After chatting for a while, Sinead finally introduced the elderly people who came with her. “These are the physicists I invited from Rielton. They’ll be tutoring you in physics starting today.”Eden raised an eyebrow. Physicists?“Mr. Grant called me and mentioned you signed up for the international physics competition. He even said you might make it to the finals if you work hard.”Sinead didn’t exactly share Mr. Grant’s confidence in Eden’s chances, given her academic track record, but since he was so optimistic, Sinead didn’t want to dampen her spirits.“I thought about it and decided to bring in a few physicists to tutor you. The preliminaries start in two days, so they’ll stay here to make it easier for you to prepare.”Eden was speechless.How little faith did Grant have in her?She rubbed her forehead. She wasn’t fond of being around too many people.But Sinead was doing this out of kindness. Would refusing her hurt her feelings?Alain, just coming downstairs, overheard
Eden glanced at each question and immediately knew all the answers.After reading through them all, she quickly filled in the answers on the paper. Her writing was extremely cursive, as she was eager to get to the hospital to visit Jerred. Fortunately, the physicists could still make out what she had written.She handed the paper to the physicists, and an older man with white hair took it, looking surprised. “You’re done already?”Eden nodded. “Take a look.”The man, Andrew Hughes, was the most senior physicist at the Physics Research Institute and a professor in the physics department at Rielton University. He was highly experienced and had mentored many exceptional students.He had personally created the questions for the test. With the sudden rule change that only allowed senior high school students to compete in the International Physics Competition, many were left scrambling. The difficulty level of national competitions was still quite different from the international stage.
When Eden was working on the papers, Alain had already left to take care of something else.Thinking Alain was busy, Eden didn’t bother calling him and went to the hospital on her own.Jerred’s condition had improved significantly after the Banevermin had been removed from his body. Thanks to Eden’s medicine, he was quickly regaining his strength.However, after being bedridden for nearly half a year, he was still physically weak—much like Alain had been when affected by the Seductress’s Sanguine. He couldn’t lift anything heavy at all.Once Eden finished the needling therapy on Jerred, she said, “To fully recover, you’ll need to take the Physique-Enhancing Infused Bath, which I’ll personally prepare. But I won’t be around much to keep an eye on things since I’m joining a physics competition. I’ll visit the Hunt family later and have your father look after you.”The staff and equipment here were all arranged by Alain himself—top of the line, with none better in the business. But t
"I’m warning you. With me here, I won’t let you hurt her again!" Melinda shouted fiercely at Eden.She had completely forgotten that the young woman standing before her was also her daughter—the daughter she had carried for ten months and abandoned after giving birth.Eden just looked at her, calm and composed.Melinda, feeling unsettled by Eden’s gaze, said anxiously, "Why... Why are you looking at me like that? Are you thinking of hitting me? This is the Hunt family, not the Ward family. You can’t just do whatever you want here.""My name is Eden Griffith," Eden said suddenly."I know you’re Eden Griffith! Are you trying to remind me how much trouble you’ve caused me?" Melinda’s anger hadn’t subsided. "You don’t need to remind me; I’ll never forget...""I am the daughter of Matthew Griffith and Melinda Moore," Eden said calmly, raising her eyes to meet Melinda’s.Eden didn’t know why she said that. It was the only thing she could think of at that moment, maybe to remind Melind
Back at Skygarden, Alain returned from handling business and found several physicists working on papers spread out on the table and floor, covered in letters and symbols.He quickly noticed that Eden wasn’t among them.Alain picked up a sheet of paper and asked, “Where’s Eden?”Andrew didn’t even look up from his work. “She’s out. Go away. You’re disturbing us.”Alain was taken aback. Disturbing them from working on questions? Were they not supposed to be here to tutor Eden?The physicists clearly weren’t interested in acknowledging Alain. He rubbed his forehead and decided to let it go.With nothing else to do, Alain stood behind Andrew and examined the questions. His expression grew serious.The questions were clearly set at a national competition level, suggesting they were intentionally difficult for Eden since she didn’t know much.Yet, the approach they were using to solve them was quite different, and Alain found himself getting drawn in.When Eden came home, she saw th
Caelus nodded. “That’s right. This hacker is very skilled. Even Hackers United hasn’t been able to find out anything about him so far. He’s managed to hack into your computer without touching anything, just coding it to display this.”Horace rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Think hard about whether you’ve offended anyone recently.”“I haven’t!” Alain replied with a dark expression.He had been with Eden almost all the time, only going to Joy’s family home once in between. Most of the time, he was either dropping Eden off at school or dealing with matters in the Steppe Continent with Horace and the others.He was certain he hadn’t crossed anyone recently. But someone seemed intent on causing trouble.“That’s odd. Who could be targeting you?” Horace asked seriously. “We need to find out soon. We can’t always be on guard against tricks like this.”“Not to mention our people can’t spend too much time in Rielton. The old-money families haven’t made any major moves, so spying on them is
The paper that Andrew and the others prepared was much tougher this time. They had crafted questions at the level of an international competition. Eden had noticeably slowed down compared to her previous pace.When Andrew saw Eden’s slower progress, he couldn’t help but smile. This was the normal speed of a high school student.But his smile faded when Eden put down her pen and announced, “I’m done.”Andrew’s smile froze in place.He picked up the paper, staring at Eden in shock, then back at the paper, as if the words he wanted to say had vanished from his mind.The questions had been set by five veteran physicists, and Eden had completed them all in just 35 minutes.They weren’t sure how accurate her answers were, but the speed was astonishing.Andrew adjusted his glasses and began marking the papers.The more he marked, the more impressed he became.Even he struggled with some of these questions and had intended to challenge Eden. Yet, it seemed she was on the right track.
Andrew wondered if the Wards were just being polite or if they were making a joke out of him.How could they claim Eden was lacking when she was clearly so gifted?He was so frustrated that his chest felt tight.Without waiting for Alain to respond, Andrew left with the other physicists.Alain looked at Eden and asked, “What happened? Did you upset them?”“Maybe they thought the questions were too easy for me and couldn’t come up with anything harder?” Eden shrugged, still in a good mood.Alain was at a loss for words and didn’t buy her explanation.He shook his head and sighed. “Fine, if they can’t teach you, I’ll find you a few more tutors.”He wanted to support her since she was interested in participating in a physics competition.Eden’s smile froze as she turned to him, her expression darkening.She then said, gritting her teeth, “Are you bored?”“Huh?” Alain was taken aback.What was going on?She was in a good mood just a moment ago; why had her mood shifted so sudd