Betrayed and Dumped: She Rose Stronger Than Ever novel Chapter 69

After an hour of math, Rebecca was starting to feel worn out. She slipped off her headphones and stretched, just needing a moment to shake off the fatigue. Her eyes wandered around the study room. Stephen was nowhere in sight. Not that she’d expected him, since he’d only shown up once before. Still, Rebecca caught herself frowning. Why was she even looking for Stephen in the first place? It wasn’t like they were study partners or anything.

Her thoughts drifted back to her actual study buddy. She glanced at the time. Ten o’clock had come and gone, but there was still no sign of Caleb. She was about to message him when she spotted him heading her way. He wasn’t alone. Trailing behind him was a girl who looked impossibly sweet, like someone straight out of a candy commercial.

Rebecca waved at Caleb, then turned her attention to the girl. “Hey, and you are…?”

The girl wasn’t shy. She smiled brightly and introduced herself, her voice soft and gentle. “Hi, I’m Judy.”

Rebecca’s eyes lit up. “I’m Rebecca. Nice to meet you.”

Finally, Caleb spoke up, looking a little embarrassed. “Judy’s an undergrad at Larkhaven College. She wants to apply for Dr. Palmer’s master’s program and had a couple of questions for me.”

Judy puffed her cheeks and gave him an exaggerated glare. “Stop acting like we’re strangers.”

Caleb scratched his head awkwardly. “Well, you’ve already asked what you wanted, so maybe you should get back to your studying now.”

He was clearly trying to send her off, but Judy wasn’t budging. She plopped her backpack down on the table right across from Rebecca and looked at her with big, hopeful eyes. “Rebecca, is it cool if I sit here with you?”

Rebecca couldn’t help but laugh at her boldness. “Of course. Go ahead.”

Judy grinned and settled in like she belonged there. Caleb just sighed and gave up trying to argue.

“So, which questions do you need help with?” he asked, sliding into the seat beside Rebecca and lowering his voice.

Rebecca nudged her practice problems toward him, and they huddled close over the paper. “These two have me stumped.”

Caleb glanced at the questions, then took the pen from her hand and started scribbling out the solutions step by step, explaining as he went.

Across the table, Judy watched them, chewing on her pen with a slightly sulky expression. She pulled out her laptop and started typing, hitting the keys extra hard, but neither Rebecca nor Caleb seemed to notice. They were lost in their own little bubble of equations and explanations.

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