The Billionaire's True Heiress From Fake Jewel to Real Crown novel Chapter 993

"Thanks."

Claire casually walked over and took her seat.

Immediately, someone chuckled and called out, "Claire's late! She owes us three penalty shots, right?"

It was one of the guys in the class.

He was sitting near Tabitha Prince and Lily Lowell, and the group of them had been talking animatedly just moments before.

Now that he had publicly challenged her to drink, everyone's eyes locked onto Claire.

Some were just enjoying the drama, while others were genuinely curious to see how she would react.

"Am I late?"

Claire settled into her chair, looking at the guy with cool composure.

The guy was caught off guard by the pushback. "We're all here. Everyone's been waiting for you. Doesn't that mean you're late?"

"The agreed time was seven. It's six forty-five. I'm not late; you guys are just early."

The guy choked on his words, pausing before retorting, "But we're all here. We've been waiting on you."

"Three penalty shots isn't asking too much, is it?"

"It is," Claire said, meeting his gaze directly.

"If you want to drink, drink. You don't need to use me as an excuse."

"I didn't do anything wrong, so why should I be penalized? If you love penalties so much, why don't you down thirty shots yourself?"

The guy was entirely speechless.

"I was just making a joke. Are you seriously getting mad over that?"

He tried to backtrack and save face.

Lily chimed in from the side, "Yeah, Claire. There's no need to be so dramatic."

"We're all classmates here."

Claire shot her a half-smile. "Then you take the three shots."

Lily looked offended. "But I wasn't late!"

Claire nodded. "Exactly. And neither was I. You were all just early."

"Lily, let it go. Claire's right, we were early."

Macy Wade interjected, her tone gentle as she tried to play peacekeeper.

The guy throwing around drinking ultimatums was just pushing toxic drinking culture.

That kind of nonsense needed to be shut down immediately!

Thank God Claire didn't put up with his crap!

"Let's eat, let's eat," Priscilla urged, quickly passing a fork to Claire.

To say the meal was bland would be an understatement for Claire.

The food was mediocre, and she hardly knew anyone in the class.

To make matters worse, the guy who made the joke earlier started aggressively toasting everyone halfway through dinner.

The girls were too embarrassed to say no. Some forced down a sip of beer, while others opted for water.

Claire reached for her glass of water.

"You're really not going to give me any face, Claire? You can't even take a single sip of alcohol?"

"I'm not asking you to down liquor. Just one glass of beer."

Claire slammed her glass back onto the table. "I don't drink alcohol. If water isn't good enough for you, then I won't drink anything at all."

She wasn't willing to humor him in the slightest.