Chapter 198: Exoneration (3)
"Homeless? You were homeless?" Lauren asked in shock.
She was expecting a casual rebuttal from the handsome student, not a bomb like being homeless due to his foster mother.
She looked him over, noticing that even though he looked clean and his clothes fit well, they looked a bit faded, as if they had been washed numerous times, and his unbranded shoes were quite worn.
If it weren’t for his striking features, he would have looked a bit scruffy.
"Yes, for two years. Both my parents died in a drunk driving incident, and I was tossed into foster care and ended up with the Crouch family. After Analise Crouch, her husband, and 10 children spent the insurance money from my parents’ death, they sold all of my belongings, including childhood photos, clothing, and more, without my permission."
"What?" Before the reporter could delve into the crazy statement, Ari continued to dump more information onto her, before she could think.
"When the money from my parents’ life insurance and the sale of my things ran out, the Crouch family had no choice but to downsize to a 2-bedroom 2-bathroom household where I had to sleep in a room with 6 other boys. Then, Analise Crouch kicked me out of the house due to wanting ownership of the money the state provided to take care of me when I refused to share it. I tried to pursue legal actions, but I was put on the wait list and told it wasn’t a pressing matter."
"What do you-?"
"I applied to the Pop Star Academy Program to see if I could make something of myself since Analise Crouch and her family refused to cooperate by providing the documents I needed to apply for financial aid and college scholarships despite the fact that I have excellent grades, causing me to cut off contact once again."
"Excuse me, please w-
"Analise Crouch only reached out to me when they saw that I was doing well on Pop Star Academy. After refusing to cave into her ludicrous demands, she tried to slander me and ruin my chances of achieving something on my own. And now, her family has been leaving threatening voicemails for me, despite my not doing anything to them. Ah, I’m sorry, class is about to start. I have to go since I don’t want to get detained by police officers Joe Smith and John Doe who took me on a drive for serveral hours before finally bringing me to school in the evening and letting me go."
"What do you mean by that?? Threatening voicemails? Several hours? What?"