The seniors who didn't have evening study sessions got out of school at six. No matter how much Aurora Sterling resisted the Valerius family's dinner invitation, it was unavoidable.
Since the Valerius family had set the time for seven in the evening, Timothy Sterling had the driver waiting at the school gate at five-thirty. As soon as Aurora got in the car, the driver sped toward the Sterling family residence.
Timothy Sterling had originally wanted Aurora to take a half-day off from school. That would have given her plenty of time—after all, she couldn't show up at the Valerius's house in her school uniform. She needed to get properly dressed up. However, Aurora hadn't done so. In her eyes, it was just an ordinary dinner, not something that required such a grand production. Just going home and changing her clothes would be enough.
To give Aurora enough time to change and get ready, the driver cut the usual half-hour drive down to just fifteen minutes.
