Chapter 244

Chapter 244

"You're the one with a problem. Do you even know who I am?"

Beatrice got fired up. "Oh, who are you? I'd actually love to know. Are you gonna scare me to death or what?"

"Listen up! I'm Ivy Price! That famous trading company? It's my family's!"

At that, both Beatrice and I recognized the name. We both knew the elite circles well enough.

Too bad for her, the Sinclair family and the Montague family weren't pushovers — especially the Sinclairs, who were the richest family in the world.

"The Price family? That's it? And you're walking around like you own the place? That's hilarious. Compared to the Montague family, the Prices are nothing." Beatrice fired back without holding back.

At that, something shifted in Ivy's expression. It seemed like she'd underestimated Beatrice.

Then she turned her attention back to me. "You in or not? If you're not, you're a coward!"

"I'll say this once — get your hands off me." My eyes were sharp, my voice ice cold.

My attitude seemed to rattle Ivy. Her expression went a little stiff, but she let go.

"You in or not?"

"You're this desperate for it — how could I say no?" I gave a slight smirk.

"Fine, right here then."

"Sure."

Beatrice, never one to miss a good show, called out to the other students. "Come watch, everyone! Someone just asked for a beating!"

Ivy's face changed instantly. "What did you say?! The fight hasn't even started! Don't get ahead of yourself!"

"Charlotte's seriously good. You? You'll be flat on the ground in under two minutes." Beatrice crossed her arms, looking completely unimpressed.

I added, "One minute is enough."

"You two little— Do you have any idea who you're messing with?! I'm going to knock your teeth out! And you!" That last part was directed at Beatrice, Ivy pointing right in her face. "After I'm done with her, you're next!"

Everyone had turned to watch, buzzing with comments — most of them agreeing that Ivy was just looking for trouble.

We walked a few steps away to a more open spot, and the students, along with people from other classes, formed a circle around us.

"Let's go already, stop stalling!" With that, Ivy charged first, throwing a hard roundhouse kick straight at my waist.

I kept stepping back, dodging. When she spun up for another move, I hit her shin with a flying kick, then followed up with a spinning kick that knocked her flat on the ground.

The crowd broke into applause without even thinking about it.

Ivy let out a muffled groan from the pain, unable to get up for a moment.

"You... you fought dirty!"

I shrugged. "How exactly did I fight dirty? There are plenty of eyes watching. Don't go throwing accusations around."

Ivy forced herself up through the pain. "You kept dodging on purpose, just waiting for me to go all in so you could hit back. If that's not dirty, what is?"

"Sweetheart, it sounds like you didn't pay much attention in school. If you don't know what 'dirty fighting' actually means, maybe don't throw the term around — you'll just embarrass yourself."

Ivy's face twisted with rage. She attacked again — a right punch, fast as lightning, aimed straight at my face. I dodged quickly, grabbed her arm, and swept her cleanly to the side, slamming her to the ground again.

This time she landed on her side and couldn't get up for a good while.

The timer stopped. Forty-eight seconds.

Gasps exploded from the crowd.

"Oh my god, that was insane."

"I've been doing taekwondo since I was a kid, and that level? She could compete internationally."

"That was so fast."

"She came in so full of herself — I thought she was actually good."

"What a letdown."

Ivy had become the target of everyone's mockery. She dragged herself off the ground, shot me a vicious glare, and walked away in embarrassment as the crowd jeered.

Honestly, I felt a little let down. I thought Ivy was going to be something.

"Charlotte, you were amazing!" Beatrice cheered.

"That was boring."

Martin pushed through the crowd, too. He looked at me with clear admiration, but still called out, "Alright, what is everyone doing? Break's over! Get back to training, now!"

A wave of groans rippled through the crowd.

Two days dragged by. The third day was mostly running drills. This was Hamilton Law, but plenty of the students came from money — raised with everything handed to them, and not exactly built for this kind of grind.

Still, they pushed through.

Just as our class was about to head to the track, Martin walked over to me. His tone was almost deferential. "Charlotte, you don't have to run. Can you help me keep time on the side?"

That caught me off guard — and judging by the looks on my classmates' faces, it caught them off guard too.

"Keep time? Why?"

"It's... it's nothing, really. I saw how good you were at taekwondo the other day. Running is nothing for you. I'll lead the group, so you handle the timing."

I stared at him for a few seconds. I had a feeling I knew what was going on. Then I turned him down flat. "Thanks, but I want to run. If you need someone to lead the pace, I can do that."

And with that, I turned and ran to the front. The rest of the class followed without a word.

Martin called after me, but I ignored him.

I'd already figured out he was giving me special treatment.

I just couldn't tell who asked him to — it could've been my parents, Edward, or Eli.

Either way, I wasn't having it.

I was going to do exactly what everyone else did.

After three laps, nearly all the students were worn out. Only Beatrice, a handful of kids, and I kept going.

Beatrice had trained in martial arts, too, so her stamina was no problem.

"Hey, since we're both this good, why don't we just ask Martin to let us skip training? We could actually go have some fun."

I shut that down immediately. "Come on, stop it. We should train like everyone else. Yeah, we come from money, but this is a college campus — there are a lot of people around. Standing out too much isn't always a good thing."

Beatrice thought about it and admitted I had a point, so she dropped it.

After five laps, Martin finally let everyone rest.

During the break, he came over and handed me some water. "Charlotte, drink up — but take it slow after a run. Don't gulp it down."

I took it and thanked him.

"You should rest. You don't need to keep up with everyone else. You're already way beyond them." Martin added.

I was direct. "Martin, I don't know who asked you to look out for me, but I'm not accepting it. Whatever everyone else does, I do. Don't treat me differently."

Martin looked a little awkward. "No, it's not like that — I just think you're exceptional and wanted you as my assistant."

"Martin, you're really not a good liar."