back, her face white as a sheet, the chocolate box trembling in her hands.

Chloe looked past the crowd and stared straight at her.

"Your chocolates," Chloe said. "Keep them."

Then she grabbed Leo by the arm and walked to the very back corner of the classroom, dropping into a seat.

Leo sat down beside her.

Neither of them said anything.

After a long stretch of quiet, Leo finally spoke. "You hit pretty hard."

"You're not bad yourself."

"Your mouth is bleeding."

"Your knuckles are torn up too."

Another silence.

"...Thank you." Chloe said suddenly.

Leo turned to look at her.

"You're the first person who's ever stood up for me."

Chloe kept her eyes fixed on the board at the front of the room, her voice barely above a whisper. "Even if you did sit there watching for way too long."

"I was reading the situation."

Leo kept a straight face. "Trying to figure out if I needed to step in."

"And what did you figure out?"

"That you needed me."

Chloe opened her mouth and came up empty.

Because he wasn't wrong.

She genuinely couldn't have handled that many on her own.

"Fine." Chloe turned her face away. "Thanks anyway."

"Don't mention it." Leo looked away too, his voice dropping back to that flat, unreadable tone.

"I just didn't want you getting beat into a cripple. If you were, I'd have no one to go up against."

Chloe blinked — then laughed.

"Sure. Tough guy."

"I'm being serious."

The two of them sat side by side, backs straight, like a pair of soldiers who'd just walked off a battlefield.