Chapter 104
Just as Mia stepped onto the stage, Lucy suddenly stormed up and pointed at Sarah, shouting loudly, “I want to report something! Sarah helped Mia cheat! This is unfair!”
Her words echoed through the auditorium, and the room fell silent.
Zachary’s cold gaze swept over Lucy, while Sarah responded in a steady, icy tone. “Lucy, you can’t make accusations without
proof.”
“I have proof!” Lucy screamed, her voice frantic.
Dean Larson exchanged a glance with Professor Wells, while Jane looked on with a cold, unreadable expression
Lucy continued, her voice filled with righteous indignation. “The original test questions were supposed to be a different set! But just thirty minutes before the competition, Sarah swapped them out. Isn’t that suspicious? And look at this!” She held up Mia’s bag and pulled out a crumpled sheet of paper. “I found the original test questions in Mia’s bag!”
Dean Larson turned to Sarah, his tone heavy. “Ms. Sanders, what’s going on here?”
He was aware of the original set of test questions and had been puzzled by the sudden change himself.
All eyes turned to Sarah, waiting for an explanation. She calmly picked up the microphone and spoke evenly.
“The first set of test questions was indeed prepared meticulously for this competition. However, early this morning, a student discovered that the safe containing the questions had been tampered with, and one set was missing. To ensure fairness, I used a backup set stored on my USB drive.”
Lucy seized the opportunity to shout, “So, are you admitting that you helped Mia cheat and then swapped the test to cover it up?”
Her words stirred the crowd, and the competitors began whispering among themselves, their voices growing louder and more
accusatory.
“Ms. Sanders, did you really help Mia cheat?”
“It makes sense! They’re so close–how could she not help her?”
“And to think this is happening in front of Jane Lawrence! What an embarrassment for the university!”
The accusations piled on, and Lucy’s smirk grew wider, “Dean, this competition’s fairness is clearly compromised. How are you going to deal with Sarah for breaking the rules?”
Lucy was convinced Sarah wouldn’t escape punishment, especially with so many students and reporters present.
“I didn’t cheat! Sarah would never do something like that!” Mia shouted in protest, her voice trembling with emotion.
But Lucy waved the crumpled test paper in front of her. “Then how do you explain this? Huh?”
1/2
+20 Bonus
“I… I didn’t do it!” Mia’s face turned bright red with frustration.
Zachary’s gaze turned icy, his eyes cutting through Lucy with a chilling intensity.
At that moment, Jane took the microphone and addressed Lucy calmly. “May I see that test paper?”
Lucy froze for a moment but quickly handed it over. “Ms. Lawrence, this is the original test paper.‘
Jane glanced at the paper and smiled faintly. “This is just an ordinary test question sheet.”
Lucy’s face twisted in disbelief. “What?! Are you trying to cover for Sarah?”
Dean Larson’s expression darkened. “Lucy, stop making baseless accusations!”
Lucy’s wild accusations, especially in front of Jane Lawrence, were not only damaging to Sarah but also tarnishing the reputation of the university.
“But Dean, this is clearly-
“Enough!” Sarah’s firm voice interrupted.
The entire auditorium turned to look at her.
“How do you know this is the original test paper?” Sarah asked coldly. “Only the judges ever saw it.”
Lucy’s face went pale, her confidence faltering. “L… I heard it from someone else!”
Mia, catching on, chimed in, “Exactly! How would you know unless you were involved?”
