bChapter 44 /b

Alice and Hannah stood in the school hallway, their faces grim. Their grades had slipped, and to their dismayb, /bShermaine had outperformed Leslie in bthe /b

exam.

They were both humiliated and angry.

Just a short while ago, they had mocked Shermaine as a worthless cker, but it turned out that they were the ckers.

t didn’t make sense that Shermaine, known as a poor student, suddenly got straight A’s and were

sure there must be something shady going on.

They just couldn’t bring themselves to believe that Shermaine could achieve this on her own.

Alice bit her lip. “Do you think she cheated?”

Hannah thought for a moment before shaking her head. “That ven:

“Why not? There are plenty of ways to cheat. The proctors weren’t

in school?”

”

strict this time, and just look at her–does she seem like someone who’d do well

“Not really.”

The two were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn’t notice Leslie standing nearby.

Leslie had known about Shermaine’s results. His face was filled with confusion and shock as he thought, ‘Shermaine’s got straight A’s. It’s hard bto /bbelieve. Her mom told me she was struggling and even asked me to tutor her. How could she possibly do so well?‘

As he listened to Alice and Hannah’s conversation, a realization struck him: Shermaine might have cheated, just like they had said. He immediately understood why Shermaine had outperformed him in the midterms and felt a sense of relief. He was sure she could never beat him without cheating.

To be fair, Leslie was excellent in math, physics, and chemistry, scoring full marks. After all, he had won first ce in a physicspetition. But unlike Shermaine, he’d lost a few points in the other three subjects.

Leslie lowered his gaze, disappointment washing over him as he thought, ‘How could Shermaine stoop to cheating? bIs /bit because of that bbet /bbwith /bbthe /bdean? Even so, this isn’t the way to go about it. If she wants recognition, she should earn it.

Cheating might work now, but what about next time? Will she just cheat again? And the SAT–it’s nearly impossible to cheat on that. Even if she triedb, /bbthe /bchances of getting caught are 99%. And if that happened, the only one who’d be embarrassed is her.

‘Even if she doesn’t care about her own reputation and future, she should at least think about her family.‘

Alice said in a raised voice, “Let’s go report her to the dean.”

“Alright,” replied Hannah.

As soon as they turned around, they saw Leslie. They froze in embarrassment.

Alice, quicker to recover, asked softly, “Leslie, when did you get here?”

Leslie’s face remained cold. “When you two were using Shermaine bof /bcheating.”

Alice felt a wave of panic. She wasn’t sure where Leslie stood on the matter, but she gritted her teeth and said, “Leslie, bI’m /bbnot /bbeing bpetty here/bb. /bSomeone like Shermaine could never do that well. You’re such an outstanding person–you should distance yourself from herb. /bbIt /bcould bdamage /bbyour /breputationb./bb” /b

“Exactly. Leslie, what were you even thinking? Hannah chimed in indignantly.

Leslie replied, his expression still cold, “Alice, if you hadn’t confronted Shermaine in her ssroom, she wouldn’t have made that bet bwith /bMr. bMoe/bb. /bbDo /byou feel proud of pushing her to drop out? You need ito /istop.”

b1/3 /b

bChapter /bb44 /b

bHis /btone grew firmer as he addedb, /bb“/bSureb, /bShermaine has her ws–her btemper/bb, /bbfor /bbone/b–bbut /bbI /bbelieve bwith /bbthe /bbright /bbsupport/bb, /bbthe /bbcan /bget back

bWith /bthat, he turned and walked away. Alice and Hannah were left standing there, stunned.

Alice’s face turned pale. She couldn’t help but think, ‘Leslie has never cared so much about a girl. Shermaine’s such a lousy bperson/bb, /bbbut /bbhe /bbstill /bstood bup /bfor her. Does he… like Shermaine?‘

Hannah muttered, “Is Leslie out of his mind?b” /b

“Can you believe what he just said? It’s obvious he thinks Shermaine cheated, but he’s covering for her!” Alice was consumed by jealousyb, /bher blips /btrembling. “Cheaters like her shouldn’t be allowed in our school. Let’s go, Hannah. We’re reporting her to the dearb./bb” /b

Leslie didn’t go back to his ss right away. Instead, he went to Shermaine’s ss.

Shermaine’s ssmates were still buzzing with excitement. A straight–A student was bin /btheir bss/b–a regr ss. They were sure some teachers would have high expectations for Shermaine and would try to suggest she take AP sses. Then, she wouldn’t be in the same ss as them.

Maybe because she had won many major awards, Shermaine remained calm. But seeing her ssmates so thrilled, she couldn’t help but smile.

Happiness was contagious, after all.

Shermaine smiled. “Even if you can’t quite match my performance, as long as you bdon’t /bgive up before the SAT, you’ll see ba /bbig improvement bin /bbyour /b

scores.”

Her ssmates nodded eagerly. “Sheary, you’re the best! We love you!” someone shouted. One of them even made a heart gesture, earning another smile from Shermaine. In that instant, they were once again captivated by how gorgeous she was.

Just then, Leslie appeared in the doorway. “Shermaine, can we talk?” he asked.

Shermaine’s ssmates looked up and immediately felt a surge of anger as they saw Leslie, the culprit of all this.

Shermaine lifted her gaze slightly, gave a soft “Mm,” and stood up to walk out.

It was almost time for ss, so the hallway was rtively empty. Most people were in their ssrooms studying or discussing the exam.

The wind was strong, and Shermaine’s long hair swayed with it. She brushed a few strands of hair behind her ear and asked, “What bnow/b?b” /b

Leslie had never seen a woman so gracefully beautiful, with such an ethereal aura. He fought to suppress the stirring in his chest and replied, “Sorry, I didn’t expect Alice to cause trouble for you because of me and put you on the wrong side of Mr. Moe.b” /b

“Oh, okay,” Shermaine responded indifferently. She thought, ‘He does owe me an apology; after allb, /bhe’s the reason all of this happened. There’s bnothing /bbetween us. But his admirer stormed up to me, questioning and insulting me. I don’t deserve this.’

She then said, “It’s already over. You don’t need to bring it up again. If there’s nothing else, I’m heading back bto /bss.b” /b

“Wait,” Leslie said while reaching out, attempting to grab her wrist, but Shermaine noticed and smoothly avoided his hand. She smiled faintlyb, /bwaiting bfor /bhim to continue, but her impatience was clear.

Leslie froze, his chest tightening with unease. After a pause, he said, “Mr. Mow is indeed a snob and does favor high–achieving students, but you shouldn’t have been so impulsive in making that bet with him. And winning in this way–have you thought about the consequences?”

‘What way? What consequences?‘ Shermaine thought. But the next second, she understood what he meantb. /b“You think I cheated?b” /b

Leslie stared at her. “You did, didn’t you?”

Shermaine chuckled. She’d told him her grades weren’t bad, but he had never believed her. And nowb, /bhe bwas /busing her of bcheating/bb, /bbwhich /bbwas /bridiculous. “You can think whatever you want. But let me be clear, I don’t need to cheat,” bshe /bsaid.

b12:45 /bbMon/bb, /bb2 /bbJun /b

“Don’t worry. I’m not nning to expose you. But don’t do it again. It’s not right.”

Shermaine’s expression turned cold. She didn’t feel the need to defend herself, especially not to Leslie. This was her real performance, and she bhad /bcrushed him fair and square.

“I’ve already said that twice, and I don’t want to repeat myself a third time. Please don’te looking for me again. We’re not close,” she said seriously before turning and walking away without hesitation.

Leslie’s face turnedpletely grim.

Meanwhile, Alice and Hannah had indeed gone to the dean’s office. As soon as they saw him, Alice said, “Director, we suspect Shermaine cheated on this

exam.”

Mason’s expression shifted slightly. He didn’t immediately trust Alice’s words like he had before. “Do you have any proof?”

Alice exined, “No, we don’t. But Mr. Moe, everyone knows that Shermaine didn’t finish high school before, which is why she’s here with us. And Leslie only went to see her because her mother asked him to tutor her. A student who needs tutoring–how could someone like that get straight A’s?”

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