Miss Josefina: Nobody's Princess
Chapter 103

Lauren sneered as she tossed her hair over her shoulder. "With the way she's been slacking off, she'd be lucky to get into community college!"

Billy's expression soured at the mention of Josefina. "She's as sharp as a sack of wet mice. Remember the last test? She barely scraped together a 300."

"Ugh, that means she must've bombed the finals for sure."

"Forget about her. She's bad juju. Ruby, let's go pick out a present for tonight's celebration dinner."

A smug grin spread across Ruby's face, feeling she had one-upped Josefina. "Mom, Dad, we should invite her to celebrate with us, too. Even though she's not your flesh and blood, she's been part of our household for a while. It'd be nice to include her in the festivities," Ruby suggested, her voice tinged with a forced sweetness.

"Why the heck should we invite her? Ruby, you're too kind to her. She doesn't deserve it, not one bit," Lauren retorted, her lips curled in distaste.

"Mom, if we invite her, you can make it clear to everyone that she's not really one of us. You know how she's been since she left home, bouncing from one guy to the next. If people start recognizing her, they'll think you've raised her wrong. What would we do then?"

Billy and Lauren nodded, considering Ruby's calculated words.

"We're the Antonios; we have a reputation to uphold. We're not like her family, selling themselves short at the drop of a hat," Lauren scoffed.

"Fine, we'll invite her. It'll be the perfect opportunity to tell everyone we have nothing to do with that, Josefina," Billy agreed, his tone firm.

"But what if she doesn't answer my calls?" Ruby fretted.

"I'll handle it. She wouldn't refuse," Lauren said, her eyes glinting with malice. She had her ways of making Josefina comply.

Hattie, Garrett, and Calix tiptoed into the study, eager to sneak a peek at Josefina's final exam scores.

"Let's check Josie's finals in secret. If they're not up to snuff, we'll sort it out. Whatever school she wants to attend, we'll make it happen," Hattie whispered conspiratorially.

"Our girl's got to have done well," Garrett said confidently.

Calix chimed in, "You don't know the half of it. Back in Milan, she could take on three guys at once. She's tough as nails!"

"Quiet down," Hattie hissed, "we don't want to be overheard."

They gathered around the computer as Hattie accessed the scores page and entered Josefina's registration number. Garrett, heart racing, covered the screen with a sheet of paper, slowly revealing the score to ease the suspense. As the paper slid away, revealing a zero, Hattie clutched her chest. "Josie's score ends in zero, Garrett. Move the paper a bit more."

As Garrett shifted the paper...

All three were stunned.

"Are my eyes playing tricks on me? I must be hallucinating," Calix muttered, rubbing his eyes in disbelief.

Garrett followed suit, "It's got to be a mistake."

After a double-take, Garrett thought he ought to wash his eyes out surely, he'd see clearly, without illusions.

Hattie sat frozen, staring at the screen as if she could bore a hole through it with her gaze. After a deep breath, she turned to the others. "Remember, not a word about Josie scoring a zero. She has her pride. We mustn't speak of this."

Calix racked his brains but couldn't fathom how his baby sister could have come home with a big fat zero.

"Damn that Billy! If his family hadn't dumped our girl in the sticks, neglecting her education, she wouldn't be in this mess!" Garrett exclaimed, ruffling his hair in frustration.

Hattie fumed, "Exactly! It's all Billy's doing! Even if Josie isn't his girl, he didn't know that at the time. Why did he treat our precious Josie this way?"

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