Elena silently held up five fingers.
“Five thousand?”
She shook her head.
“Fifty thousand?”
Still shaking her head.
“Five hundred thousand?”
“…Fifty million,” she said.
Henry’s mouth dropped open. “Did you kill someone?!”
Fifty million-even for rich kids like them-was an astronomical sum.
That kind of money belonged to their parents or their family businesses, not to them.
“No,” Elena said calmly. “It’s not a big deal, really. Don’t ask too much.”
“Not a big deal? What kind of trouble costs fifty million to get out of?”
Henry clearly didn’t believe her.
Even a murder charge wouldn’t need that much for bail.
Elena didn’t explain.
Once she secured the money, she’d still need the Foster family’s connections to acquire the masks and miracle drugs.
If she told them now that there would be a massive global flu outbreak next year that would last an entire year, they’d think she’d gone mad.
Before long, midterm exams arrived.
As usual, after finishing her test, Sarah planned to use the time while the papers were being collected to sneak into the office and swap hers with Elena’s.
After all, Elena had said even if they were in different classes, they could still switch papers in the office when no one was looking.
Sarah was the only one in the office.
Seeing that none of the teachers had returned yet, she immediately began rummaging through Class Six’s test papers.
But no matter how many times she checked, Sarah couldn’t find Elena’s test paper.
“Elena’s isn’t here? Why not?”
Sarah was starting to panic. The teachers would be back any moment.
If they got caught, there’d be no way for her and Elena to pull off their usual paper swap.
“What are you doing?”
Suddenly, a cold voice rang out behind her.
Sarah jumped in fright and spun around-only to see Nolan standing there with an icy gaze.
“I-I’m just counting the papers,” she stammered, doing her best to hold back her fear.
This was Nolan, the guy with a reputation for violence. He’d even been in juvenile detention.
“Done counting yet?” he asked flatly.
Sarah didn’t dare linger a second longer. She bolted out of the office.
What was Nolan doing there, anyway?
She hurried down the hallway and whipped out her phone, dialing Elena’s number.
No one picked up.
With no other choice, she ran to the entrance of Class Six, hoping Elena could come up with a backup plan.
But inside, everyone was present-except Elena.
“Hey, where’s my sister?” she asked a nearby student.
“You mean Elena? She’s got a high fever. Took sick leave. Won’t be taking any of the exams these next few days.”
Sarah’s face darkened.
A fever?
Why hadn’t Elena told her ahead of time?
What about her midterm results now?
…
Meanwhile, back in the dorms…
Elena lay in bed, glancing down at her thermometer and hot water bottle.
How could she not have a fever?
If she didn’t, Sarah would just take her scores again.
Not that a midterm grade meant anything to her.
But for Sarah, it was everything.
A sudden change in grades would definitely raise the teachers’ suspicions.
She was genuinely curious to see how Sarah would spin her way out of this one.
When the scores came out, Sarah had dropped past the hundred mark.
Everyone was shocked.
Even the homeroom teacher was so displeased she called Sarah into the office.
“Sarah, do you know what your score was? One hundred and twenty-first! You’re out of the top hundred! What’s going on with you?”
“I…”
Sarah bit her lip.
She had no idea how to explain it.
“Your grades dropped so drastically-your math score barely passed. I’m really starting to question whether you’re even fit for the city’s math competition.”
The tutoring center had already informed the teacher that Sarah had stopped attending.
The teacher hadn’t made a fuss, since Elena’s grades were strong enough to balance it out.
But in just a month, Sarah’s performance had tanked.
“I’m sorry, Teacher… I didn’t do well this time. I promise it won’t happen again,” Sarah said anxiously.
If her parents found out about this, she was in for another interrogation.
“Teacher.”
At that moment, Elena walked into the room.
The teacher’s expression softened when she saw her. “Go prepare for your makeup exam.”
“Okay.”
Elena headed to the back of the office.
The sight of her made Sarah’s blood boil.
If it weren’t for Elena, she wouldn’t even be in this situation.
“I’ll be contacting your parents about this. They need to help supervise your studies at home,” the teacher said coldly. “You can go now.”
“…Yes, Teacher.”
Sarah left the office, her expression stormy.
Inside, Elena spent the entire morning calmly finishing her test papers, placing each one on the appropriate teachers’ desks.
Since the exam was in the morning, the results came out in the afternoon.
Elena’s name shot to the top-ranked within the top five of the entire grade.
When the rankings were posted, jaws dropped.
“No way. Elena scored higher than Sarah?”
“Did they switch names or something?”
“No way. That was a makeup exam! I saw her take it in the office. No way to cheat.”
“Then how?!”
…
Whispers buzzed through the school.
More Kickass Romance Reads
Dive into irresistible romance stories packed with possessive heroes, forbidden passion, billionaire obsession, mafia intrigue, and heart-stopping twists. One chapter is never enough—your next addiction starts here.