Chapter 4

The final day of the competition began with a six-hour study period before the last exam. I found a quiet corner in the designated library, the silence a welcome relief. For a few precious moments, there was only me and the complex beauty of the code on my screen. I felt a sense of peace, a reminder of why I loved this work in the first place.

The peace was shattered by loud laughter. Sarah' s clique, led by Maya, strutted into the library and made a beeline for my table. Sarah wasn't with them; she was likely off somewhere receiving her final instructions from Ethan.

"Still trying?" Maya taunted, leaning over my shoulder. "It' s kind of cute, watching you struggle so hard when you know you' re going to lose."

She snatched my workbook from the table. "What' s this? Wow, these notes are so detailed. You must have spent all night on this."

She tossed my workbook to another girl, who caught it like a football. They started throwing it back and forth over my head, laughing as I stood up to try and get it back. The workbook contained all my final calculations and theories.

"Oops," Maya said with a fake gasp as she "accidentally" dropped it. The workbook landed on the floor, and another girl immediately stepped on it, grinding her heel into the cover and scattering the loose pages.

They were laughing, their faces ugly with casual cruelty. Something inside me snapped. The quiet, unassuming Chloe they thought they knew vanished.

"Pick it up," I said.

My voice was low, but it cut through their laughter like ice. They stopped and stared at me.

"What did you say?" Maya asked, a smirk on her face.

"I said, pick it up," I repeated, my eyes fixed on her. "Or I withdraw from the competition. Right now."

Maya and her friends burst out laughing. "Go ahead! That just makes it easier for Sarah to win!"

But as I looked past them, I saw Sarah herself walking into the library. She had heard my threat, and the color drained from her face. Her smile vanished, replaced by a mask of pure panic. The other girls might not have understood, but Sarah knew exactly what my withdrawal meant. No Chloe, no more brilliant, last-minute solutions for Ethan to steal. No more ideas to feed into her earpiece. Her entire high-stakes charade would come crashing down.

"Maya, stop it!" Sarah hissed, rushing forward. Her voice was sharp with an authority the others had never heard before. "What are you doing?"

She shoved Maya aside and quickly knelt to gather my scattered papers, her hands trembling slightly. She pushed the ruined workbook back into my hands.

"I am so, so sorry, Chloe," she said, her voice dripping with a desperate, false sincerity. "They were just playing. Here." She thrust a brand-new, leather-bound notebook and a set of expensive pens at me. "Please. Use these. You need to be able to study. We all need you to finish the competition."

She needed me. The thought was grimly satisfying. I was the engine, and she was just the pretty chassis they' d slapped on top. Without me, she was nothing.

I took the notebook from her without a word and sat back down, ignoring them all as they scurried away. I finished my preparations and walked into the final exam with a clear head. I completed the test, my code flowing effortlessly. I knew I had done well.

When the final bell rang, the entire hall erupted into cheers and applause. The competition was over. Contestants flooded out of the hall into the main lobby, where families and friends were waiting with flowers and balloons. It was a sea of celebration.

I saw Ethan standing near the entrance. He wasn't looking for me. His eyes were fixed on Sarah as she emerged from the crowd. He rushed to her side, wrapping her in a dramatic hug and handing her a massive bouquet of roses. Then he fastened a new necklace around her neck-a stunning diamond pendant I recognized from a recent auction catalog. Its price was more than most people make in a year.

Liam was there too, standing beside Ethan, clapping and smiling at Sarah. Neither of them even glanced in my direction. They looked right through me as if I were a ghost.

In that moment, standing alone in a sea of joyful reunions, I should have felt devastated. I should have felt abandoned, heartbroken. But I didn't. Instead, a strange and profound sense of calm washed over me. Their neglect didn't hurt anymore. It was liberating. For my entire life, I had lived in Ethan' s shadow, sought Liam' s approval. Their betrayal hadn't broken me; it had set me free. I was no longer their little sister, their friend. I was just me. And I finally had the whole world to myself again.

I watched them celebrate their hollow victory. Let them have their moment. I had a list. A list of everyone who had wronged me, who had tried to tear me down.

And I was going to cross their names off, one by one.