Chapter 174

He really had memorized a ton of formulas and knew his way around those questions. But when Ronald turned to Shirley, his gaze went dark, and the relief she’d just felt vanished in an instant.
Ronald would never risk offending Andrew, so he’d always find a way to let him off easy. But with Shirley, it was different. Ronald disliked her just as much as he did Charlotte.
“Shirley!”
Just moments ago, Ronald’s voice had been warm and patient. Now it was cold, sharp, and loud enough to make Shirley jump. She’d been quietly worrying about Charlotte when she looked up, startled and pale.
“I can’t believe it. After all these years, you’re still the same. You actually had the nerve to cheat again!”
He didn’t ask a single question or give Shirley any chance to explain. He just jumped straight to accusing her.
“I didn’t,” Shirley said quickly. She didn’t stutter this time, her tone much more steady and sure than before. “I didn’t cheat. That’s my real score.”
“This was a tough test. Even Olivia only got an eighty-nine,” Ronald said, slamming Shirley’s paper down on the desk. He let out a cold laugh. “And you got a ninety- two?”
If Olivia hadn’t dropped out of the physics competition all those years ago for another contest, would Shirley really have ended up as champion? And even if she had, Ronald had always doubted the legitimacy of her win. He refused to believe someone caught cheating on the first day and who’d been at the bottom of the class since could suddenly come out on top.
“Why can’t I?” Shirley pushed back, clenching her fists tight, her eyes shining red. “If you don’t believe me, I can walk you through every solution, step by step.”
For a second, Ronald had nothing to say. He had to admit, Shirley might be vain and a little flaky, but she wasn’t clueless. Still, it was hard to believe she’d scored that high when even Olivia struggled. The top physics score always came from his students. This time, it landed in the so-called worst class, C-Class. And, of all people, the winner was Shirley, the girl he’d just kicked out a few days ago.
It felt like a slap in the face. He was convinced Shirley’s score was fake.
“Last time you were caught cheating, you said you were innocent too. But you couldn’t prove it then. What about now? How are you going to prove you didn’t cheat this time?”
“I already said ”
“You just copied the answers, so of course you know how they’re solved. Making you do it again is pointless,” Ronald cut her off his voice icy He
was clearly set on pinning The
“cheater” label on her.
Eleanor couldn’t stand it anymore. She stepped forward, pointed right at Ronald, her voice shaking with anger. “Mr. Lee, if you really think swers,
she just memorized the ansv
then fine. Let’s give her the Beversion of the test.”
The school had bought both A and B versions, just in case, to keep things fair and stop leaks.
Ronald’s face twisted with annoyance. He stared at Eleanor, cheeks trembling. “Ms. Adams, is this how you treat your colleagues, pointing fingers?”
“Don’t talk to me about professionalism, Mr. Lee.” Eleanor stood her ground and took another step forward, her temper flaking. My student didn’t cheat, and I won’t let anyone accuse her without proof.”
“Bring out the other test. Let Olivia take it too. Let’s see who really comes out on top.”
“You
Ronald had always pushed Eleanor around since she joined the school. She’d always seemed quiet and easy to ignore, but suddenly she was standing up to him, and he honestly didn’t know how to respond.