Rejected No More: The Genius's Revenge

Chapter 3 3

Word Count: 819 | Released on: 22/01/2026

eenage mediocrity. A faded poster of Green Day hung crook

face in harsh blue light. The computer whirred and groaned, the mo

me to

gers flew across the keyboard, typing a URL he hadn't needed

ched forward, pixel by pixel. Arlis tapped his finger on

loaded. He scroll

al Candida

primary selection tier prior to the interview phase, the se

e HR department at City Hall had quietly slipped the slot to Candidate Nu

this

He didn't write like a student asking for a fav

g Supplemental Candidate

it may

y request confirmation of adherence to State Personnel Board Regulation 104...

sperate. He set the email to schedule for Monday, 8:00 AM sharp. It would be t

parents were still awake, whispering. The

rdboard box. Inside was his suit. It was polyester, charcoal gray, bought a

t up in the hallway. He plugged in th

les vanish under the heat, he felt like he was ironing out the creases of his own soul. Eve

g the suit. It wasn't tailored, but it was clean, and

counter. "Crime rate in the East Dist

pouring himself coffee. "The new Mayor is going t

pot hovering over his mu

I borrow twenty bucks? I need to go to

e previous day. He handed them over without hesitation. Arlis took the money, the textur

protocol and his updated resume. As he walked ou

't Mr. Dumped,"

eaning against the brick wall, smoking a cig

ing for the classifieds?" she ask

been the poison in Hailee's ear, constantl

n his hand. He stepped close

d about your internship at the County Clerk's office. I he

loosely from her lips. That rumor hadn't

you talking abou

s shoes clicking on the pavement, heading t

Chapter End

Claim Your Bonus at the APP

Open

Rejected No More: The Genius's Revenge

Eydie Pfefferle Modern

“I was sitting in a Starbucks, staring at a cold Americano, while the girl I thought was the love of my life looked at me with pure disgust. Hailee Baxter slammed her latte down and told me we were done, claiming she couldn't start her career at City Hall with a "diner kid" dragging her down. She wasn't just breaking my heart; she was trading me in for Kyler Craft, the son of a powerful politician who could buy her the future she craved. In my past life, this was the moment I shattered, beginning a twenty-year spiral into alcoholism, poverty, and watching my parents work themselves into an early grave while I failed at everything. I vividly remembered the smell of cheap whiskey and the obituary of my father that I was too broke to even attend. But as I looked down at my hands, they weren't the calloused, shaking hands of a forty-year-old failure; they were smooth, young, and steady. The silver Motorola flip phone in my pocket felt like a relic from a museum, and the girl in front of me looked like a shallow stranger rather than the woman of my dreams. The crushing pain in my chest wasn't a heart attack-it was forty years of bitter regret colliding with a twenty-two-year-old body. Hailee was waiting for me to beg for another chance, her napkin ready to wipe away the pathetic tears she expected, but all I felt was a cold, clinical clarity. How could I have been so blind to her greed, and why did I let one failed exam and a rich boy's bullying destroy my entire family's legacy? I glanced at the newspaper on the table: May 12, 2005. This was the day I supposedly lost the City Hall fellowship, but I remembered a secret about the "Supplemental Candidate Protocol" that no one else would know for another week. I stood up, ignored Hailee's insults, and dialed the number etched into my soul. "Mom," I whispered into the flip phone, "I'm coming home. And this time, I'm going to take back everything we lost."”