Chapter 2
The next morning, I arrived at Halloway Design Academy to find a crowd gathered around the bulletin board.
My name had already disappeared from the top of the recommendation list.
In its place was Chloe Sterling.
I took a picture and went straight to the office.
My advisor sighed the moment he saw me.
“Ivy, this is an unusual situation. Chloe just reunited with her biological parents. The academy wants to give her an opportunity.”
“Has she even completed enrollment?”
He hesitated.
“The paperwork is being processed.”
“Did she take the professional assessment?”
He adjusted his glasses.
“Well... overall ability can’t be judged by a single exam.”
I placed my transcript in front of him.
“Then hold a blind review. Have every candidate resubmit their work and score everyone by the same standards.”
His expression darkened.
“Ivy, this is the academy’s decision. I suggest you stop letting your personal feelings interfere.”
“So the academy gets to ignore fairness because it made the decision?”
Whispers sounded outside the office.
Suddenly, Chloe pushed the door open and grabbed my hand in front of everyone.
“Ivy, I didn’t know they were going to replace your name. If it bothers you that much, I can give the spot back.”
Her voice trembled.
Her tears arrived right on cue.
People outside immediately started defending her.
“The Sterling family secured that opportunity in the first place.”
“She took Chloe’s place for twenty-two years. Can’t she give up one thing?”
I pulled my hand free.
“The spot should belong to whoever earned the highest score. The Sterling family doesn’t get to decide that.”
I looked straight at Chloe.
“And neither do you.”
Her eyes widened.
Julian happened to be coming down the hallway.
He immediately stepped in front of Chloe.
“Enough.”
He didn’t ask what had happened.
He simply gave me an order.
“Chloe has a solid foundation. She just never received formal training. Giving her this competition spot compensates her for the opportunities she lost all these years.”
“If you want to compensate her, use something that belongs to you.”
I pointed at the list.
“Don’t compensate her with something I earned.”
Julian’s gaze turned cold.
“The academy works with the Sterling family. I have the right to recommend someone more suitable. You’ve also been emotionally unstable lately. You’re not fit to represent the academy.”
“How exactly am I emotionally unstable?”
“Look at yourself!”
Just like that, one sentence was enough to make me the problem.
I looked at my advisor behind the desk.
“So the recommendation isn’t based on assessment scores anymore. It’s based on how much influence the Sterling family has. Is that it?”
He avoided my eyes and began organizing the papers on his desk.
Julian’s voice hardened.
“Ivy, don’t make this uglier than it needs to be.”
“You think I’m the one making it ugly?”
I picked up my transcript and turned away.
Behind me, Julian added coldly, “Since you refuse to accept the academy’s decision, you won’t need access to the academy studio for the time being.”
Thirty minutes later, my studio access was suspended.
The materials from my locker were stuffed into cardboard boxes and dumped outside.
Students passing by stared.
Chloe stood behind the glass doors.
“Without the Sterling family and without the academy, what do you have left to compete with me?”
I bent down and picked up the box.
The sharp edge of the cardboard sliced the skin on my arm.
It hurt.
I kept walking.
Once I left the building, I pulled out my phone and found the New Vanguard Open Design Competition, which accepted entries from the public.
No academy recommendation was required.
No family background checks either.
There was only one sentence on the application page.
“Let the work tell us who you are.”
I wiped the blood from the back of my hand and hit submit.
Chloe had asked what I had left to compete with her.
My work.
Obviously.