No Way Back

Chapter 25

“Is that Janie?”

Madelyn felt shocked as if her heart had been hit by a hammer.

She clutched her bag tighter subconsciously.

“Impossible!” she thought.

“How can Jane Fowler be so luminous?”

From what Madelyn remembered, Jane had been quiet and kept to herself.

Even when she had come to the Fowler family, she had been reserved and seemed to have no sense of style. She had been insecure and meek.

To be honest, Madelyn had not thought much of Jane.

Compared to Madelyn, Jane had been inferior in terms of academic performance and upbringing.

However, Jane’s relationship with the Fowler family had been complicated, so Madelyn devised a plan to oust Jane from the family.

Although the plan had not gone smoothly, the results had been better than expected.

Madelyn had successfully driven Jane away from the Fowler family. Neither her mother nor father suspected it had been her behind it.

Madelyn had thought she had gotten rid of Jane for good. Since Jane had been the one to cut ties with the Fowler family, it would probably be hard for her to rejoin the family.

With Madelyn acting behind the scenes, crying and making sure the rest of the Fowler family felt sorry for her, she was sure there was no way Jane would be rejoining the family.

However, as she looked at Jane now, Madelyn’s heart thumped loudly in alarm.

Since the incident a few days ago, Jane seemed to have become a totally different person. It did not make any sense to Madelyn.

“It’s her…” Peter muttered.

His lips were pursed.

He was not sure what he was feeling.

Peter thought, “Jane Fowler… Jane… Exactly which is the real you?

“How is there such a big difference?

“It’s as if you have been reborn.”

If it were not for her appearance, no one would believe that this Jane Fowler was the same one from Peter’s memory when she was part of the family. He had found that Jane hateful. She had low self- esteem and had been hungry for familial love.

While in the car earlier Peter had been thinking.

He and Madelyn had been on the way to the University of Oricle.

Peter began to have second thoughts.

Jane was from the same university as he and Madelyn.

In the 15 days that Jane had been a part of the Fowler family, it had never occurred to Peter to have Jane go to school with them.

First, he was afraid Madelyn would be hurt.

Second, he hated Jane, so he did not want her to become part of the Fowler family. He also hated her cowardly nature.

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Peter wondered if it was because he felt guilty toward her.

Perhaps things were different now that Jane had left the Fowler family and was no longer a threat to Madelyn.

Peter had calmed down and was now able to think clearly.

He suddenly felt as if he had been too much.

Jane was his biological sister.

She had craved love from her family, yet he had cruelly pushed her away and treated her coldly.

“Peter, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” Madelyn asked.

Madelyn looked at Peter, who was staring intently at Jane. She was worried.

She tugged at Peter’s arm and spoke gently, drawing Peter’s attention back to her.

Peter shook his head and patted Madelyn’s head dotingly. He said, “It’s nothing.”

“Peter, you must be thinking about Janie. After all, she is your sister by blood.

“It’s not too late for you to get her to return home. If it’s you asking, she will surely agree,” Madelyn said.

Her eyes reddened as she spoke. She lowered her head and held Peter’s hands tightly.

“It’s too late, sil*y girl. It just as well that she left. With Maddie in the Fowler family, there is no place for Jane.

“This may be the best possible outcome,” Peter consoled gently.

Peter’s lids were lowered. He held Madelyn’s hands in his.

He felt guilty toward Jane.

He also understood that Jane was his long-lost biological sister. It was a fact that had been confirmed through a DNA test.

At the same time, he was well aware of what would happen if Jane were to be allowed back into the Fowler family.

He would never be able to shower as much attention on Jane as he did on Madelyn.

After all, Madelyn was the little sister he had doted upon as they were growing up.

Peter was not the only one who thought that way.

All his other brothers thought the same way.

Even Jack and Anna thought the same way.

Jane did not have a place in the Fowler family.

She would never be as important to the family as Madelyn was.

Returning to the Fowler family under such circumstances would have been nothing but torture to Jane.

Reverting to the way they had been before was a relief both to the Fowler family and Jane.

“Peter…” Madelyn said.

She chewed softly on her lip and sank into Peter’s embrace. Her eyes brimmed with tears.

Madelyn said, “I h*te myself. If I were not a part of the Fowler family, you would not feel so conflicted.

“I should leave. I’m the one who does not belong in the Fowler family. Because of me, Janie…”

Peter put his hand over Madelyn’s m*uth, stopping her from speaking. “That’s enough, Maddie. Don’t say anymore. You’re kind to a fault. As a result, you take all the blame upon yourself. You wouldn’t be upset otherwise.

“It has nothing to do with you. The m*ntal hurdle is ours to cross,” Peter said.

Jane had no idea what Peter and Madelyn were discussing.

Even if she knew, she would not have reacted to it.

She had experienced so much disappointment, sadness, and pain that she had become numb to it.

Nothing could have been worse than what Anna Fowler had said to her the day before at Cloudnine Restaurant.

To the members of the Fowler family, Madelyn was of the utmost importance and Jane was nothing.

At the school gate, Jane noticed Lila waiting, her arms open in welcome.

“Janie!” Lila cried.

When she saw Jane, Lila waved enthusiastically and then ran over to hug her.

“Did you wait long, Lila?” Jane asked.

“Nope. Hurry, let’s go to class. Our first class of the day is Professor Henderson’s class. We’d better not be late. He’s really fierce,” Lila said.

“Okay,” Jane replied.

Jane smiled a small smile.

This was at least something.

“I am not alone,” Jane thought.

She had what was most important to her right from the start.

Jane and Lila entered the classroom.

The moment Jane stepped into the room, numerous pairs of eyes turned toward her.

After all, she was the cause of the furor from a few days ago.

Almost everyone in the class knew that Jane Fowler was the long-lost daughter of the Fowler family.

In the past, Lila was the only one in the class who had willingly befriended Jane.

She was one of the more aloof and unfriendly students.

There were very few people who were close to Jane.

No one had expected her to turn out to be from the Fowler family.

The revelation had come as a shock to everyone.

“Janie, ignore them,” Lila said.

‘Don’t worry. They’re just curious. It does not bother me,” Jane replied.

In the first place, Jane did not care about others’ opinions.

She pulled Lila with her and headed to a seat in the corner of the room.

Soon, the professor arrived for class.

The class professor’s name was lan Henderson. He was in charge of the second-year students from the Computer Science Major, classes 2903 and 2904.

He was 54 years old and dressed in a suit. He had slicked-back hair that was streaked with wh*te. Bespectacled and scholarly, he looked like what one would think a professor should look like.

He looked harmless. In his daily interactions, he was actually a friendly and unassuming man.

However, he was very strict in class.

As a result, many people flunked his class.

He was also very particular about punctuality.

Students in the Computer Science Major at the University of Oricle had a saying. If one was late for a class run by Professor lan Henderson, one

would be severely punished.

Hence, he was also known as “Henderson the Devil.”

lan Henderson put his teaching material on the lectern.

“Is everyone here? Class representative, please take attendance,” he said.

Everyone in the class was present.

lan Henderson nodded his head approvingly.

He said, “We will not have our usual class today. Instead, let’s do something special.

“I’m sure all of you have heard of this before. I have been teaching

Computer Science at the University of Oricle for many years, and we have a tradition.

“If you manage to pass this challenge as per tradition, you do not have to attend any of my lessons. You’ll automatically be awarded full marks for my class at the end of the semester.”

The class erupted in a roar.

Everyone had heard of the tradition.

lan Henerson had written a program.

The students were to find the loophole in the program within a stipulated

time.

If they managed to find it, they would no longer have to attend lan Henderson’s class.

It was considered an auto pass for the student.

Alas…

There had only been one student who had passed the challenge in all of lan Henderson’s years of teaching.

That student was Peter Fowler, a well-known student from the Computer Science Major at the University of Oricle.

“It seems everyone knows of the tradition, so I will save on the explaining.

“I will offer this challenge every year at this time to the second-year students as tradition.

“You only get one chance at it. Who will take on the challenge?” lan

Henerson asked.

Lila whispered secretively in Jane’s ear. “Wow, I did not expect Professor Henderson to say that. Janie, are you interested?”

“Yes,” Jane replied.

There was no hesitation in her reply.

It was a good thing if she did not need to attend Professor Henderson’s

classes in the future.

She would be able to sleep in more often.

She would have more free time to do whatever she wanted.

“Since Janie wants to take part in the challenge, so will I. Hahaha! Although I am not as good as you guys, just taking part is good enough,” Lila said.

Lila was extremely confident about Jane’s ability.

She continued, “Besides, Peter was the one who passed the first challenge. He used 54 minutes. Janie, you can beat his time and show him what

you’ve got.”

“Lila, this has nothing to do with Peter. I just do not wish to expend my energy doing it,” Jane said.

She then stood up.

“Professor Henderson, I’d like to take part in the challenge,” Jane declared.