Chapter 22
Mor
Luke was feeling a bit stressed about the competition.
Noah patted his shoulder and said, “Once the results are out, I’ll have a good talk with her. After all, the revival match is crucial.”
Luke frowned. “It was Alice who begged me for ages to teach her how to play, and now she’s trying to put me in a corner. When did she become so cunning?”
If all else fails, let Ethan handle it. She won’t ignore him.”
Chloe, listening nearby, felt incredibly frustrated.
She didn’t want to give her spot to me! It was hers! That was her place!
After I arrived at school, everyone was buzzing about the exam results. One of Chloe’s minions glanced at me and deliberately said loudly, “Someone has been working so hard lately; I wonder how many points she scored!”
I pretended to be calm as I pulled out my textbook to review, but inside, I was a bundle of nerves.
Before long, the homeroom teacher came over with the report card, and the room erupted with excitement.
The teacher clapped his hands for silence.“Quiet! The overall scores aren’t great; now isn’t the time to slack off. Especially you, Chloe, you’ve dropped over two hundred ranks.”
Chloe’s face paled. She knew she’d been distracted, but not to this extent.
The teacher looked at me, hesitating before saying, “But Alice has made significant progress. Keep it up!”
A minion asked, “Teacher, what rank is Alice?”
“She’s 100th in the grade.”
The classroom erupted.
I couldn’t help but smile; I actually did it! I was so excited; now I could report my results to Jack! It seemed my hard work had truly paid off. If I kept this up, Harvard University was within reach!
“Teacher, I suspect there’s something off with Alice’s scores; there’s no way she could improve so much in such a short time!”
The room fell silent. Almost everyone turned to look at me, their eyes filled with doubt. The teacher glanced at my ranking, and while he had some reservations, he knew I had been working hard.
Chloe weakly chimed in, “Teacher, Alice really wanted to prove herself. She made a bet with her brothers. Please don’t doubt her. This is very important to her. Please.”
It was a masterful act. I sneered; Chloe was a skilled manipulator. No wonder I had fallen for her tricks in my past life.
Sure enough, after hearing that, the teacher began to suspect I might have cheated to win the bet.
Chloe’s minions added fuel to the fire. “Teacher, don’t cover for cheaters! Chloe and Alice were both preparing for the family competition. Chloe’s grades dropped significantly, there’s no way Alice could have improved that much!”
“Yes, teacher, for the sake of fairness, I think Alice’s scores should be canceled.”
Seeing the teacher hesitate, it was clear he believed her own words. Chloe knew she had won again.“Alice, how dare you try to outdo me? Don’t you know what kind of lesson you’re asking for?”
“Alice, aren’t you going to say something to explain?”
I felt the teacher’s doubtful gaze and coldly replied, “I didn’t cheat.”
Just those few words; I had nothing more to say. In my past life, the moment my scores surpassed Chloe’s, that woman would find a way to make my miserable, keeping me from ever surpassing her again. Now, Chloe was pulling the same old tricks.
Chloe quickly interjected, Teacher, please don’t doubt her. If you cancel her scores, it might seem like you’re maintaining fairness, but it would really
hurt her.”
life
The teacher thought for a moment and said, “For now, Alice’s ranking will be put on hold until I can investigate further. If cheating is confirmed, she will face the consequences.”
The classroom buzzed with whispers. The minions sneered, “See? She cheated!”
Chloe’s eyes gleamed with triumph as she quickly texted her sixth brother, “Luke, what should I do? Alice cheated on the exam to win your bet and now
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she’s facing disciplinary action. I’m so worried about her!”
I simply opened my book and started reviewing again. Whether my ranking was canceled or not didn’t bother me at all. Chloe could influence the teacher, but she couldn’t change the exam results! But I was still disappointed. After all, I had promised Jack that if I made it into the top hundred, we would play games together.
I hadn’t gone to the infirmary, and he hadn’t replied to my message. I felt a pang of sadness; I finally had made a friend, but maybe I’d just imagined it.
After the morning classes ended, a girl’s scream echoed outside the classroom. I looked up to see Luke had arrived. What was he doing here?
Chloe, your brother is so handsome!”
Chloe beamed with pride as she stepped forward to take the small cake Luke handed her.“Luke, Alice’s in the classroom. Should you talk to her? If she apologizes and admits to cheating, maybe she won’t be punished.”
Luke glanced at me, but I didn’t look up, quietly focusing on my textbook. I didn’t need to guess why Luke was at school; Chloe was clearly eager to see me fail. But I didn’t care whether my scores were canceled or not. I would never admit to cheating!
Chloe stood at the classroom door, feigning concern, “Alice, Luke’s here. Don’t worry.”
I pretended not to hear and didn’t even glance at Luke.
Luke’s expression, darkened, and all his worries vanished in an instant. What was he worried about me for?
He said coldly, “I’ll go to the teacher’s office.”
Chloe then approached me.“Alice, Luke only brought one cake for me; he probably forgot about you. I’ll share half with you later.”
I could see right through Chloe’s bragging. I was used to it; every time my brother came to school, he would bring little gifts for Chloe. There was never anything for me. I had even cried about it before, and my second brother said I was disobedient, so no little gifts for me. But now, I didn’t care about those so–called gifts at all.
My phone rang, and I saw it was Jack calling. I quickly stepped out into the hallway, took a deep breath, and answered,“Hello, teacher.”
“How did you do?”
I suddenly felt a wave of discomfort.“I was 100th, but it looks like my scores might get canceled.”
Upon hearing this, Jack’s lazy demeanor turned serious in an instant.“What happened?”
