Chapter 916

The two professors from Capital College straightened up, their pride obvious.
They had to admit, the Capital Med School professor was being realistic about the situation. Daisy’s potential was clear. She was a rising star, someone they’d all noticed. As for Lydia, the national top scorer… Well, they’d admired her at first, but what good was a talented student if she wasn’t on their team? Now that Lydia had made such a dramatic bet with Daisy, of course their support went to Daisy.
Besides, even Lydia’s own professor didn’t seem to believe in her anymore. No wonder everyone else felt the same way. As far as they were concerned, Lydia was destined to lose.
“Dominick, I’m not trying to brag, but Daisy really is the best among the new students. Maybe you could talk Lydia out of this bet. Otherwise, if she loses, it’s not just her reputation at stake—it’s Capital Med School’s reputation too.” Professor Stellan from Capital College sounded almost fatherly in his concern.
Professor Angelo nodded. “He’s right, Dominick. These academic competitions are supposed to be friendly. With a bet this big, no matter who loses, it’s a shame for either side to lose such a talented student.”
Their words sounded polite, but their eyes were full of smugness, like they already knew Lydia was finished. Dominick could feel his blood pressure rising. He couldn’t snap at them, so he swallowed his anger and turned it on Lydia instead.
“I’m calling the principal about this,” he said sharply.
Desmond watched all of this and almost rolled his eyes. They were making such a fuss over nothing.
“Dominick, if they want to compete, let them. It’ll make things more exciting for everyone,” Desmond suggested. As a professor from the International Medical Research Institute, he carried more weight than most.
Dominick couldn’t exactly ignore him, so he forced a smile. “This might seem small, but it could get out of hand. Let me check with the principal first.” He pulled out his phone and walked away to call Kevin.
Dominick knew Kevin valued talent. He wanted to keep the nation’s top scorer in their program. But Lydia was so stubborn, insisting on challenging the legacy student from a famous medical family. If this blew up, Capital Med School would have to clean up the mess. She was just too reckless.
But when Dominick explained everything, Kevin just laughed. “That’s exactly what I like to see from her! This is going to be good. I’ll be there soon-I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”
Dominick was stunned. Was Kevin losing his mind? How could he actually be happy about this? If the principal wanted to be embarrassed along with Lydia, fine. Let her stir things up At least the principal would be there to deal with it.
Dominick came back to the judges’ table, face tight with frustration. Stellan and Angelo pretended to be concerned. “Dominick, what did Principal Moore say?”
Dominick just replied, “He’s on his way here.”
Stellan and Angelo exchanged looks, both thinking Principal Moore was coming to scold Lydia himself. They grinned. “That’s for the best. Someone needs to handle this.”
Meanwhile, the story of Lydia and Daisy’s high-stakes bet was spreading fast. Gossip traveled through every hallway of Capital Med School.
Lucinda hurried into the Capital College math department just a minute before the competition started, her heels echoing down the hall. Her classmates and professor had been calling her nonstop, worried she wouldn’t make it. She was the math genius everyone expected to win first place today.
In her mind, Lucinda was cursing Lydia over and over. She couldn’t believe Lydia had made her walk nearly twenty minutes in high heels. Her feet hurt, her makeup felt ruined, and her hair was a mess, but there was no time to fix any of it. The competition was about to begin.
“Lucinda, where have you been?” someone called.
“Yeah, Lucinda, hurry up and sit down. It’s starting!”
Lucinda barely managed to catch her breath before the host announced the start of
the competition.