Everyone waited with bated breath.


    They were all waiting for Halley''s answer.


    Halley spoke slowly, "Who told you their scores were the same?"


    The reporter was taken aback. He nced at Bianca, then at Noreen. "They both scored 255. Aren''t their scores the same?"


    Halley chuckled and denied it. "Of course not!"


    Lillian grew anxious. "What do you mean, not the same? My sister just checked. It was 255!"


    Halley raised a hand. "Then I suggest you check again."


    Bianca''s heart began to race. She quickly took out her phone to check her score again.


    Her hands were trembling as she entered her password.


    Several people leaned in to look at her phone, and the atmosphere grew tense.


    The page loaded, and the score finally appeared on the screen.


    The moment she saw it, Bianca''s mind went nk.


    Lillian gasped, "How can it be zero?!"


    Jude cried out, "How is a zero even possible?!"


    Henry''s face froze.


    Zero?


    "That''s impossible! I just checked at 9:05, and it was 255," Bianca said, herposure shattering.


    Only Seth remained calm, reminding her, "Check it again."


    "Right, right, it could be a system error. Sis, check it again," Lillian urged.


    Bianca quickly exited the page and logged back in.


    However, no miracle urred.


    There was no system glitch.


    Her score was, clear as day, a zero.


    "This can''t be!" Lillian shot up from her seat. "The system must have malfunctioned!"


    She even started ordering Professor Selwyn around. "Aren''t you going to call someone and report this? Tell them to fix the bug!"


    Before Professor Selwyn could speak.


    Halley answered for him. "It''s not a bug. That is her real score!"


    Lillian fell silent, and the entire office was plunged into a stunned quiet.


    After a long moment, Henry finally asked, "Why is it zero?"


    Halley told him inly, "Because her score was nullified."


    Nullified?


    Why?


    "Why was it nullified?" Jude voiced the question on everyone''s mind.


    "Yeah, on what grounds did you nullify my sister''s score? What did


    Noreen give you?" Lillian, in het


    anger blunted out without thinking  s?novels


    Bianca quickly tried to stop her, but her own mind was in disarray, a terrible


    premonition washing over her.


    Halley had always been highly respected and had never been questioned so rudely


    by someone so young.


    His cold, sharp gaze swept over Lillian.


    Lillian immediately froze, terrified.


    He turned his imposing gaze to Bianca. "Miss Lowell, I believe you know exactly why your score was nullified."


    Bianca stood frozen, feeling as if she''d been plunged into the dead of winter. Impossible!


    There was no way Halley could know!


    William had given her that thesis topic and had explicitly told her it had never been published. It was untraceable online and she could use it without worry.


    So, it was impossible for Halley to know!


    She struggled topose herself and was about to feign ignorance and question Halley.


    But Halley''s next words drained the blood from her face.


    "Your paper on the ''ck Box Investment Technique'' was giarized, so your exam score has been voided!"


    After a split second of silence, the


    reporter who had been


    Noreen swiftly changed targets, turning on Bianca.


    "Miss Lowell, was your graduate entrance exam paper giarized? Why would you


    do that?"


    "What are your thoughts on your score being nullified?"


    "Will this affect Perse Tech''s public offering?"