Chapter 13

After hearing Bruce speak, Noelle was slightly taken aback. She hadn't expected him to bring her condition to retake the exam. She looked across at Lucas and Xenia, her expression calm. However, Lucas' face became quite unnatural. Noelle used to follow him around, never doing anything that made him uncomfortable. As an older brother, he was used to being high and mighty. Asking him to apologize now was like asking him to choose death—it was pure torment. Xenia quickly said, "Noelle, when did you get so good? We didn't know that you had been studying secretly at home. You worked hard to get such good grades, but others suspected you of cheating. Lucas was the first to come to school to help you. He's really good to you." After she made the excuse for him, Lucas spoke coldly. "Xenia, stop talking. Some people will never understand." He looked at her with satisfaction, thinking that this was the behavior a sister should have. Noelle gave him a half-smile and said, "Yeah, he came to school immediately. So what? He told Mr. Kramer that I cheated. He was going to force me to write a letter of repentance and make me apologize in front of the whole school. Would you want this kind of treatment?" Xenia immediately fell silent. Furious and embarrassed, Lucas shouted, "Noelle, you secretly worked hard without telling us, making me think you were cheating. Sure, your grades have improved, but what's the point of pulling a stunt like this? Do you think it's funny?" Bruce spoke again while looking at Lionel. "Who was the first to accuse Noelle of cheating? Call them over to apologize." Lionel quickly summoned Gwen and Betty. Gwen and Betty still didn't know what had happened, thinking that Noelle had indeed cheated. They smugly said, "Mr. Kramer, we've been saying that Noelle cheated to get those grades. Is the investigation over now?" Lionel nodded. "Yes, it's clear that Noelle didn't cheat. You two should apologize to her now." The duo were stunned. Noelle didn't cheat? How could that be? Xenia quickly pretended to play the good cop. "Noelle didn't cheat. I told you not to spread rumors. You should apologize to her now." With that, she distanced herself from the situation. Gwen and Betty reluctantly apologized to Noelle. "Sorry, we were wrong. We shouldn't have said those things." Lionel looked at Noelle and asked, "Do you have any other requests?" Noelle shook her head. "No." Lionel nodded in satisfaction. "Noelle has been working hard lately. But Xenia's grades have dropped quite a bit." Xenia felt embarrassed, especially after seeing Noelle's good results. She found it humiliating. She batted her eyes and replied, "I... I just got distracted this time. I won't let it happen again." Lucas also felt a bit embarrassed. "What's the point of good grades? You could get more fame and money from playing games than from these grades." Xenia thought the same. Lionel was visibly frustrated by Lucas' attitude and chose to address it. Turning to Xenia, he said firmly, "You should learn from Noelle instead." Xenia bit her lip and hurried out of the office. Lucas glared at Noelle. "What's the big deal about getting one good result? Do you think you can show off just because you beat Xenia? The team is keeping her busy, so her grades dropped. You've done nothing to earn your results, so you don't have the right to show off." Noelle raised her gaze. "Did I show off?" Bruce interjected, "I clearly heard Mr. Kramer say those things, but Noelle said nothing. As a guardian, you shouldn't be so biased." Lucas was taken aback and replied, "I'm not biased. Noelle has always been like this." He then left to catch up with Xenia. Noelle turned to Bruce. "Thank you." "There's no need to thank me. You have the ability, and this is all well deserved. Return to your classroom now. I need to meet with the teachers and highlight some things." Noelle left the office as instructed. She walked a few steps to the corridor, where she saw Cedric in a white lab coat. He was leaning against the wall, seemingly waiting for someone. She met his gaze, and her heart involuntarily skipped a beat. Cedric stood upright, his voice calm. "How did it go?" "I succeeded, of course! Mr. York had me retake a test, and I did even better than my last attempt." Noelle lifted her head proudly. At that moment, seeing him made her feel like her victory had finally found its purpose. Cedric lowered his brows, his voice steady as he asked, "Did they apologize?" She was momentarily stunned and wondered if he was referring to Xenia and Lucas. She shook her head. "Only the scapegoats apologized. The people behind the scenes didn't, but I don't care. I slapped it in their faces hard just now!" Nevertheless, she was delighted. Cedric's lips curled into a slight smile. "Come find me after school." With that, he walked away. She noticed someone coming down the hallway, so she didn't ask further. She turned and headed back to the classroom. The once noisy classroom became quieter. Lionel soon entered. He announced that Noelle's grades were legitimate and that no cheating had been involved. Xenia slumped over the table and looked downcast. Even the cake had failed to spark her interest. She had to find a way to prevent Noelle's grades from improving so much. How could Noelle be better than her? ... After school in the afternoon, Noelle went straight to the infirmary. Cedric was sitting on a chair, looking at her as she entered. "Finished your homework?" "We were asked to review our mistakes, but I've already finished everything." She didn't make many mistakes. The ones with mistakes were topics she hadn't fully grasped yet. He clicked on the computer beside him. "Let's play. Do you have an account?" "Yes, but I want to make a new one." "Perfect. We'll both play on new accounts." Cedric didn't plan on using his main account to play with her. Noelle launched the game and casually set her username to "SweetNelly". When she entered the game, she looked at Cedric. "What's your username? Let's add each other as friends." When she saw his screen, she found that his name looked familiar. It was "ReverseTime". She instantly remembered something. In her past life, she had an online lover with the same username. Cedric raised an eyebrow. "What are you looking at? Accept my friend request." Noelle's face turned red, and she hurriedly accepted the request, growing a little excited. However, in her past life, she didn't meet her online lover at this time. She wondered if it was merely a coincidence. She secretly glanced at him. "Why did you pick this name?" He paused for a moment, lowering his brows. "I just picked it randomly." She nodded and figured that it was perhaps just a coincidence. After entering the game, they went to the starting area to carry out tasks. Noelle could tell that Cedric wasn't a complete beginner. She reckoned that he was probably playing on a new account to accompany her, but she didn't ask too many questions. His gameplay was very similar to someone in her past life. She couldn't help but ask, "Dr. Greene, is this also the name of your main account?" "No." "Is this your first time creating this new account and using this name for the game?" He glanced at her. "Yes. Why are you asking?" Noelle lowered her head quickly, her face heating up. "It's nothing." She needed some clarification. She wondered if Cedric really could be that person. However, the timing didn't match. In her past life, she had met that person after the repechage. He taught her how to improve her gaming skills, and eventually, they made it to the finals. Although she had never met him in person before her death, she was still grateful for his help when she was on the streets. Noelle became a little distracted. After she and Cedric finished the task and left the newbie area, they encountered another team while doing the next task. When she saw the team's name, she couldn't help but show a mocking expression. It was Lucas and Xenia. Cedric narrowed his eyes. "Do you want to fight against them?" "What for? We're both on new accounts, and our gear is no match for theirs. If we go up against them, we'll be asking for trouble." Despite saying that, she still felt tempted. Cedric said, "Let's wait until they finish their task. We can steal the boss' last kill when they're low on health."