Isabella entered the exam room and found her assigned seat according to her exam ticket number.
To her surprise, Jaden was seated right behind her.
Jaden didn’t even glance at her, acting as if she was invisible.
Isabella was about to sit down but hesitated.
The previous two incidents were clearly Jaden's doing. Would he give up so easily after failing?
She remained standing, and Jaden looked up at her, seemingly anxious about her not sitting down.
Isabella's suspicions were confirmed—something was definitely wrong with the seat.
She inspected the desk and chair closely but found nothing unusual at first.
Looking again more carefully, she noticed a barely visible thin line on one of the chair legs, as if it had been tampered with.
Isabella smirked slightly, realizing Jaden’s amateurish plan.
<The mid-exam disruption caused by Jaden's broken glasses prevented him from receiving outside information. His constant fiddling with the glasses was a desperate attempt to regain the lost signal. The electronic device's red light leaking through the cracked frame was what caught Mr. Brown's attention.The entire exam hall buzzed with whispers and shock.It turned out that this so-called top student had been cheating his way to high scores all along. The one who was once seen as a brilliant and privileged student had fallen from grace and was now despised by his peers."Such a fraud is disgusting! Ugh!" Someone almost jumped up to spit on him."Yeah, it's so unfair. We work so hard, day and night, shedding sweat and tears to prepare for exams, and he cheats his way to high scores.""This is outrageous. He should be expelled and disqualified from the college entrance exams."
The class erupted into a chorus of discussions, voices raising uncontrollably."I was shocked when I saw the list this morning. I never thought Isabella would be the top scorer this time.""How is this possible? Wasn't she the one who scored zero on the college entrance exam? Now she's got perfect scores? Unbelievable.""I heard her college entrance exam scores were actually the highest, but her interview scored zero. The school’s record only showed her interview score, omitting her written exam results.""Wow, so Isabella is the real top student!"Some still doubted, "Maybe she cheated too. With how advanced cheating methods are these days, who knows? She can't be lucky every time. She'll slip up eventually, just like Jaden did."Isabella finally understood why everyone had been staring at her earlier—they already knew the exam results.
Lucius glanced at the broken pieces, worried that his future might be at risk, and quickly turned around obediently to wash the dishes.When it was time to rest at night, Lucius naturally lay down on the bed.As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Isabella glaring at him.Curious and puzzled, he asked, "What's wrong, Bella? Why aren’t you asleep yet? Don’t you have class tomorrow?"Suppressing her anger, Isabella asked, "Did you forget to buy a piece of furniture?"Lucius quickly denied it, "No, everything’s here. I even bought an extra-large bathtub."Isabella clenched her fists a little tighter, took a deep breath, and asked, "Then why didn’t you buy a bed?"Lucius rubbed his forehead, "Isn’t there already a bed? Buying another one would be wasteful."Ha, this spendthrift man finally knows how to be frugal.&n
Isabella’s face went stiff. If she kept arguing with this shameless man, she was bound to dig her own grave.She decided to yank him up and push him out of the bathroom. "Hurry up and go out! Nature calls!" she said as she shut the bathroom door with a click.Lucius, still amused, lazily sauntered over to Isabella’s bed and plopped down, resuming his sleep.Mmm, her bed smelled so good, a comforting fragrance that filled his senses.Lucius contentedly closed his eyes.When Isabella finished in the bathroom and came out, she saw the man sprawled out on her bed, once again taking up the whole space. Instantly, she felt a wave of despair wash over her."Wake up, this is my bed. You need to sleep in the bathtub," Isabella said, shaking him helplessly.But Lucius was already deep in dreamland, completely unresponsive.Isab
"Light on the top," he instructed."Focus more on the bottom.""Left side, not too light, not too heavy.""Right side, make sure to press a bit."He directed her with all his energy.Isabella could see that the massage was indeed easing his headache, but his commanding demeanor was getting more and more insistent.Her hands were getting sore.Isabella glared at him, who was enjoying himself with his eyes closed, looking utterly smug.The more she looked, the more she felt he had a face that just begged to be slapped.Suddenly, her phone chimed with a message alert.Isabella glanced at it and saw a message from her cousin, Hilda: "Isabella, I just called the Rivera’s, and your stepmother said you ran away from home. Where are you? I'm so worried about you.
Lucius saw that Isabella was dressed in casual wear and asked, “For a tennis tournament, shouldn’t you be wearing a proper tennis outfit?”Isabella shook her head, “Those specialized sports outfits are too expensive, and I didn’t have time to buy one. My main goal is the prize money. As long as I win, that’s all that matters. I’m not too concerned about anything else.”As she quickly put on her jacket, she continued, “I was planning to drag you in as a last-minute partner if I couldn’t find anyone for doubles. But since you’re still recovering from your injury and shouldn’t be doing intense exercise, it worked out that the school assigned me a partner. That’s one problem solved.”Finally, she grabbed her backpack, ran out the door, and called back to him, “I won’t be back for lunch. You’ll have to handle it yourself.”Without paying any attention to Lucius’s dejected look, which resembled the Titanic
Cynthia’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head in fury. “Are you out of your mind? Call the school security! How did they let such a lunatic in?”Fanny looked at the man, who was so charming despite his rebellious demeanor. There was something particularly attractive about a bad-boy look.Seeing Fanny gaping at the man with starry eyes only made Cynthia more enraged. She shoved Fanny hard, shouting, “Go on, hurry up!”The man gave Cynthia a sidelong glance and grinned, “Security let me in. I’m just here to deliver something.”With that, he turned and headed towards the gymnasium.“So he’s just a delivery guy, acting all high and mighty,” Fanny commented, seeing Cynthia’s face turn pale with anger. Fearing that Cynthia might take her frustration out on her, she hurried to pacify her.Caleb Reed smirked. Lately, he had indeed become a delivery man.
What a handsome delivery guy.Everyone was captivated by Caleb Reed's outstanding appearance.Some couldn’t resist taking photos with their phones and posting them online with the caption: “The most handsome delivery guy just arrived.”Isabella looked at him and recognized him as the fast-track driver often called by Lucius.When did he become a delivery man?She stared at Caleb in confusion and said, “I didn’t order a tennis outfit.”Caleb, showing a face weary from Lucius’s torment, said, “Your man ordered it for you. Ah, life is tough; please sign for it quickly.”He didn’t want to be the center of attention just for delivering clothes and was eager to leave.Oh, so Lucius ordered it. Hmm, a bit touched; didn’t expect him to be so considerate.Seeing Caleb Reed’s troubled expression, Isabella i
However, before she could finish her words, she was interrupted by Isabella's cold laugh, her eyes filled with complex emotions. “If you had just told me what you wanted, I would have given it to you. So if you really like him, just say it, and I won’t hesitate to let you have him. Why bother tarnishing your reputation as a mistress by doing such a disgraceful thing? My dear sister, you’ve truly disappointed me.”“Anyone who can be seduced by a mere glance from you, do you think he’s worth anything? Thank you for helping me identify trash!”“Isabella, don’t say that! He... he’s not trash. We just got caught up in the moment.” Cynthia was at a loss, completely unsure of how to perform. Although she was supposed to be the supporting actress, she felt like she was being led around by Isabella.“You mean you were momentarily confused, right? In front of so many people, you can openly hold hands. What about when I'm not
Time flew by in the training camp, and in a month, Isabella will take her exams for the Aetheron Film Academy, including an interview test. Therefore, she didn’t visit the Knight’s training camp as often and returned to school to study.The entrance interview for the Aetheron Film Academy typically involves three teachers and two senior students as assistants. However, when Isabella arrived at the venue, she was surprised to find that the seniors assisting this year were familiar faces.Samuel and Cynthia stood beside the three interview teachers, looking like a perfect match with their impressive looks.Generally, the performing arts program at the film academy has multiple phases, including a first and second round for elements like dialogue, performance, and vocal skills. All these stages are completed in a single day to prevent any potential interference, such as bribing the teachers.Aft
“Uncle, I need you to help me check on someone. There’s a trainee named Cecilia at the Knight training camp.” Lucius’s voice grew angry as he mentioned her name, and he instructed Lysander coldly.“Is something wrong? Did that little wife of yours get bullied again?” Without needing much context, Lysander immediately guessed that Lucius’s anger and attention to detail must be due to something happening to his wife.“She withdrew at the last moment before the competition. Cecilia schemed to make her give up. People like her, who play dirty, don’t deserve to stay at the Knight training camp. She’ll only bring chaos,” Lucius stated, believing Lysander would understand that Cecilia could not remain there.Meanwhile, Cecilia successfully secured first place in the afternoon competition, guaranteeing her a spot in Bryan’s film.However, Bryan himself was not present at the finals that afternoon.
After Isabella left, Cecilia wasted no time stepping forward. "Director Wade, it was our fault. Karrie was on the phone with a friend, and he happens to be called Lucius too. Isabella thought it was her boyfriend, and that’s why she ran off. She got jealous and left the competition in a hurry."While Bryan had been speaking with Isabella, Cecilia and Karrie had been eavesdropping the whole time. So, as soon as Isabella left without an explanation, Cecilia seized the chance to pretend to defend her. In reality, she only made the situation worse.Cecilia assumed that Bryan would be displeased to hear that Isabella abandoned such a golden opportunity for a man. But to her surprise, Bryan saw right through the situation.Unlike Cecilia, Bryan knew that Isabella’s boyfriend was indeed Lucius from the Knight Group. Their relationship was well-known, and her concern was understandable. When Bryan recalled Isabella’s words
Bryan had already made up his mind to cast Isabella as the lead in his new movie. But who would have thought that halfway through the competition, Isabella would suddenly withdraw, running off the stage without a word?Bryan felt as if his heart had left with her. After all, she was the actress he had chosen!Frowning, he watched Isabella's retreating figure and found himself instinctively following her to find out what was going on.Previously, he had heard that Isabella couldn't swim, which was why he had set the rules as he did. Yet, not only could she swim, but she swam exceptionally well, securing the first place.This showed that she must have put in a lot of effort behind the scenes.She seemed like someone who would work hard for her dreams, and Bryan admired that.So what could have caused Isabella to withdraw at the last moment?
Fortunately, there were lifeguards on duty. Upon seeing the situation, one jumped into the water to rescue the struggling competitor.Once the person was pulled from the water, Isabella and Masha realized that it was actually Karrie who had nearly drowned.It was said that those who drowned often knew how to swim, but Karrie had become overly nervous after entering the water. Her calf cramped up, preventing her from extending her movements, and she was unable to swim.The pool was two meters deep, and when she choked on water, she couldn’t breathe. In her struggle, water flooded her goggles, blurring her vision. All she could do was thrash about underwater, creating splashes as a desperate call for help.In this group match, Cecilia successfully took first place and advanced to the semi-finals, while Karrie, just as Isabella had predicted, cramped up mid-race and was eliminated.
A week passed in the blink of an eye, and the competition deadline arrived.It’s quite odd to use a swimming competition to select a movie lead; this unconventional method could only come from someone like Bryan Wade, who doesn’t play by the rules.Many participants would be taking part in the selection, so they couldn’t all compete at once; instead, a scheduled format would be followed.Each person would swim in small groups, with a baseline score set for each. The first round, known as the preliminary round, would eliminate half of the competitors.Next came the semi-finals, which would eliminate two-thirds of the remaining participants. Finally, those who advanced to the finals would compete once more to determine the top winner.This competition format was fair and just, leaving no room for doubt.Bryan Wade would be seated as a judge, watchin
On their way back to the dorm, Isabella mentioned the casting news she overheard about Director Wade. She thought out loud, “It was strange when the teacher talked about it in the office. Bryan Wade usually finds actors on the streets, so why did he come to our academy this time?”Yes, Bryan Wade was like a talent scout; whenever he found someone who fit his character requirements, he would immediately invite them to star in his films. He couldn’t stand the influx of actors from the academy, who he viewed as mass-produced products.However, this time, he specifically came to the training camp, stating he wanted to select a lead from among their group of students.This news didn’t just surprise Isabella; it puzzled both Cecilia and Karrie as well. Even Isabella found it strange when she first heard it.Lucius rubbed his nose and replied, “Maybe he’s changed his mind.”Br
Upon hearing Isabella’s words, Cecilia and Karrie exchanged glances. They had tried to outsmart Isabella several times, but they always ended up losing, which was incredibly frustrating. They wanted to regain their dignity after each defeat.However, every time they were exposed by Isabella, it left them feeling embarrassed, and for a moment, Cecilia and Karrie didn’t know how to handle her.Now that Isabella had come to them with such a proposal, after a moment of hesitation, Cecilia looked into Isabella’s eyes and asked, her attractive lips slightly parted, “How do we compete? What are the rules?”Though they were in the same class, their specializations were diverse. They studied performance, music, dance, and various other courses that made up their daily lessons.“Aren’t we in swimming class right now? I heard this training camp will have a competition to find the fastest swimmer, who wi