Chapter 45

Seeing Cordelia’s bewildered expression, Merry didn’t hesitate. She whipped out her smartphone, opened her browser, and scrolled through nphotos until she found one of her heartthrob on the cover of a famous men’s magazine.

There he was, draped casually in a white toga that looked ready to slip off his shoulders at any moment, a hint of mischief in his eye. A beauty spot shaped like a teardrop just below his eye added to his enigmatic allure. His gaze was intense, staring off into the distance, and his lips curved in a half–smile that seemed to reach through the screen and beckon the viewer closer.

“Hot, right? Tell me you wouldn’t want a piece of that!” Merry gushed, practically swooning over the image.

Cordelia just stared at it.

The man was undeniably handsome but in a completely different way from Everard, who had this dangerous, edgy vibe…Why was she even thinking about Everard?

Shaking her head to clear the thought, Cordelia was about to return to her studies when she overheard conversation nearby.

“Merry, I heard you moved out from your folks‘ place. You’re not staying on campus, so where are you crashing now?”

Merry rolled her eyes. “I got an apartment.”

“Wow, you got cash? Didn’t your family cut you off?” the person asked, surprised.

Merry snorted. “Do you think I lived for eighteen years without saving a dime?”

The other person just uttered an “Oh” and fell silent.

But Cordelia remembered Paulina had offered Merry a bank card after the incident with the stolen class funds, which Merry had declined. Not wanting to pry into her friend’s personal life, Cordelia hadn’t asked any further questions. But Merry might be having money troubles.

Casually, Cordelia tapped Merry on the shoulder. “You short on cash? I can lend you some.”

Merry glanced around and leaned closer, whispering, “Lia, I’m making my own money now. Don’t worry about it.” Did she say she was making money?

Cordelia blinked in confusion. “What?”

Lowering her voice, Merry confessed, “I’ve started streaming online for cash,”

After a pause, she added with anxiety, “Lia, you won’t think less of me, will you?”

Once the darling heiress of the Jordan family, she was a streamer then.

shook her head slowly. “Not

a sigh of relief.

end of the period rang, Cordelia, with Hanley and Juliana, stood up, grabbed their books, and walked out amid envious whispers from their

trio had stopped attending regular classes to focus full–time

spent her mornings on physics and afternoons on math. But today, driven by a need

“Is she going all–in on math now? Has she

19th, with the physics competition hot on its heels. With such tight scheduling, most would choose to focus on one

move on her part, if she

pride, but he wasn’t one to hold grudges. He had grown

by Cordelia’s desk, he saw that it was devoid of any math problems. but

confusion and sat

and sketched, occasionally crumpling draft papers and tossing them aside, sometimes pausing to ponder deeply.

library to borrow a book titled Batra’s Life, which Hanley recognized as a famous mathematical challenge, but what did it have to do with her math competition?

Cordelia continued with her mysterious project, which was incomprehensible to

was up to, he was shocked. “Cordelia, are trying to prove Batra’s Conjecture?”

She nodded.

you

for over a hundred years without success. Many have failed at the final hurdle. It’s not something you should be wasting your time on. If you’re interested, you should wait until

trailed off, remembering Cordelia had self–studied the university math

“Mr. Latham, I just want

to sway the prodigy. “Just make

problem,” Cordelia assured

hold back any longer.

She didn’t respond.

Hanley continued, “You can’t let one first place make you dismiss the National Math League. Your attitude is coming off as flippant and careless! The Galaxy Math Whiz Competition was off–syllabus, and I know you studied beyond that, but that doesn’t make your win entirely legitimate. There are countless math prodigies out there. Take Jake from Greenmeadow High. Last year, he won first prize at the National League and almost got himself

the verge of a breakthrough, Cordelia was increasingly irritated

but snap back, her misty,

froze, his mouth

to his senses, his face flushed with irritation. He had

let the harsh reality teach

problem until six in the

be nearly complete if she could prove

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