Chapter 4

Time flew by, and the day the bar exam scores came out finally arrived.

The whole family gathered in the living room early. Even Sophie — my cousin who only went to community college but somehow got her law license — showed up just to gloat.

The second she saw me come downstairs, Sophie rolled her eyes so hard I thought they'd get stuck, not even trying to hide her mockery. "Well, well, if it isn't the Harvard genius who's been drinking three years of special cocoa? Heard you passed out in the exam hall again this time? Guess that top-tier genius brain isn't all it's cracked up to be, huh?"

Margaret walked over with a smile, patting my hand with fake sympathy. "It's okay, Clara. You messed up this year, we'll try again next year."

I ignored their taunts with a cold face, opened my computer, and logged into the score check system. The page loaded, and the score was absolutely brutal.

Sophie and Liam burst out laughing. Ethan sighed.

"Move, it's my turn!" Liam pushed me aside impatiently, excitedly typing in his own exam info.

The second he hit enter, he jumped straight out of his chair and screamed like a maniac. "My God! Mom! I passed! And with a super rare high score!!"

The whole room went dead silent, then erupted in deafening cheers.

"Oh my God! I knew you could do it!" Margaret hugged Liam tight, crying happy tears. "With a score like that, you'll get into any top law firm no problem!"

The whole family was hugging and celebrating like Liam was some kind of prodigy who came out of nowhere. Only I was huddled in the corner, staring coldly at that loser who stayed up all night playing video games and couldn't even explain the most basic legal terms.

Just then, my phone in my pocket started vibrating like crazy.

Caller ID — California Private Medical Testing Facility.

My whole body tensed up. I quietly slipped away from the celebrating crowd, walked out to the empty balcony, and hit answer.

"Hello, Ms. Clara Smith, your test results are ready."

My fingers squeezed the edge of the phone so hard they turned white. "Did you find something in the sample? Psych meds? Some kind of hidden toxin?"

"I'm sorry, Ms. Smith. Based on our full spectrum analysis, this is just a regular beverage. Aside from high-quality cocoa powder, whole milk, and a normal amount of sugar, there are no abnormal ingredients. Safety levels are completely up to standard."

"That's impossible!" I hissed, keeping my voice down but losing control. "Did you miss something? How could there be nothing wrong?!"

"Ma'am, we're the top private lab in all of California, and we stand behind this report legally. It really is just regular hot cocoa."

Click. The call went dead.

No poison? Completely normal?

Was all of this really just my shitty luck? Was my body just failing me? Was I — this straight-A Harvard grad — just destined to crash and burn on the bar exam?!

I turned around stiffly. Margaret was excitedly wiping tears, hugging and kissing Liam like he was some kind of priceless treasure.

My eyes locked onto Liam's smug, gloating face.

A guy who stays up till 3 AM playing video games every night, who can't even tell the difference between "Tort" and "Breach of contract" — a hopeless idiot. A dumbass who was asking me just last month if you could just swear during courtroom arguments... and he passed the California Bar Exam, the hardest one in the country with the lowest pass rate?! And with a rare high score?!

That was a straight-up joke that defied all logic!

And it wasn't just him. My brain was spinning out of control, memories flashing through my head like a movie montage.

Two years ago: Ethan, my husband — who partied with his loser friends in bars every night, failed every law school class, and barely got his diploma because his mom paid people off — somehow passed the bar in one shot the year I passed out.

Last year: Sophie, my cousin who couldn't even get into law school and only had a community college degree, also miraculously got that law license every law student dreams of — the same year I was rolling on the floor from appendicitis.

Three useless losers, all skyrocketing to success.

One crazy thought exploded in my head.

Fuck accidents! Fuck bad luck!

I slammed the balcony door open, grabbed the ashtray off the coffee table, and smashed it on the floor!

The whole family went dead silent like someone hit mute. They all turned in unison, staring at me in shock.

I took a deep breath, my chest heaving, and used every ounce of strength I had to say it word by word. "I want a test review."

Margaret's smile froze completely on her face. Her eyes went wide with disbelief. "Clara, are you insane? What are you talking about?"

I looked at her coldly and repeated it. "I said, I'm applying to the California Bar Exam Committee for a public review of the exam papers."

Ethan was the first to react, like he'd just heard the funniest joke in the world, snickering openly. "Clara, you were carried out of the exam hall before you even made it an hour and a half. Your paper's blank except for your name. You think you haven't embarrassed yourself enough already?"

"I'm not just reviewing mine!" I shot my hand up, my finger like a knife pointing straight at Liam, who was frozen off to the side. "I'm reviewing Liam's paper too!"

The smug look on Liam's face drained completely white, then a red flush of anger crawled up his neck. He jumped up like I'd stung him and yelled at me. "Clara, what the fuck is your problem?! You think I couldn't get that score? You fucked up and now you're taking it out on me?!"

"Yeah! I don't think you could get that score!" I stared him down, not backing down an inch. "Your score — it's mine!"

As soon as I said it, the whole family looked at each other, then burst into even louder, more uncontrollable laughter.

Margaret sighed deeply and walked over, trying to put her arm around my shoulder. "Clara, I know you're upset about failing. You've been under so much stress lately, you're starting to talk nonsense..."

"Don't touch me!"

I swatted her hand away hard!

"Stop playing dumb with me!" I turned, pointing straight at Ethan's face, my voice sharp and cutting. "Ethan, ask yourself honestly! How many times did you even set foot in the library during law school? You got caught paying someone to write your final papers, and your mom had to pay people off to make it go away! A loser like you — how the hell did you pass the California Bar?!"

Ethan's face went dark and he was about to start yelling, but I immediately switched targets, going straight for Sophie off to the side.

"And you, Sophie! You couldn't even pass the basic LSAT, you went to some no-name community college, you can't even format basic legal documents right — how the hell did you get a law license?!"

Sophie's face turned bright red, and she backed up two steps nervously, her lips trembling but she couldn't get a single word out to argue back.

Finally, I locked eyes with Liam, who was frozen stiff, pinning him in place with my stare.

"And you, Liam! You were asking me yesterday about the difference between 'manslaughter' and 'murder'! A parasite who can't even memorize basic statutes, who spends all day glued to video games — and you got a top score on the bar exam?! Do you really think I'm blind enough to buy this bullshit?!"

I took a deep breath, my eyes burning red as I swept over every single person there. "Did the three of you steal my scores?!"

"Clara! You shut your mouth right now!" Margaret stormed right up to me, her finger practically poking me in the face.

"You think this is some Hollywood mystery movie?! Use your head for once — who has the kind of power to swap scores on the California Bar Exam, the most tightly monitored exam in the whole country?!"

She was breathing hard, her chest heaving, and she pointed at me, grinding her teeth and yelling. "You really think you're some unbeatable Harvard genius, don't you? Fine! If you're so determined to humiliate yourself, I'll call the official score hotline right now, right in front of you!"

She grabbed her phone off the table and hit speaker hard. "Let the exam committee tell you exactly how wrong you are!"