REBORN: MEET MY BROTHERS-Chapter 26: BIRTHMARK

Ava’s eyes flickered from one red, swollen face to another. She fought valiantly to keep a normal face, but the corners of her mouth betrayed her, especially when she looked at Matilda’s face. Her lips had ballooned to such an absurd degree that she looked like a deranged clown. Ava had to bite the insides of her cheek to stop herself from laughing out loud.

Nobody uttered a word after they managed to calm down from the hell they had just come out of. The only sounds in the room were occasional hisses from discomfort and the scraping of chairs as they pushed back from the table and left the room one after the other.

They were so furious but none of them dared to voice out their anger since the meal was prepared by the golden child, who could do nothing wrong. They couldn’t bring themselves to tarnish her image by reprimanding her in front of Ava.

Her grandfather was the first to leave, and immediately after, he ordered some maids to bring glasses of water for them. The little shenanigans had made her old man very angry, that he didn’t even eat.

"So much for family unity," Ava said, loud enough for Sasha who was the last person in the room to hear.

Sasha fumed as she turned to Ava. A tear rolled down her cheek as she still felt the burn from the pepper, making Ava smile. "You did this, didn’t you?" She flared.

Ava looked at her mockingly. "How shameless can you be, Sasha? You made the meals and now you’re blaming me?"

"You did something to it, Ava! I know you did!" She yelled but suddenly held her throat as she felt the burn once more.

"Just like you knew the dinner will bring all of us together?" Ava mocked. "Don’t go around saying things you can’t prove, Sasha. It’s not my fault your terrible cooking turned your little reconciliation into an inferno night at Chez Whitlock. Plus, that’s not what your mother, father, and brothers think," Ava said with a smile before walking out of the room.

On her way out, she instructed the chef to prepare porridge for her grandfather, since he didn’t have dinner.

.

It was a beautiful morning for Ava. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling even as she had breakfast with her family. The small, angry blisters dotting their lips filled her appetite, and the frown on their faces when they noticed how she smiled as she stared at the blisters already made her day. She even enjoyed the once-in-a-lifetime silence on the table.

When it was time to go to school, Ava was even happier. Sharing a ride with Sasha, even if she detested staying in the same space with her, surprisingly didn’t feel awful after Jerome, who had always dropped Sasha off at school and back on his way from work, abandoned her because he was still furious with her.

Ava laughed at Sasha’s face throughout the ride, caring less about her glares and the way the corners of her mouth twitched in annoyance. Everything was just so satisfying that she couldn’t control herself anymore.

.

By the end of her classes, Ava decided to hand in the materials to Professor Hargrove.

She knocked lightly on the door and entered when she heard the muffled invitation to come in. On entering his office, she noticed he had a visitor, but she paid no attention to the person. "Professor Hargrove," she greeted politely, "I’m done with the materials."

Hargrove arched an eyebrow, not believing her. "You looked through every material?" Ava nodded, and he pushed further, "And you answered the quizzes?" Ava nodded again.

He shot her a disbelieving look, before scrolling through the quiz. His eyes ran through the first ten questions unfazed, but when they scanned the next twenty, they widened. Ava hadn’t missed a question. "They’re all correct," he muttered to himself in disbelief. He didn’t even give her materials for her year, how could she have gotten every single thing?

Ava’s smile as his eyes came back to her face made him frown. His good student, Sasha had told him some things about Ava that he chose not to believe because of William’s praises. But now, he regretted doubting Sasha.

He couldn’t believe Ava would stoop so low to cheat just because she could not meet the deadline. "Cheating will get you expelled, Miss Ava," he said sternly, stunning her. "If the deadline was too short, you would have easily come back to ask for an extension," he said dryly.

A small frown crept to Ava’s face. This man really was a jerk, not just any jerk, but a pompous one. Is praising her for getting everything right such a taboo? "That’s some grave accusation, Professor Hargrove," Ava said coldly. "If I’ve gotten every question right, isn’t praising me for my effort the sane thing to do?"

Hargrove didn’t miss the side remark in her words. His frown deepened. "I would never praise a dishonest student regardless of whether or not you’re from a prominent family, Miss Whitlock."

"And how are you so sure she cheated?" Hargrove’s guest asked, earning Ava’s attention.

When Ava looked at the young man who sat opposite the Professor, she couldn’t contain her surprise. "Jordan! What are you doing here?" Ava asked, forgetting the Professor’s presence.

Jordan Moore smiled at Ava. "I came to meet with Mr. Hargrove. We had something important to talk about," he said politely.

Hargrove’s eyes darted to the two of them. "You, too, know each other?" He asked, a little surprised by their cordiality.

Jordan turned to him. "Miss Ava and I have known each other for a while, but that’s not the issue. The issue is how are you so sure she cheated?"

The Professor’s face twisted, not knowing what to say. He couldn’t tell Jordan that he’d handed her some materials that were not for her level to ruin her image to her family for revenge for wasting his time, neither could he say Sasha had told him things about Ava, which he believed. That would ruin his good reputation with the Moores, something he couldn’t afford to.

"Miss Whitlock is a transfer student from a university not as disciplined as ours. She may be a bright student, but it doesn’t mean she can easily answer our quizzes in such a limited time," he said thoughtfully.

"Nonsense!" Jordan said. "Doesn’t that prove she’s a genius instead? Why was cheating the first thing that came to your mind, Mr. Hargrove?"

Hargrove eyed Ava. "Mr. Moore," he started slowly. "I’ve dealt with students for forty years. That’s long enough to know their behaviors. When they are cornered, they always look for the easy way out. I’d only handed these materials to Ava yesterday afternoon. It’s impossible to finish them in barely twenty-four hours and get every single answer to the quizzes correct."

Jordan shook his head. "I’m disappointed that your final judgment is that she cheated, Mr. Hargrove. Like you said, you’ve dealt with students for forty years. You should be able to differentiate geniuses by now."

Hargrove frowned, but he agreed. "You’re right, Mr. Moore. I’m sorry for my wrong judgment."

"You should apologize to your student instead, Mr. Hargrove, not me," Jordan simply said.

At this point, Ava smiled as Hargrove apologized to her. She knew she was going to make the man apologize to her in the future, but she never expected an apology now.

Jordan and Ava left Hargrove’s office afterward. As they strolled out of the building, "Thank you," Ava said gratefully.

Jordan simply shrugged. "You don’t have to thank me, Miss Ava. I simply just did what was right," he said, and Ava smiled. She could never have guessed that Jordan Moore was such a gentleman. She suddenly started feeling guilty for her misjudgments in her previous life because of the dreadful rumor she saw online about them.

Lost in her thoughts, Ava didn’t notice the stairs that was outside the building. By the time her brain registered it, she’d already lost her footing. She almost fell, but Jordan was quick enough to catch her.

Jordan laughed lightly as Ava clung to his arms, but as his eyes moved to the birthmark on the left side of her neck, his eyes darkened. "Where did you get that?"

Ava straightened herself, brushing away her embarrassment with a forced smile. "Get what?"

"The mark on your neck?"

Ava’s hand instinctively went there. "Oh, this? I don’t know."

Jordan’s eyes furrowed. "Can I have a proper view?"

His question stunned Ava. She didn’t understand why Jordan was concerned with the birthmark. Hesitantly, she moved her hair to her side, giving him a proper view.

Jordan got closer to her. For a moment, he was stunned. He couldn’t help himself as he reached for the mark, running a hand through the lines of her neck. Ava stood there flustered, but she didn’t move.

In a black BMW, close to the entrance of the building, Maximus sat inside the car. His eyes darkened as they fell on Ava and Jordan.