Martin studied Cameron with a deep frown, his gaze lingering, What''s going on with her? She''s like apletely different person, he thought.


    Years ago, Cameron had thrown a fit too, saying she didn''t want to keep up the whole pretending-to-be-a-boy thing. But he''d crushed her rebellion without much effort. This time, though, it felt different-like she''d slipped out of his control entirely.


    Could she have found something out he wondered, but quickly dismissed the thought. No way!


    Sensing that Cameron wasn''t going to back down. Martin decided not to push her any further. He scoffed, turned on his heel, and stormed off


    Cameron watched him go, the corner of her mouth tugging into a half-smile, then turned and headed back to Brody''s office. He was still waiting inside.


    Thank you. Mr. Graham," she said sincerely


    She knew that teachers always liked the good students. Cameron hadn''t expected someone like Brody to stick his neck out for a so-called cker like her. That kind of fairness was rare.


    Brody respected Cameron''s privacy and didn''t press her about what had gone down between her and Martin. He simply gave her shoulder a reassuring pat. As long as you''re in this school, I''ve got your back."


    Cameron nodded, genuinely moved. Thanks."


    She found herself quiedy grateful-having a teacher like Brody in high school almost felt like a stroke of luck.


    Cameron grabbed a quick lunch at the cafeteria and made her way straight to the library.


    Students at Langford Academy had a two-and-a


    -a-half-hour break in the middle of the day. They could use the time however they


    wanted


    The library was massive, spanning six floors, each over 10,000 square feet. With millions of books across countless genres, it also had reading areas, lounges, and a fullputer section


    Cameron headed straight for theputer zone. The desktops were free to use, and she had a purpose.


    While eating earlier, Cameron had seen someone in the ss group chat post a photo of the math problem Elijah had left on the ckboard in the Math Lab


    Most students at Langford Academy came from wealthy families, so thirty grand wasn''t exactly a fortune to them. Still, the idea of earning thirty thousand dors by solving a single problem was tempting enough to light a fire under everyone.


    The group chat, however, was a mess of frustrated whining.


    [This is way too hard. Who the hell could solve this?]


    [Figures. A problem worth 30K from the school heartthrob was never gonna be easy]


    [I''mpletely in the dark here. I''m actually pretty good at math. But I can''t even understand the question.


    Yet while the others found the problem impossibly difficult, Cameron only needed a quick nce to figure out the solution path


    She opened herptop, typed up the answer in under a minute, created a fake email address, and sent it to Elijah—along with a bank. ount number, ready to collect the payment.


    In Room 316, Elijah closed his workbook, ready to take a short break. The dorm was quiet-he had it all to himself


    His phone buzzed. He picked it up and casually swiped it open. A new email notification shed across the screen.


    Elijah clicked into his inbox, and the moment he saw the content, his calm expression shifted into one of genuine surprise.


    It was the answer to the math problem he''d posted during the morning break in the Math Lab. Someone had actually solved it,


    Elijah knew how to solve that problem. It had taken him a full week of poring over it, cross-referencing okl examples, and revisiting every form he could think of before it finally clicked. But this person-whoever it was-had cracked it in just a few hours.


    He wondered, stunned, Who the hell is this genius?


    He quickly typed out a reply: Who are you!!


    But just as he hit send, an error popped up-address not found.


    Elijah froze. He looked back at the sender''s address and finally noticed it was just a string of


    garbled nonsense.


    Cameron had set it up that way on purpose. She had no intention of letting Elijah know it was her for now.


    After all, if he found out it was her, he might start questioning it. And honestly, she couldn''t be bothered to exin. Staying anonymous just made everything easier.


    AD