<b>Chapter </b><b>103 </b>
Mirabe, who refused to <b>ept </b>any <b>defeat</b><b>, </b>furrowed her <b>brow </b>in frustration<b>, </b>her eyes darkening slightly, “I had answered all <b>the </b>questions, and I am a <b>hundred </b>percent sure I hadn’t made a single mistake<b>. </b>Where did the ten points go?<b>” </b>
Beside her, Jenna’s expression grew more <bplicated</b>. She couldn’t begin to understand the world of an academic genius like <b>Mira</b>.
Unable to shed light on Mira’s dilemma, Jenna bowed her head once more, reverting to the BrainSpark Nationals‘ official homepage, where <b>there </b>was <b>a </b><b>link </b>to the national rankings.
Taking a deep breath <b>to </b>calm her nerves<b>, </b>Jenna’s fingertips danced across the screen, and <b>she </b><b>was </b>swiftly directed to the national leaderboard<b>. </b>
First ce, Mirabe, 200 points
Second ce, <b>Vincent</b>, 195 points
Third ce, Kent<b>, </b><b>193 </b>points
Jenna didn’t bother to scroll down any further. Her gaze was fixated on Mira’s name at the top of the list. Even though she had anticipated <b>it</b>, the reality still left her stunned. Lifting her head, Jenna extended her smartphone towards Mirabe. “Queen Mira, forget the missing ten points. You’re already the nation’s number one.”
Mirabe merely nced at the screen with a grave expression. “This isn’t about being number one.<b>” </b>It was a challenge to her academic integrity.
Jenna’s lips twitched into an involuntary smile. “Maybe you should ask around about it?”
Mirabe found the suggestion logical. Standing up with a determined look, she said earnestly, “Right, <b>I </b>can’t just ignore these mysteriously lost points just because I came in first.” What about her pride?
Jenna couldn’t help but snort. “No, no, no, Mira, I just blurted that out without thinking. Don’t take it to heart!”
As Mirabe exited the ssroom, Jenna facepalmed, secretly admiring how much cooler Mira seemed.
**
Meanwhile, Summer had just taken out her phone<b>, </b>preparing to check her <b>own </b>score from thepetition.
“Summer, do you know how many points that foster girl of your family got this time?” Phone in hand, Madeline couldn’t hide the shock on her face.
Having learned of Mirabe’s perfect score and national top ranking in the preliminaries, Madeline had been keeping an eye out, so much so that she checked the rankings before even looking at Summer’s results. As soon as she saw the scores, she rushed to find Summer.
Summer’s <i>hand </i>froze as she held <i>her </i>phone, her expression unchanging as usual. “Oh, how many points did she get?” “You won’t believe it if I told you–two hundred points!” At that moment, Madeline didn’t know what to feel about such a score. Suspecting cheating seemed far–fetched<b>. </b>One could suspect cheating for a perfect score once, but to cheat and achieve such a result again… Wouldn’t that be questioning the fairness <b>of </b>the entirepetition? After all, the exams were not held internally at the school but were overseen <b>by </b>the Education Association itself.
Summer’s mind buzzed as if something had snapped, and her usually calmplexion began to pale.
Two hundred points… <b>How </b>could Mirabe possibly score two hundred points?! Something had to be wrong. Summer refused to believe this.
Summer’s thoughts were a mess. She tried to sort through the information in her head<b>, </b>but it only became more tangled.
“Summer, are you alright?” Madeline finally noticed Summer’s pallor, which made her appear vulnerably pitiable. <b>She </b>
<b>12:35 </b>
regretfully smacked her own mouth, feeling annoyed with herself. She had brought up Mirabe in front of Summer, Wasn’t that just rubbing salt <b>in </b>the wound?
<b>With </b>an awkward smile tugging at her lips, Madeline casually unlocked her phone. “Ah, forget about her, Let me help you check <b>your </b>score.<b>” </b>