As soon as I got home, I signed up for a management training program with a foreign company. It was far away, the pay was good and it was my chance to leave all this behind.

My dean noticed and called me up the next day. "Savannah, I saw your application. Are you sure? The conditions abroad are tough and you’re just a young girl. Why don’t you think about it? I’ll help you find something easier when the time comes."

I clenched my jaw, swallowing down the frustration building inside me.

“No, I'll just apply for this. I'm not afraid of hardship."

For twenty years, I’d gotten used to struggling. By now, nothing could shock me anymore. My teacher sighed, clearly frustrated.

"That scholarship was supposed to be yours," he said, shaking his head.

"But the university director overruled it. There’s nothing I can do. If you’re set on going abroad, I’ll submit your application for the training program. Just focus on your graduation thesis. If your paper gets picked, you’ll still get the extra point."

"The university director?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. "Who’s that?"

"The CEO of Jameson Group. Don’t you know? He donated that building when you started school here. I’m not sure how, but he’s probably related to Scott. Distant family or something."

I hung up before the tears could spill, but it didn’t stop them from sliding down my face.

Without wasting another second, I opened my phone—its cracked screen flickering in protest—and started typing my thesis.

The extra points tied to the paper was the only chance I had of paying for my plane ticket. I couldn’t afford to screw this up.

I was so deep in concentration, I didn’t notice my parents come to my room until my mom’s voice snapped me out of it.

She leaned over my shoulder and squinted at the screen. "You’re working on your graduation thesis? Savannah, you’re not graduating until next June. Why start so early?"

I nodded, not even looking up.

The cloying scent of expensive perfume clung to her clothes, a sharp contrast to the sour air in the house.

My dad, overhearing, poked his head in. His expression shifted as soon as the word "thesis" came up.

"Oh, aren’t there extra points for that?" he asked, his tone suddenly cautious. "Savannah, don’t push yourself too hard. Just graduating is enough. It isn’t meant for us. Someone else deserves it."