Chapter 480
“Nolan, your sister’s health is already so delicate. Why would you let her come out like this?” Dane never had a great impression of Julia. Chasing after some guy when she clearly wasn’t well, and taking out her frustration on his own almost fiancée-none of it sat right with him. What had Claire ever done to deserve that? Even if Elvis liked Claire, it was just because she was likable. A quick conversation in a restaurant didn’t mean Claire owed them anything, or had to get dragged into their mess. And thanks to all this, Claire barely had time to get back to the hotel and prep for her competition.
Nolan could hear the irritation in Dane’s voice. “Dane, I know Julia caused a lot of trouble for you this time. We honestly can’t control her. She’s had a heart problem since birth. She’s fragile—like a porcelain doll. The one thing she’s ever seemed to care about is Elvis. And naturally, Elvis doesn’t like her back. They’re a mess, honestly.” Nolan looked apologetic and frustrated.
If Julia liked anyone else, the Ford family could nudge things along, make sure she got what she wanted. But Elvis was different. He was the youngest in his family, incredibly sheltered, and if he wasn’t interested, not even his own family would make him go along with an arranged marriage. They couldn’t even convince him to pretend for Julia’s sake. And even if the Fords tried to reel him in with business deals, Elvis’s family didn’t exactly need their help. So it was hopeless. They couldn’t force Elvis, but Julia kept chasing after him anyway. Her health was bad enough— who dared restrict her now? It was all about whatever would make her happy.
“This time it really was Julia’s fault. Sorry she got in the way of your student’s competition prep.” Nolan offered an apology, then gave Dane a curious look, his voice turning teasing. “So, what’s the deal with you and her? I never heard you had anyone like that around before p>
Dane and Nolan had known each other for years. Their families did business together, so Nolan liked to think he was up to date on everything in Dane’s life. “You hadn’t heard before, but now you know,” Dane said, not offering more. “Come on. She’s your girlfriend, right?” Nolan’s smile was sly.
Dane just looked back at him, not agreeing or disagreeing.
Was that a yes? Nolan could hardly believe it. “Man, that’s wild. She’s so young!” Girls from Solenia always looked extra delicate. Even though Claire was actually fairly tall, she seemed so much younger to Nolan. Maybe it was just that his own taste leaned older and more sophisticated.
“You’re thinking way too much,” Dane shot back, clearly annoyed.
Claire noticed there was nothing left for her to do there, so she quietly slipped out and walked back to the hotel Her teammates would be waiting for her to go over some math problems. The next day would be the big opening ceremony. She didn’t have time to think about Julia’s situation anymore.
The competition officially started on the third day. The tests only took two days, but there were lots of side events, so they stayed in town for about a week. When the results finally came out, the Solenia team took first place without question. Claire scored a perfect score. Three more teammates got 11, another göt 39, and the last one scored 37. Those scores were about as impressive as it got-the win was pretty much locked in from the start.
Team Cascadia came in second. Elvis tied Claire’s perfect score, but Cascadia’s
team total was ten points behind Solenia’s. Third place went to team Aurelia.
Carver, who’d strutted around so proudly before, went quiet after losing to Solenia again. He wasn’t sulking in the corner, but you could tell he was embarrassed, barely able to look Norris in the face. Hed even asked around about Norris and found out that their young team coach was actually a
once-in-a-generation math genius back in Solenia.