Grady''s eyes narrowed slightly as he fiddled with the wooden bracelet on his wrist. "Let''s hang tight for a bit longer. Shouldn''t be much longer now."


    "Got it," As nodded, resting his forehead on the steering wheel. But after a moment, he nced over at Grady again. "Boss, don''t you have the miss''s number? Why not just give her a ring?"


    It was already past six, and typically, even thest student''s assessment would have wrapped up by now.


    Grady fell silent at this. He did have the youngdy''s number but had never called her. Mainly because they hadn''t officially met, and he was worried abouting off as a scammer and getting blocked. That would be awkward.


    Seeing Grady''s silence, As offered, "Want me to call her instead?"


    Grady shot As a sidelong nce, his voice low and firm, "No need!"


    As rubbed his nose, puzzled. He hadn''t said much, so why did it feel like the boss was getting annoyed again?


    Just then, a car emerged from the examination center. As sat up straight. "The miss should be in that car. Should we follow?"


    Grady hummed in agreement, his gaze fixed on the car through the window.


    Even though Zach had warned him not to visit the house yesterday, he hadn''t said anything about a chance meeting outside.


    As started the engine and followed the instructor''s car at a steady pace. Having been tasked with covertly protecting the youngdy before, he had gotten pretty good at tailing without being noticed.


    Meanwhile, Mirabe sat in the passenger seat of the instructor''s car, glued to her phone. Ever since the final exam results came out, her phone had been buzzing non-stop.


    She was texting Vincent, "What''s your score?"


    Vincent, sitting in front of hisputer, looked at his screen and replied on Messenger, "736, way lower than yours, smileyface.jpg."


    Mirabe raised an eyebrow and typed back, "Vincent, did you forget I''m an arts student?"


    Vincent smacked his forehead, realizing he had indeed forgotten that the top student was from the arts stream.


    He had been thinking that being the valedictorian for the final exam was out of reach, so he aimed to at least be the runner-up.


    Now, he felt like he had another shot.


    Vincent''s mood lifted, "Thank God you didn''t join our science ss." He gave so many science students a fighting chance.


    After a moment, he sent a bowing emoji.


    Mirabe: ""


    Vincent: "Hehe."


    Shaking her head, Mirabe thought for a moment before asking, "Wasn''t the top science scorest year 733? Can your score make you the science valedictorian?"


    When Vincent saw the phrase ''your score'' from her, he felt a pang in his heart again. He stayed silent for a bit before replying, "...If there''s no dark horse like you, then probably, yes!"


    Mirabe: "Oh, have some confidence, bro."


    Vincent took a deep breath: "..."


    Do you think everyone is a genius like you?!


    Closing Messenger, Vincent thought for a moment before calling his homeroom teacher.


    He could only see his own score, but whether he could be this year''s science valedictorian was still uncertain.


    After all, he wasn''t like some people who could ace everything without a care in the world.