Chapter 45: Chapter 45: If the Lane Group Won’t, I Will
After her merciless rebuttal, Cecilia Sterling completely ignored the other girl’s mortified expression. She turned to the other students and said, "I didn’t know about the astronomical telescopes beforehand, but ultimately, this happened because of me. I’m willing to take responsibility for the department getting dragged into this."
"How are you going to take responsibility? The university isn’t going to punish you for something like this."
"Yeah, what’s the point of just saying you’ll take responsibility? The department lost a donation worth nearly a thousand Dollars. Is that a consequence you can cover just by running your mouth?"
"I think everyone’s being a little too harsh. Cecilia already apologized. Why be so aggressive?"
"That’s right. Donations are voluntary in the first place. Now that the Lane Group has backed out, you can’t blame it all on Cecilia, can you? What good would it do even if they expelled her?"
At a time like this, a few female students were still willing to speak up for her. Cecilia Sterling shot them a grateful look.
As for the other students who were lashing out at her in anger, Cecilia didn’t feel particularly upset. She could actually understand how they felt.
’When it comes down to it, this whole thing most likely happened because I offended Shawn Lane’s mother.’
"I said I would take responsibility, and I will." Cecilia Sterling stated, neither servile nor overbearing. "The Harper CHV24-33 is currently the best astronomical telescope in the world. The Lane Group won’t donate them, so I will! I will personally donate four of them to the university’s astronomy department."
Her words were stunning. After Cecilia finished speaking, a strange silence fell over the classroom. No one seemed to believe what they had just heard.
"What do you mean? Cecilia, are you saying you’re going to donate to the department?"
"And four of them?"
"Are you crazy? How can you make such a ridiculous claim? Do you have any idea how much one of those telescopes costs?"
"Exactly! One of them costs over three hundred Dollars. And she says she’s donating four? I wouldn’t even believe she could donate one."
The girl Cecilia had just rebuked heard this and sneered, "And she called me a delusional fangirl. Look who’s the one who’s still dreaming!"
The girl in the front seat turned around, looked at Cecilia, and shook her head. "Cecilia, everyone’s just upset it’s a shame, so it’s normal for them to be a little emotional. You don’t have to dig yourself into such a big hole."
Even the professor, after coming to his senses, didn’t take Cecilia’s words seriously. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and said to her in a paternal tone, "Cecilia, you can’t just say things like that. I’ll just assume you’re joking. Please, sit down."
Cecilia’s expression remained unchanged. She didn’t react much to her classmates’ skepticism. After all, anyone could make empty promises. It was perfectly normal that no one would believe her until they saw the donation for themselves.
So she didn’t argue further, only saying as a final word, "I’ll handle it as soon as possible. It will be resolved within a week."
With that, she gathered her things and left the classroom through the back door.
Watching her leave, the students revealed scornful expressions.
"So it’s true that pretty girls are all airheads. Does she really think astronomical telescopes are some cheap things you can just casually buy four of?"
"She scored over 700 on her college entrance exams. How could she be an idiot?"
"So you believe her? If you do, you’re an idiot too."
"She’s probably been made stupid by love. Shawn Lane’s gone stupid too—he hasn’t been to class in days. He just disappeared."
The news spread like wildfire. In less than a day, it was all over the Lorcain Tech campus. Everyone who heard it treated it as a joke. No one believed Cecilia Sterling was actually capable of donating something worth more than one thousand Dollar.
When Estelle Goodman heard about it, she immediately rushed back to their dorm to confirm. Seeing Cecilia nod, her eyes went wide with shock. "Are you crazy?! That’s over a thousand Dollars!"
Even for Estelle Goodman, whose family was worth over ten thousand, over a thousand Dollars was still a huge sum of money.
"That’s not how you should be spending your money, honey." Estelle pulled over a chair, sat down, and looked at Cecilia gravely. "Even if you want to donate telescopes to the school, couldn’t we just donate one?"
Cecilia pursed her lips, unconcerned. "I caused the department to lose four of them. Donating just one wouldn’t be right."
"No, what does this have to do with you? The Lane Group decided not to donate. Why are you the one left holding the bag?" Estelle felt it was unfair to Cecilia.
But Cecilia said matter-of-factly, "I have to take responsibility for this. It really is because of me."
Estelle was about to say more, but Cecilia quickly patted her hand reassuringly. "Hey, it’s my money. Why are you more upset about it than I am? I really don’t mind."
"But I am upset!" Estelle pouted. "Over a thousand Dollars is enough for the two of us to eat Kika Sushi for a lifetime."
That one sentence made Cecilia laugh. "I’ll cover your sushi for the rest of your life."
Estelle still looked puffed up with indignation, but she took out her phone anyway. "Wait, let me contact my dad and see if he can pull some strings to get you a discount."
"No need, Estelle. I’ve already placed the order." Cecilia said, showing the order on her phone to Estelle.
Four Harper CHV24-33s. Unit price: 279 Dollars. Total price: 1116 Dollars.
Seeing the actual total price, Estelle still couldn’t accept it. She wailed on Cecilia’s behalf, "Oh my god, that’s so expensive! This is such a rip-off!"
Cecilia could only smile helplessly. ’Inwardly, however, she felt a sliver of satisfaction. The last time she’d felt this way was when she bought her house and invested in James Lockwood.’
’With her current assets, it seemed she had to spend money like this to really feel it.’
’Besides, donating to her alma mater’s department was a good thing. It supports national education. Even if the Lane Group hadn’t backed out, she would have been willing to donate anyway.’
That afternoon, Shawn Lane, who was recuperating at home, also heard about the incident from his classmates.
"Mom, were you the one who canceled the donation of astronomical telescopes to our department?"
Shawn Lane, still in his silk pajamas, immediately stormed from his upstairs room into the living room to confront his mother.
Mrs. Lane was arranging flowers. Hearing him, she shot him an impatient glance and said calmly, "Yes. Is there a problem?"
"Of course there’s a problem," Shawn Lane said, displeased. "Dad promised that to the university on behalf of the Lane Group. What do you think you’re doing, going back on his word?"
"Besides, everyone knows Cecilia and I are in the middle of a breakup. By doing this, you’re making her a public enemy at school! Everyone is going to blame her!"
Hearing her son still worrying about that Cecilia girl at a time like this, Mrs. Lane casually threw a flower at him. "Are you hopeless? I guess you haven’t suffered enough. She’s already put you in this state, and you’re still defending her?"
"And let me correct you. You two aren’t *in the middle* of a breakup. You *have* broken up. Do you understand?!"
"I haven’t agreed to it!" Shawn Lane retorted, not to be outdone. He pulled the topic back. "I don’t care! Our family has to go through with the telescope donation we promised the school. Otherwise, Cecilia will become a laughingstock!"
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