Chapter 1

I am the only student in the entire nation to achieve a perfect score for my SATs this year. My high school has only just posted the list of top scorers on their notice board when the neighborhood's HOA group chat explodes in awe.

"Did someone from our neighborhood just get full marks for the SATs? We're already a prestigious neighborhood close to the best high schools in town, and this news will only drive our property values up even more! We might even be able to rent for 1,500 dollars per square foot soon!"

"I bet it must be one of those kids from the huge mansions. They've been attending the most elite boarding school since they were young."

The HOA vice president, Karen Myers, then posts an announcement in the Emerald Green neighborhood group chat.

"Reporters will be coming to interview us tomorrow. Please be mindful of your appearance."

Mom digs out her old, faded shirt and looks at herself in the mirror. She smiles so hard that her forehead creases in smiling wrinkles.

She awkwardly taps at her phone screen and posts in the group chat, "Thank you for your well-wishes, everyone!"

One of the homeowners, Marianne Barnett, replies at once, "Isn't this Mrs. Marshall from the burrito stall? What the hell are you thanking us for?"

"Yeah. Don't you feel any shame posting that? Delete that at once."

Then, Karen calls us up, her tone filled with disgust.

"The chairman of Bloomberg Finance will be visiting our neighborhood tomorrow to personally congratulate the top scorer. It's going to be a huge event.

"But since you don't own any proper clothes other than those tattered rags, you'd better keep your filthy stall out of sight so you don't ruin our neighborhood's upscale image!"

Mom hesitates. Then, she places her phone face down on the table and says nothing.

I then receive a text message from Jonathan Bloomberg, the real estate tycoon who sponsored all of my studies. My finger hovers over the screen as I read his message.

"Congratulations, Cathy! I'm bringing the entire board of directors to congratulate you in person tomorrow!"

Chapter 1

Mom stood before the mirror in her faded floral shirt, beaming from ear to ear.

"What do you think, Cathy? Do you think this suits me? The reporters are coming tomorrow. I don't want to look drab, or I'll end up embarrassing you."

I leaned against the doorframe and grinned as I gave her two thumbs-up.

"You look gorgeous, Mom. You look good in anything."

Suddenly, we received a call from Karen Myers, the vice president of the neighborhood HOA. She didn't even bother concealing the disgust and disdain in her voice.

"There's going to be a huge celebration tomorrow here in Emerald Green. The mayor of the city and the chairman of Bloomberg Finance are coming to visit us and congratulate the top scorer!

"But you're only a tenant and not a homeowner, so don't you dare show up tomorrow in that ragged apron of yours at the roadside in your run-down stall."

Mom gripped her phone tightly and pleaded in a soft voice, "But Ms. Myers, I've already received a few pre-orders from the students nearby for their breakfasts.

"If I don't show up, then the kids are going to have to go to school hungry—"

Karen sniggered. "They're not going to die just from skipping breakfast tomorrow.

"But your stall is stinky and greasy as hell. You're only going to bring down the upscale image of our neighborhood!"

Then, she hung up on us. Mom slowly hid her calloused hands behind her back.

"Cathy… I guess I won't be setting up stall tomorrow after all. I'll just go to your Aunt Tasha's for the day.

"After all, there'll be tons of reporters interviewing you tomorrow, and I'm only going to embarrass you if I show up dull and drab like this."

I saw how cautious Mom was behaving and felt my temper rising. I also felt sorry for her.

I then tapped into the neighborhood group chat, where everyone else was still discussing happily and excitedly about tomorrow.

"That old hag had better not be showing up tomorrow with her burrito stall!"

"Yeah! And she's just a tenant, not a homeowner. If the mayor sees her like that, he's going to think that we're some poor village in the mountains!"

My hands were shaking as I read their messages. I tapped into my gallery, thinking of sending them a photo of my SAT scores to prove ourselves.

Suddenly, I realized that I couldn't send anything into the group anymore. An error message popped out with a notification saying that I'd just been kicked from the group chat.

I gripped Mom's hand tightly, suddenly remembering that she and I were only able to move into this rented house with Mr. Jonathan Bloomberg's help.

One day three years ago, Mom had been selling her burritos by the roadside when a well-dressed old man suffered a sudden heart attack and collapsed by the flowerbed nearby. Passers-by walked past him without helping him up.

Mom was the only one who threw her stall aside and rushed over to the old man, calling the ambulance and performing CPR on him while waiting for the paramedics. And just like that, she'd managed to save Mr. Bloomberg's life.

After Mr. Bloomberg recovered, he saw that I'd managed to get into a prestigious high school known for producing top scorers in the city and decided to help us out by renting his place out to us, which was just a stone's throw away from the high school.

Yet, he insisted on "renting" it to us completely free of charge, just so that I could focus on studying hard.

I looked at Mom, who was still blaming herself for the situation, and hugged her shoulders. Then, I said casually, "Mom, I'll come with you to the stall tomorrow! This is a once-in-a-lifetime free advertisement opportunity!

"When the reporters point their cameras at me tomorrow, I'll just tell them that the secret to my scoring full marks in the SATs was eating your breakfast burritos every day without fail!

"And then, we can charge them premium prices for the burritos. Maybe 50 bucks each!"

Mom laughed at my greedy expression. She poked me in the forehead and lightly chided, "You're just talking nonsense, Catrina Marshall. How can we possibly charge 50 bucks for a single burrito? It would just be a rip-off."

I finally relaxed when I saw her smiling again.

Just then, my phone buzzed on the bed. It was a text message from Mr. Bloomberg.

"Hey, Cathy. I'm bringing the people from my board of directors with me to visit you tomorrow to try your mom's burritos!

"By the way, can you please tell your mom that I'd love some extra hot sauce and sour cream in mine?"

I couldn't help chuckling out loud when I saw the words in his text message.

"Mom, you're going to have to prepare more tortilla dough for tomorrow."

I waved my phone in the air as a wide smile spread across my face.

"We've got a super important client visiting us."

Chapter 2

I woke up the next morning and opened the window, quickly realizing that the neighborhood was even more lively than during Christmastime.

A huge welcome banner had been hung up at the main entrance, saying, "Our heartiest congratulations to the top SATs scorer in the country! Welcome to Emerald Green, Mayor Brian Winters and Board of Directors from Bloomberg Finance!"

Karen strutted about in her high heels, shouting through a megaphone, "Move the red carpet farther to the left! Make sure it shows off the grandeur of our high-class community!

"The welcome band needs to rehearse again! Make sure you don't make a single mistake when the mayor and the chairman arrive later!"

One of the homeowners, Marianne Barnett, looked like an extravagant peacock today, dressed to the heavens in a tight-fitting cocktail dress and her hair styled back in perfect locks.

"I heard that the chairman of Bloomberg Finance is personally coming today! And he might invest more in our area if he's in a good mood!

"If that happens, the property prices in our neighborhood will double or triple, and it will be the perfect opportunity for us to climb the social ladder!"

I sneered coldly when I heard that. I was just about to wheel out our tiny stall with Mom when we suddenly heard Karen's shrill voice screaming at us.

"Tanya Hastings! Do you not understand human language? Or are you just being a stubborn, defiant bitch?" she barked at Mom. "You're absolutely not allowed to open up your stall today! Who told you to bring out this shabby old cart of yours? Who the hell are you trying to disgust with that?"

Mom hurriedly stopped in her tracks and smiled warmly at Karen as she attempted to explain things.

"I've scrubbed the cart with soap thrice yesterday. There's not a single lick of grease on it. I promise I won't embarrass anyone when the reporters come around later—"

Before she'd even finished her sentence, Karen's crude laughter interrupted her as she said, "The reporters are here to interview the country's top scorer, not a raggedly old burrito seller like you!"

Marianne then rolled her eyes and said sarcastically, "You're just trying to ride on the top scorer's wave today because there will be cameras rolling, aren't you?"

I cocked my eyebrows when I heard her smug tone and asked, feigning ignorance, "Where's this precious top scorer now, then? Why are you all making more of a fuss than they are?"

Karen rolled her eyes and said disdainfully, "That top scorer is probably busy at home answering calls from the admissions office from Starvard or Dale University and planning out the rest of their life!"

Marianne then gave me a once-over and said contemptuously, "Did you think those top scorers would have as much time on their hands as you?

"This is the main difference between you and them. They're off to a better life while all you deserve is to continue rolling in grease at your mother's burrito cart for the rest of your life!"

I stepped forward and glared ferociously at Karen and Marianne.

"Really? Then maybe you should get rid of the wax in your ears and listen properly to me! Your so-called top scorer in the country is—"

Yet, before I could finish, Mom pulled me to the back and shook her head at me.

She said, "The reporters might be here anytime soon. It's going to be embarrassing if they catch us in a brawl. Let's not make a fool of ourselves."

"But Mom—"

Mom gently straightened out my collar and said, "We didn't do anything wrong. There's no point wasting our breaths proving ourselves to these kinds of people.

"Besides, have you already forgotten who's coming to our burrito stall later? I'm going to need you to help me with their orders later."

The fire in my chest gradually died down.

Mom had a point. What was the point of winning an argument against these people now? I'd just force them to eat their words later when the cameras were actually rolling.

However, Marianne thought that my silence meant I'd chickened out. She smugly tossed her hair to the back and scoffed at us.

"You thought you could curry favor with the top scorer or something? In your dreams. You'd better know where you stand."

Just then, the walkie-talkie belonging to the security guard, Randall Chase, squawked to life.

"Ms. Myers! I think someone's here to interview the top scorer!"

Karen broke into a wide smile the moment she heard that. Every last hint of her earlier hostile attitude vanished without a trace.

"Hurry! Come with me to the entrance to welcome them! We must make sure to display our high-class image to them!"

Chapter 3

The car door opened, and a man in his 30s stepped out, wearing a flashy shirt and holding a selfie stick in his hand.

The moment he got out, he began yelling excitedly at the camera, winking and shouting, "Alright, guys, make sure you like and subscribe to my channel for more exciting first-hand news like this!

"Today, I, Tommy Wolfe, will be exposing what the top scorer of the country in this year's SATs actually looks like in their natural habitat!"

Anyone who saw him would immediately be able to tell that he was just another one of those shameless live-streaming influencers trying to ride the wave of trending topics online.

He was the kind who'd jump on any bandwagon and spout whatever nonsense as long as it brought him views.

Yet, Karen couldn't care less about it and immediately grabbed Marianne forward with her to greet the influencer.

"Welcome to Emerald Green! It is our pride and joy to house the nation's top scorer in our neighborhood!

"Now, if you'll look at the banner we've hung up, you can clearly see that we spent a lot of time designing it with gold lettering—"

Tommy ignored her. He then directed his phone camera straight at Mom as though he had sudden hawk eyes.

Mom was standing behind her burrito stall, her apron still covered in corn flour. She was startled by the sudden commotion.

"So, according to my super secret inside sources, this roadside burrito stall vendor here is the top scorer's mother!"

The smile on Karen's face froze instantly.

"Wait… You're mistaken, aren't you? A burrito stall owner like her, raising a national top scorer?" she spat.

Marianne laughed coldly next to her and added, "Don't be fooled. This woman is just putting on a pitiful show to grab attention because she knows that we're welcoming VIPs and reporters today!"

Tommy seemed even more interested in the gossip now. He began vehemently berating and criticizing Mom on camera.

"Wow, really? People these days will really do anything just to become famous! To think that they'd take advantage of the situation to try and ride on the coattails of the nation's top scorer!"

He spat as he spoke, aiming the camera directly at us.

Mom saw that he was directing the camera at me and threw her arms up to block me from the camera. She shouted, "Stop filming! Stop filming my daughter!

"My daughter is the nation's top scorer, and I won't let any of you spread rumors about her online! Now put your phone away!"

I pulled Mom, who was trembling angrily, behind me. Then, I pulled out my SAT score from my bag and showed it to the camera.

"Open your eyes wide and take a good look at this slip. It has the official education bureau stamp on it to prove that this is legit!"

I then glared at Tommy ferociously and said coldly, "What, you think you can look down on us just because we sell burritos for a living? Who gave you the right to start spreading gossip and rumors about us here?"

Yet, Tommy stubbornly refused to back off or admit his mistake. He insisted, "That proves nothing! You can just get a fake slip from anyone for ten bucks at the print shop! You've got the nerve to fake an official document, you little bitch!"

Marianne heard him and straightened up at once.

"Yeah! She can't even afford to go for extra tuition classes after school and spends her entire weekends working at the stall with her mother!

"And you think you can score full marks in the SATs with your kind of upbringing? In your damn dreams!"

The more she spoke, the more she convinced herself that she was right.

She cocked her chin up haughtily and continued, "My son, Mitchie Davidson, has been attending bilingual schools since he was little and has had one-on-one tutors for years!

"Yet, even with such a good upbringing, he still didn't manage to score full marks in the SATs. He scored 1200 instead. Who do you think you are to deserve full marks?"

I looked at her stubborn and contemptuous face and got so angry that I nearly laughed out loud.

"Wow, you're telling me that he didn't even manage to hit the 80th percentile with such good education opportunities?

"You should have just bought a couple more of my mom's burritos with the extra money you could have saved from his extra tuition. I bet it would have helped him with his brain development more."

Just as tension began to rise, the head security guard, Blake Lawson, hurried over to us.

"Everyone! The mayor's and Mr. Bloomberg's convoy is arriving at the entrance! Quick, you have to go over to welcome them now!"

The other homeowners who'd been busy laughing at us quickly rushed toward the entrance upon hearing that.

I watched their fawning backs and tugged on Mom's hand as she prepared to pack up the cart.

"Don't bother, Mom," I said. "Here comes the good part of the show."

Chapter 4

The faint honking of the car convoy at the entrance could be heard.

Karen couldn't be bothered about her image anymore and rushed up to us in her high heels.

"Don't tell me you're still going to leave this junk of a cart at the roadside like this! You're trying to get me fired, aren't you?"

Mom stood in front of the cart and pleaded,

"Ms. Myers, please, we're only taking up a small corner of the road. We promise we're not blocking anyone or causing any trouble—"

Karen completely lost her temper and turned to Randall next to her, roaring, "What are you still standing there like an idiot for? Throw her cart out of the way! Don't let any of the VIPs see any of this junk!"

When Randall saw that the mayor and his convoy were about to arrive, he didn't hold back anymore and went up to the cart to push it out of the way.

"You can't blame us for any of this, Mrs. Marshall. Now get out of the way!"

"Get your hands off my cart!" Mom yelled, rushing up to stop the cart from being toppled over. This cart was our only source of survival in this city.

"What are you doing? Get your hands off my mother!" I yelled, rushing up to Randall, who was trying to push Mom off. I then shielded Mom behind me.

Karen got even angrier when she saw this and grabbed Mom by the collar before yanking her forcefully to the side.

"How dare you cause trouble for me like this in broad daylight? Get the hell out of the way! Don't you dare tarnish the image and reputation of Emerald Green!"

Our cart was then roughly toppled over, and everything on the cart, including the condiments and other glass jars, fell out and broke, scattering their contents all over the ground.

Mom fell to her knees and hurriedly picked up whatever she could to try and salvage her ingredients.

None of the other homeowners offered to help. In fact, they took a few steps backward with their nose in the air in disgust.

"Hurry up and get that stupid trash out of our face!" Karen screamed at Randall, gesturing wildly at the cart. He then grabbed the cart and discarded it next to the garbage pile.

Just then, a whole convoy of identical black Maybachs slowly pulled up in front of the red carpet at the entrance.

"He's here! The chairman of Bloomberg Finance is here!"

Karen's expression changed at once, a fawning smile appearing on her lips almost immediately.

The mayor, Mr. Winters, got out of the first car. Then, Mr. Bloomberg slowly stepped out of the second car, dressed smartly in a dark gray bespoke suit.

Karen's voice was saccharinely sweet as she fawned over them and exclaimed, "Mr. Bloomberg! Mr. Winters! Welcome! Welcome to Emerald Green! It's our greatest honor to have you as our guest!"

Marianne also stepped forward, urging Mitchie to the front to greet Mr. Bloomberg. She smiled so hard that her face wrinkled all over.

"It's so nice to meet you, Mr. Bloomberg! We're so honored to welcome you to Emerald Green today!"

However, Mr. Bloomberg didn't seem the least bit interested in any of the people who were obviously trying to suck up to him. He simply nodded faintly at them before glancing briefly at the banner hanging in the air.

He frowned and asked, "Why doesn't the banner have Cathy's name on it?"

Karen's face froze for a second. "What? Cathy? W-Which Cathy are you talking about?"

Mr. Bloomberg didn't care about her shock and turned to his team behind him, excitedly saying, "I've told you many times about Tanya's burritos, haven't I? Her signature homemade hot sauce and sour cream are the best things you'll ever taste!

"You must all have a taste since we're already all here to celebrate Cathy's success!"

At that, Karen's face immediately turned as pale as a sheet. She stammered hard, not knowing how to explain the situation to them.

However, Marianne thought that she'd finally found a chance to suck up to them and stepped forward.

"Wait, Mr. Bloomberg. You don't mean that dirty roadside burrito stall, do you? Don't you know what a terrible eyesore her stall is when she sets up shop every day?

"We even caught her trying to ride on the coattails of the top scorer's fame earlier too! But don't worry. We've already dealt with her properly and kicked her off the street. She won't be an eyesore to you anymore."

She then nodded at him and smiled sweetly as she continued speaking in an increasingly obsequious tone.

"Since you're already here, would you all do us the honor of joining us for a simple lunch at my home a while later?"

Everyone fell silent. The smile on Mr. Bloomberg's face vanished completely as he fixed his eyes on Marianne.

"Say that again. Whom did you say you kicked off the street?"