Chapter 9 Shameless Demand

Ryan yelled at her, "Cecilia, do you have any heart at all? Ivy's unconscious and you're standing here making snarky comments!"

Cecilia set her racket back on the bench, picked up a towel, and wiped the sweat from her neck. "Snarky comments? Didn't I just tell her to go rest? If that's not dead weight, what is? She insisted on training with us without even thinking about whether she could handle it."

Victor's expression darkened.

"Ivy only kept pushing herself because she was trying to keep up with you. If you'd been even a little less hostile, would it have come to this?"

Cecilia laughed at that.

"What? Did I shove a racket in her hands and force her to train? She came looking for trouble on her own, and now I'm supposed to play the loving sister? I already said it — from now on, we're strangers. Nobody needs to go out of their way to make life miserable for themselves."

Ethan had already lifted Ivy and laid her on the stretcher. With no time to argue, he grabbed the side of the stretcher and rushed off.

Victor pointed a finger in her face. "Cecilia, you better pray Ivy's okay. If anything happens to her, I'm not done with you!"

With that, he and Ryan hurried after the others.

The look they gave her before they left stirred something strange inside Cecilia.

She had already given up on this family — but she couldn't help thinking back to how she had backed down again and again in her past life.

It only made things clearer. No matter what she did, these people would never warm up to her.

Wasting time on them wasn't worth it. Better to focus on training and get ready for the tournament.

Cecilia walked up to the ball machine and hit the start button.

Less than half an hour into her session, her phone rang.

It was Victor. She hung up without a second thought.

A call at a time like this could only mean trouble.

But he wouldn't quit. He called again and again, and then Ryan started calling too, the two of them taking turns.

It got so annoying that she finally put down her racket and picked up, her patience already gone.

"What?"

Victor had been calling for so long that he was out of patience too. "Cecilia, Ivy's awake. The doctor says she's exhausted and needs a few days of rest."

"So? What does that have to do with me?"

"Bring her some food. Keep it light, and make it yourself — nothing that'll cause inflammation." Victor's tone was completely calm, as if this were the most natural thing in the world.

Cecilia wondered if she'd heard him right.

Her? Cook for Ivy?

What on earth made Victor think she would do anything for them?

She pulled the phone away and stared at it for a couple of seconds before bringing it back to her ear.

"Say that again?" She couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe someone could be this shameless.

Victor thought she hadn't heard him clearly. He frowned and repeated himself impatiently. "I said, make Ivy some food and bring it over. She wants to eat..."

"Victor."

Cecilia cut him off, her voice calm.

"She needs food while she recovers, and you're calling me? Did I make her pass out?"

There was a brief silence on the other end, then Ethan's voice came on. "Cecilia, don't push your luck. Ivy's not feeling well. What's the big deal about making her a meal? She overtrained because of you. Can you have a little decency?"

"Decency?"

Cecilia let out a short laugh. No decency? No — she had too much of it. That was exactly why, in her past life, Ethan had pushed her in front of a bullet meant for Ivy.

She could still feel what it was like when that bullet hit her.

"I'm not your maid. You have no right to ask anything of me. If you want food, order delivery. I'm not your personal chef. You're all pathetic."

Before she even finished, Ethan's voice shot up on the other end. "Cecilia, watch your mouth. If you don't come, then don't ever expect to..."

The line went dead before he could finish.

When he tried calling back, all three of them had been blocked.

Ethan was so furious he nearly threw his phone across the room. Cecilia, on the other hand, calmly packed up her things.

Arguing with people like that was a waste of time.

Her warm-up was almost done, and the first match was about to start. She needed to focus.

What she didn't notice was that Benjamin, sitting in the rest area nearby, had been watching her the whole time.

When he saw her fire back at the Windsors and then hang up on them, a small smile crossed his usually unreadable face.

A few days later, the first round of the tournament got underway.

Cecilia stood at the entrance to the players' tunnel, listening to the noise filling the arena, and took a slow, deep breath.

She looked down at the racket in her hand — she'd checked it over and over just moments ago. She wasn't going to let anything go wrong today.

"Players, please enter the court!"

The referee's voice came over the speakers. Cecilia took one more breath, steadied herself, and walked out onto the court.

The moment the lights hit her, she squinted, adjusted quickly, and looked across to the other side.

Her opponent was someone she didn't recognize — looked a few years younger, racket already in hand, clearly even more nervous than Cecilia.

Cecilia walked to her starting position, adjusted her shoelaces, and got into position.

"Both players are ready. First round — begin!"

At the referee's call, Cecilia tossed the ball and swung clean.

Five rallies in, neither player had pulled ahead. Then on the next shot, Cecilia moved without any hesitation — but her opponent's form broke down, and the return sailed out of bounds.

When the set was over, Cecilia hadn't made a single mistake. She took it without any drama.

Outside the court, Benjamin stood in a black tracksuit, one hand in his pocket, looking like he'd just wandered over for a stroll.

He'd watched the entire match. Watching her play, he felt an itch — he wanted to get on the court with her.

Cecilia hadn't noticed him during the match. It was only after it ended that she caught a glimpse of that familiar figure.

"Mr. Howard, you came to watch? By the way — thank you for the heads-up."

She held up her racket slightly. The meaning was clear.

Benjamin smiled. "I just happened to be around. You're really good. You shouldn't have to deal with people trying to sabotage you."

While the two of them were talking, back at the hospital, Ivy was watching the livestream — staring at Cecilia's near-flawless finish in disbelief.

"How is that possible? How did she win so easily?"