Chapter 217

Claire could see right away that Carr wasn’t buying it. She reached her hand out to him.

Carr flinched like he thought she might hit him again.

Claire let out a laugh. “Relax. Hand me your test paper p>

Seriously, acting all tough but jumping at every little thing? And he had the nerve to try picking a fight with her?

Carr scowled, hugging the paper close. “What do you want it for? You going to rip it up or something, get your revenge p>

He sounded half angry, half scared, like he was defending his last bit of dignity.

Claire shook her head, totally exasperated. “Why would I waste my time ripping up your paper p>

She took the test from him anyway and borrowed a pencil from a nearby classmate.

Everyone started watching. Claire flipped to the last question and just started writing, fast and confident, no hesitation. She didn’t even bother with scratch paper. It was like her brain was its own calculator.

“Is she actually going to solve it?” one of the guys whispered, nudging Len with his elbow.

This guy shared a dorm with Len, so he knew Len probably had the scoop on Claire.

“I’m not sure, but… it looks like she can,” Len said, his eyes glued to Claire’s hand moving across the page.

“She’s always been top of the class. People only started trash-talking her because of that rumor. Honestly, she’s the real deal p>

Since everyone was staring, Len figured he might as well clear things up a bit. “It’s all because of that switched-at-birth drama. Since the truth got out, people just haven’t treated her the same p>

“The girl who started the rumors? She’s always been after Claire. It’s nothing new.” Len shrugged. “Aside from the whole fake heiress thing, Claire really doesn’t have anything against her. She’s smart, she’s pretty, and she’s always polite p>

He wasn’t just hyping her up. It was just that some people hated Claire for ‘stealing’ Cindy’s life, like she’d done it on purpose.

Len worried that now, even here at camp, everyone would end up looking at Claire the same way.

The guy nodded. “I get it. Sure, she got lucky with the whole switch, but that’s not her fault p>

He hesitated, then whispered, “Didn’t the families ever figure out how the babies got switched? Was there any follow-up p>

Clearly, he was dying for gossip.

Len shook his head. “Who knows how it happened? The James family never said anything else about it p>

Claire hadn’t talked about it either, so Len was just as clueless as everyone else.

Meanwhile, Claire finished up the last question in just a few minutes, right under everyone’s noses.

Norris was standing close by. He only needed a glance to see that Claire’s solution was spot on. The answer was perfect.

He felt a rush of pride. She really was Melissa’s daughter-her math skills were just as amazing as her mom’s.

He remembered his own teacher

always raving about Melissa’s talent,

how she could solve problems

nobody else could even touch.

It was just a shame Melissa had disappeared right after graduation. Her old

teachers still worried about her to this day.

And now, here was her daughter, just as much of a math prodigy. How could he not be excited?

His phone buzzed again. His friends kept messaging, all wanting updates about Melissa’s daughter. None of the knew for sure if Claire was really her, but they were all hoping.

Claire handed the test paper back to Carr. “Here, take a look p>

Carr barely glanced at it, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, right. Like you didn’t just scribble something random, You didn’t even use scratch paper you’re just trying to show off p>

He was stubborn—no way was he going to believe Claire could actually solve that question.

The teacher had said nobody in the class could do it. If Claire really had, that would be a miracle.

Claire just raised an eyebrow. “Why don’t you actually look at it and see for yourself p>