This time, she wouldn’t be stupid enough to help her cheat.
Under the watchful eyes of Evelyn and Sarah, Elena reached out and grabbed Sarah’s hand, then said with a smile, “Thank you, Sarah, for believing in me. This time, I’ll work even harder and try my best in the exam.”
Having her hand held by Elena, Sarah instinctively stiffened.
Elena had always been quiet and felt inferior in front of her. She would never actively hold her hand or say such warm and mushy words.
This feeling made Sarah uncomfortable.
But since their parents were there, Sarah couldn’t draw her hand back and could only force a smile looking at Elena.
Late at night, Elena returned to her room.
It was a small attic.
The attic barely had enough space for a bed and a simple study table.
Her room was completely different from Sarah’s spacious and luxurious bedroom.
The Delaney family had other guest rooms, but her mother said those were reserved for relatives, asking her to bear with it.
Nathan silently agreed.
To them, Elena had no status in this family.
Thinking of this, Elena let out a mocking laugh.
In her previous life, she had valued family ties above everything and willingly became the servant of this family, enduring all the impartial treatment.
This time, she wouldn’t be so foolish as to repeat her mistake.
The next morning, Elena didn’t prepare breakfast for the family as she left for school before dawn.
The school was empty, and the lights in the classrooms were off.
Elena climbed up to the classroom on the fifth floor. She opened the door, entered the classroom, and turned on the lights.
As soon as the lights turned on, a figure appeared in the back row of the classroom.
Elena frowned and thought, Zayden? Wasn’t he celebrating his birthday last night? What was he doing in the classroom? Had he not gone home?
Forget about it; it had nothing to do with me.
She had already divorced Zayden in her previous life. Even if she didn’t, she had no intention of having any ties with him in this life.
With that thought in mind, Elena carried her bag and walked toward her seat.
Zayden’s tired eyes landed on Elena, and he said in a deep voice, “Who told you to come to school at this hour?”
His tone was full of questioning, even with a hint of disgust.
He didn’t like others prying into his whereabouts and even disturbing his rest.
Upon hearing Zayden’s words, Elena felt speechless.
Did she need Zayden’s permission to come to school?
Seeing that Elena didn’t respond to him in an unprecedented way, Zayden’s frown deepened. He kicked her chair and said, “Are you mute now?”
Elena replied, “Aren’t you being childish?”
Growing up with Zayden, Elena knew that he had always been a quiet and deep person.
At this age, Zayden was aloof and liked to act mysterious, but deep down, he was still a teenager.
In her previous life, because she liked him, she always tried to come up with conversations with him, enduring all his annoying habits.
But now, she wouldn’t tolerate it.
If he had a problem, he should fix it!
Zayden said, “Elena, what are you up to this time?”
Since last night, Elena had seemed like a completely different person.
Not only did she stop following him around, but she also coldly mentioned breaking off the engagement.
Elena opened her exercise book and started revising, completely ignoring Zayden.
After being ignored a few times, Zayden’s mood became even more frustrated.
Zayden said, “My mom disagrees with breaking off the engagement. You think of something to solve it.”
He tossed the problem at Elena.
At that moment, it came to Elena’s realization why Zayden had stayed in the classroom overnight.
It turned out that his mother disagreed with the breakup.
It was just natural; how could she agree?
No mother-in-law wouldn’t like a well-behaved, obedient maid who was easy to manipulate.
Zayden continued, “Elena, are you deaf?”
Seeing that Elena still hadn’t said a word, Zayden couldn’t help but mock her, “Or maybe you don’t want to break off the engagement at all? Was last night just you throwing a tantrum?”
Elena suddenly put down her pen as a smack echoed through the classroom.
That unexpected move froze Zayden.
Elena stood up from her seat and began organizing the books in her drawer.
Seeing this, Zayden furrowed his brow and asked, “What are you doing?”
“Changing seats,” Elena replied.
“What did you say?” Zayden thought he had misheard and asked again.
Back then, when Elena asked her classmates to switch seats to sit in front of him, she could even go out of her way, writing her classmates’ homework for a month. But now, was Elena actually moving away?
Seeing that Elena wasn’t going to explain herself, Zayden stood up and pressed her books down onto the desk, asking, “What exactly do you want?”
It seemed like Elena was constantly trying to get his seats, matched him with Sarah, and now, she’s moving her seat again.
Elena shook off his hand and said, “Zayden, I hope you can understand human speech. You’re good at studying, but your constant chatting with Sarah during class distracts me. If I sit in front, you won’t find me bothersome, and it makes things easier for me as well.”
Having been reborn, she had long forgotten what she learned in high school. Fortunately, it wasn’t yet the senior year. She could still refresh her knowledge if she worked hard studying. With the upcoming monthly exam, she couldn’t afford to slack off.
Sitting in front of Zayden would only interfere with her studies.
Zayden stared at Elena for a while, unable to recognize even the slightest trace of the old her. In the past, Elena wouldn’t have dared speak to him like this, let alone glance at him with such a look. But now, she was serious. She walked to the front of the class, swapped seats with a girl, and even helped move her belongings thoughtfully to the back.
She knew that all the girls in the class wanted to sit closer to Zayden. It was a rare opportunity to sit close to him. Now that she was offering it for free, no one would turn down such a favorable offer.
Zayden watched as Elena ignored him, and rage surged within him for some reason. He thought, What was this? Was she playing hard to get?
Time passed in the classroom. Elena quietly sat at her new seat, reviewing the knowledge she had learned in high school. Her notes were thorough, so she quickly got back on track with the knowledge from her previous life.
Sitting at the back of the classroom, Zayden observed her studying seriously. Elena still didn’t attempt to talk to him for an entire hour.
It was then that Zayden realized that Elena wasn’t just messing around because it was almost time for the first period of class, and other students would soon arrive at the classroom one after another.
If she didn’t move back to her old seat soon, then it meant that she had really changed seats.
For a moment, Zayden felt uneasy.
Other students started entering the classroom one after another.
When they saw Elena and Zayden both in the classroom, everyone exchanged knowing glances.
Without hiding their disdain for Elena, some of Sarah’s close friends sneered.
“Some people really have no shame, chasing after Zayden like this.”
“Exactly! Coming to school this early just to be near him.”
“Doesn’t she feel shameless, trailing behind him all the time? My mom says girls like that don’t respect themselves.”
After all, she had always been the quiet one in class, speaking to no one except following Zayden around.
Such kinds of people were always boycotted in school.
On the other hand, Sarah was popular, positive, and cheerful. Regardless of boys and girls, teachers or students, they all like Sarah without exception.
“Oh my god, Elena, why are you sitting in my seat?” A cute-looking classmate exclaimed, her eyes lighting up.
Elena recognized her as Scarlett, a girl from a well-off family who competed with Sarah openly and subtly. She was Sarah’s fake friend.
It was obvious that Scarlet liked Zayden, so she had chosen to swap seats with her.
After all, Zayden’s desk partner was Sarah, so having Scarlet sit in front of Zayden would annoy Sarah a bit.
Elena said, “I think I’m a bit nearsighted, so I want to sit in front. If you don’t want to switch…”
Scarlett replied, “Of course I don’t mind! I’m always happy to help. If you can’t see the board, just sit here; no need to be polite!”
Scarlett was the kind of girl who would feign to be shy but was very pleased deep down.
She looked at Zayden, who was sitting behind, with a shy look; her eyes filled with eagerness.
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