Chapter 2Taking Out the Trash

"Piper!" Someone tapped sharply on the desk. I jolted awake.

My deskmate, Jessica, whispered, "The professor's asking you a question!"

A question?

I was practically pavement pizza, how could anyone ask me a question?

I looked up, confused, right into the professor's scowling face. "Ms. Sterling, I was talking about advertising design. How do you say 'poster' and 'advertisement' in, well, English?"

This felt familiar…

Wasn't this a required course from my senior year?

I was reborn!!

I remembered my answer back then: "I love my country, I refuse to learn some foreign devil's language!" It had made the old professor absolutely livid.

As I drifted in memory, a note slid across the desk. The first thing I noticed were the long, slender fingers holding it, then the messy scrawl on the paper – a couple of English words.

The handwriting was atrocious.

I couldn't even make it out.

But that didn't stop me from answering fluently. After all, I'd been working at Sterling Corp, the family business, practically running the place as CEO eventually. A few basic words weren't going to trip me up.

The professor seemed stunned. Did he honestly think I wouldn't know?

"Sit down!" Though clearly annoyed, he waved me down, sticking to his word.

"You actually knew that?" Jessica stared at me, bewildered.

I smirked. "Why shouldn't I?"

"What's the point of learning this stuff?" Jessica scoffed. "You're just going to inherit the family business anyway…"

I ignored her. I hadn't forgotten how badly Mark wanted me dead in my past life, and this friend here was egging him on the whole time.

Besides, in my past life, she was the one constantly feeding me that whole "rich kids don't need to try" garbage. That's why I ended up so useless, letting Mark dictate everything.

Thinking about how stupid I'd been made my blood boil.

Jessica asked if I wanted to grab dinner. I shut her down flat. I'd paid for enough of her meals last time around. This life, I wasn't playing the sucker.