Chapter 11

Lucas was troubled about the upcoming competition. Frank patted Lucas on the shoulder. "I'll talk to her once the results are out. After all, the repechage is important." However, Lucas still wasn't happy. "Noelle begged me for a long time before I taught her how to play the game, and now she's using that against me. When did she become so manipulative? "If it really comes to it, we'll get Donovan to step in. She can't just ignore his authority!" Xenia, who was listening nearby, felt very upset. She was reluctant to give up her spot to Noelle because she felt that it was her earned position. ... When Noelle arrived at school, she heard everyone discussing the exam results. Gwen's lackeys glanced at Noelle and deliberately said at volume, "Someone has been working so hard lately. I wonder how well she did!" Although nervous, Noelle pretended to be calm, pulling out her textbook to review. Soon, Lionel entered with the results, and everyone grew excited. He tapped on the desk. "Quiet, everyone. The overall results aren't great. Now is not the time to slack off. I want to specifically call out Xenia, who has dropped over 200 places in the rankings." Xenia's face immediately turned pale. She knew her performance hadn't been outstanding lately, but she hadn't expected it to be that bad. Lionel then looked at Noelle and paused, clearly holding something back. "But Noelle has made a significant improvement. Keep it up!" Gwen eagerly asked, "Mr. Kramer, what's Noelle's ranking?" "She's now ranked 100th in the grade." The classroom erupted into chatter. Noelle smiled to herself. She had done it! She was thrilled that she could report her results to Cedric. Her efforts had been worthwhile. At this rate, if she continued to work hard, she could make it into Yole University. "Mr. Kramer, I suspect that there's something wrong with Noelle's results. There's no way she could improve this much in such a short time!" Everyone in the classroom fell silent upon hearing this. Almost everyone turned to look at Noelle with suspicion. Lionel glanced at Noelle's rank and also felt slightly doubtful. However, he couldn't deny that he had seen how hard Noelle had worked recently. At this point, Xenia spoke up softly, saying, "Mr. Kramer, Noelle really wanted to prove herself with these good results. She even made a bet with her brother at home, so please don't doubt her. These results mean so much to her. Please, I beg you." Her words were quite convincing, but Noelle couldn't help but smile sarcastically. She found Xenia's "bitchy" act to be awe-inspiring. It was no wonder that Noelle had fallen into Xenia's trap in her past life. After hearing this, Lionel suspected that Noelle might have cheated to win the bet. Gwen said, "Mr. Kramer, please don't protect someone who might have cheated. Recently, both Xenia and Noelle have been preparing for their family's team competition. Since Xenia's results have dropped significantly, there's no way Noelle could have improved this much!" Betty chimed in, saying, "Yeah, Mr. Kramer. For the sake of fairness, we think Noelle's results should be nullified." Xenia saw Lionel hesitate, clearly starting to believe her words. She knew she had won again. She thought, "Noelle, how dare you work hard and surpass me again! You'll soon face the consequences." "Noelle, are you not going to explain yourself?" Noelle could feel Lionel's doubtful gaze. She coldly replied, "I didn't cheat." She didn't say anything more after that. In her past life, whenever her results surpassed Xenia's, Xenia would find ways to create trouble for her, making her too fearful to surpass her again. At that moment, Xenia was trying the same tactics again. Xenia immediately said, "Mr. Kramer, I told you that she wouldn't cheat. Please don't doubt her. It may seem fair if her results are nullified, but it would hurt her." After thinking briefly, Lionel said, "Noelle's ranking will be temporarily nullified. I'll investigate this further. If cheating is confirmed, she will face the appropriate consequences." She then took her leave, and the classroom buzzed with noise. Gwen mocked, "I knew it. No wonder someone's grades improved so much. It turns out she was cheating." Xenia appeared smug as she took out her phone and messaged Lucas, "Lucas, what should I do? Noelle cheated to win the bet with you, and now she's getting demerits. I'm so worried about her." Meanwhile, Noelle opened her book and began to study again. She didn't care whether her ranking would be canceled. Xenia may be able to influence Lionel, but she certainly couldn't influence the college entrance exam scores. However, Noelle still felt slightly uneasy. After all, she had also made a bet with Cedric that if she made it into the top 100, they would play games together. But she hadn't been to the infirmary recently, and Cedric hadn't replied to her previous messages. She felt a bit down, realizing she might have overthought their friendship. After the morning classes ended, there was a sudden scream outside the classroom. Noelle looked up and saw Lucas entering. She wondered what he was doing there. "Xenia, your brother is so handsome." Xenia looked pleased with herself as she stepped forward to accept a small cake from him. "Lucas, Noelle is in the classroom. Maybe you can talk to her. If she apologizes and admits to cheating, she might avoid punishment." Lucas glanced at Noelle in the classroom, but she didn't look up. She was quietly reading her book. She knew the reason for his visit. Xenia was truly eager to see her embarrassed. Still, she didn't care if her ranking was nullified, but she would never admit to cheating. Xenia stood at the door, feigning kindness. "Noelle, Lucas is here. There's nothing to worry." Noelle pretended not to hear, not even glancing at Lucas. The latter's expression darkened. His earlier worry completely disappeared. Why was he worried about her? He said coldly, "I'll talk to your homeroom teacher." With that, he turned and walked away. Only then did Xenia take the cake and walk over to Noelle. "Noelle, Lucas only brought one cake for me. He must have forgotten about you. I'll share half with you later." Noelle could tell that Xenia was simply showing off. She had already gotten used to such behavior. Whenever her brothers came to school, they would bring small gifts for Xenia. However, Noelle never got anything. She had even complained about it once, but Frank said that she wasn't given any gifts because she was disobedient. Now, she didn't care about those so-called gifts anymore. Suddenly, Noelle's phone rang. To her surprise, it was Cedric calling. She immediately grabbed the phone and walked into the hallway, taking a deep breath before answering. "Hello, Dr. Greene." "How's your result?" She suddenly felt a little uneasy. "I was ranked 100th, but now my results might be nullified." His tone instantly turned grave as he asked, "What happened?"