The quietest person in the room was, by far, Jude.


    When he first heard that Noreen had also scored 255, his immediate reaction was disbelief. He assumed she had used some underhanded means to get that score.


    After all, she had a history ofing inst.


    Stories of underdogs making triumphantebacks only happened in novels.


    The chances of it happening in real life were minuscule.


    But Professor Selwyn''s exnation made him realize the whole st ce'' story was just a misunderstanding.


    Noreen had always been exceptional.


    And her real score was 260, five points higher than the score Bianca had first seen.


    Just a moment ago, he had secretly messaged his friend who was a TA and asked him what a score of 260 signified.


    His friend''s reply was unequivocal: "A genius."


    "No, wait! A genius among geniuses!"


    "Academician Joyner''s exam is hellishly difficult. Even if I took it, I''d probably only get around 180 or 190. 260 is absolutely god-tier!"


    "And at this level, every single point is a huge leap that''s incredibly hard to cross!"


    After reading the messages, Jude fell even more silent.


    To top it off, Professor Selwyn, after reading Noreen''s paper, kept insisting that Academician Joyner had scored her too low.


    That meant Noreen was capable of scoring even higher!


    After a long silence, Jude turned to Seth, who was sitting beside him.


    "Is Noreen really that brilliant?"


    Seth didn''t look at him. His gaze was fixed on Noreen, his eyes deep but his expression calm.


    "You''re only just realizing that now?" he replied lightly.


    Jude was taken aback. "You knew all along?"


    Perhaps his stare was too intense, as Noreen seemed to sense it and nced in their direction.


    Seth calmly averted his gaze, hiding the emotion in his eyes.


    It was Dn whose eyes met Noreen''s.


    He felt a jolt of rm, and a chill ran down his back.


    Henry was growing anxious when, Bianca finally returned to the office. She announced to Halley in a firm voice have sufficient evidence to prove that I wrote this paper."


    Halley gestured with his hand. "Then present it publicly."


    To ensure everyone could see clearly, Halley offered her the office projector.


    Bianca calmly connected her device to the projector, showing no signs of stage fright.


    Seeing this, Henry secretly breathed a sigh of relief.


    Once Bianca proved her innocence, he would do everything in his power to convince Halley.


    If Noreen could benefit from her connection to Dn, why couldn''t Bianca benefit from her connection to him?


    Once Halley epted Bianca, he would see for himself just how vast the gap was between Noreen and his star student!


    Over by the screen, Bianca, having connected to the projector, presented her evidence piece by piece, exining as she went.


    "Actually, wrote this paper eight years ago, but I never published it Here is a screenshot of the original email, and here is the content. Academician goyner canpare them."


    To emphasize its authenticity, Bianca added, "The main reason is that my preparation time for this exam was a bit tight, and I was busy with PerseTech''s IPO. I didn''t have time to prepare new material so rewrote my thesis from eight years ago."


    She paused and asked Professor Selwyn, "That should be within the rules, right?"


    Professor Selwyn nodded in agreement. "Yes, that is within the rules."


    Bianca smiled confidently. "Then I have nothing further to add."


    Henry stared at the screen. Eight years ago!


    Even the timeline matched up!


    Halley stared at the screen, his eyes cold and his expression grim.