Chapter & The Hustle Begins Chapter 5 The Hustle Begins 29% $ 10 Free Coins Now that she had completely severed ties with the Larks , Azalea no longer intended to live under their roof . It was empty when she returned to the Larks ' residence by taxi . Azalea went straight to her room and pulled out an old , worn - out suitcase from the corner . She packed everything she had brought from the orphanage , then dug out a bank card hidden under the bed . There were 3,000 dollars on the card - a living allowance that ' Mr. Quinn ', one of the orphanage's investors , had transferred to her the month she left . She later explained that she no longer needed financial help and that the investor hadn't asked for the money back . Who would've thought that , in the end , this money gave her the means to leave the Larks behind ? Once everything was packed , Azalea even changed into one of her old orphanage outfits . She hadn't grown much , thanks to years of malnourishment at the Larks . Otherwise , the clothes wouldn't have fit her anymore . With a self - deprecating smile , she hoisted the suitcase and left the room . As she was heading toward the front gate , she ran into Harper . Harper's heart sank . Ms. Azalea's look right now , was she running away ? With her luggage and ID in hand , Azalea took a bus to Grey Hollow of Draywick . Real estate in the city was ridiculously expensive - only the suburbs offered short - term rentals at prices she could afford . It didn't take long for her to spend 1,000 dollars renting a tiny room . It was small , but it had everything she needed . Back at the Larks ' residence . Sydney was surrounded by a crowd as she walked in , like a princess adored by her knights . Harper hesitated for a moment but still stepped forward . " Mr. Lark , Ms. Azalea came back earlier . She packed a suitcase and left . She hasn't returned since . " " What ? " Wesley's expression darkened . He frowned , uneasy . Could Azalea really be serious about cutting ties ? Matthias crossed his arms and snorted . " All this talk about severing ties and storming off - does she really think she can scare us into begging her to come back ? What a joke . I bet she'll come crawling back in less than three days . " And when she does , she'll need to be taught a lesson . " Wesley scoffed . " When she comes begging , I'll make sure she regrets ever leaving ! " Sydney listened to all of this with delight , though her expression was demure . In a gentle voice , she said , " Still , maybe someone should go check . It'd be bad if something happened to her . " ||| 1/4 ལས་ 4917 Chapter 5 The Hustle Begins +10 Free Coins Her sweet concern only made the rest of the family feel that Azalea was ungrateful and immature . They began consoling Sydney , saying there was no need to worry about Azalea - she was an adult . It's not like she'd die out there . Only Bastian clenched his hands tightly , eyes filled with worry . With no money , where could Azalea possibly go ? Azalea cleaned the room , laid out new bedding , and felt a rare sense of contentment . This place was nothing compared to the lavishness of the Larks ' residence , but she felt safe for the first time in a long time . No more walking on eggshells , no more watching her words or worrying that she'd be tossed out for upsetting someone . She could finally breathe . Next up is studying , earning money , and getting her health back . There was one year left until the college admissions test . In her senior year , schools began reviewing material from her first year so she could keep up completely by self - studying alongside the curriculum . Azalea was confident she could do it . As for her health , because the Larks doted on Sydney , who had a congenital heart condition , they didn't want Azalea to look too lively and possibly upset her . So they'd had a nutritionist plan her meals to limit her energy . Frequent small meals , never enough to feel full . She was always weak and sluggish - bút her ' nutritional balance ' was maintained . That was the theory , anyway . In reality , no one in the family checked to see if Azalea was getting proper meals . The servants made sure she didn't eat anything extra on the side . The most pathetic part ? Even when she was starving , she'd learned to make stomach - soothing meals just to feed Matthias when he skipped meals due to being too focused on his experiments . His stomach was well taken care of . As for hers ? No one gave a damn . " Now that I've left early , as long as I earn enough , I can use my past life's pharmacology knowledge to fix my health ," Azalea muttered , looking at her reflection in the mirror . She was thinner than ever - even skinnier than when she lived at the orphanage . Her chin was sharp , with not a trace of fat left . Her height had stayed the same for the past three years : 5'4 " . " If I want to keep studying while earning money quickly … " She frowned , deep in thought . " There's only one way . " In her past life , several games had been officially added to the Olympics , and esports had exploded in popularity . Investing in a team was like printing money . Bastian's Anexis team had taken that chance to transform into a full - blown esports club , creating a legend . With the rise of streaming , they became the first to launch a live - stream platform and spearheaded the 2/4 III O Chapter 5 The Hustle Begins short - form video industry . +10 Free Coins Azalea's plan was to get in early - no matter how things changed , internet - related industries would always be eternal . The hottest 5v5 competitive game , Glory League , is in the middle of its fall championship . Bastian's Anexis team was facing off against a dark horse five - man rookie team , GOD . But GOD's mid - laner had dropped out due to a hand injury , and the team scrambled to find a replacement across the entire game community . This was her chance . She could earn prize money , invest it back , and go from player to owner . Why not ? Fueled by the idea , Azalea was filled with energy . Over the next two days , she familiarized herself with the area . Her schedule was tight and simple : three fixed points - grocery shopping to restore her health , nighttime gaming at the gaming cafés , and studying the rest of the time . The night before the new semester started , she went to bed early to ensure she had enough energy for the first day . She didn't know that the school's forum had already exploded because of her . A gossip post had gone viral - claiming the Larks ' ' real and fake daughters ' were now rivals in a battle for inheritance . With outlandish headlines like " Jealousy Pushes Girl Downstairs " and " Banished from Home , " bored students flooded the post with comments , pushing it to the top right before school began . Just like that , Azalea's name became infamous at Draywick High School . Azalea took the bus to school and first stopped by the art prep class she used to attend to complete her withdrawal . The art class was pretty lax , and with the semester just starting , the building was noisy as she climbed the stairs . " Oh my god , Sydney , are you saying you're attending that special training camp at Jubilee for the rest of the semester ? You actually got that spot ? " " Tch , do you even need to ask ? Sydney's not just anyone - getting a spot like that is no easy feat ." " Oh , stop flattering me . I just got lucky ," Sydney said . Even without seeing her , Azalea could picture the scene clearly . Sydney basking in praise , pretending to be modest while soaking up every compliment . So fake it made her sick . Between all the flattery , Azalea even caught the occasional jab at her . She ignored all of it and walked straight in . The noisy room went dead silent . Azalea walked up to the teacher without missing a beat , holding out her paperwork . " Can you sign this for me , please ? " O 3/4 Chapter 5 The Hustle Begins " You're really transferring to academic classes ? " +10 Free Coins " Yeah ." The teacher didn't press further ; she just signed her form and crossed her name off the list . Just a few brief words and the crowd finally registered what was happening . " Is Azaica seriously switching to academic class now ? Was getting kicked out of the Larks that traumatic ? Has she lost her mind ? " " Maybe she couldn't stand studying the same thing as Sydney anymore . Rather than keep embarrassing herself , she figured she'd just quit and leave . " All the muttering buzzed around her ears . Azalea couldn't care less . Just as she was about to leave , Sydney suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist . " Azalea , stop messing around , okay ? This isn't the way if you're doing this just to get our parents ' and brothers ' attention . Don't throw your future away like this ." She looked so disappointed as if she were scolding a child for their own good . Her words clicked with the others - so that's what this was ! Azalea just wanted sympathy ! Discover our latest featured short drama reel. Watch now and enjoy the story!