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.

her head slowly. “Not

a sigh

the end of the period rang, Cordelia, with Hanley and Juliana, stood up, grabbed their books, and

and physics competition dates were fast approaching, and the trio had stopped attending regular

on math. But today, driven by a need to validate some hypothesis,

let out a relieved sigh. “Is she going all–in on math now? Has she

18th or 19th, with the physics competition hot on its heels. With such tight

thought. “Smart move on

he wasn’t one to

Cordelia’s desk, he saw that it was devoid of any math

eyebrow in confusion and sat behind her.

sketched, occasionally crumpling draft papers and tossing them aside,

the break, she even dashed to the school 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

afternoon, Cordelia continued with her mysterious project, which was incomprehensible

teacher, stopped by and saw what she was up to, he was shocked. “Cordelia, are trying to prove Batra’s Conjecture?”

She nodded.

you

the final hurdle. It’s not something you should be wasting your time on.

Cordelia had self–studied the

it. “Mr. Latham, I just want to give it a try.”

the prodigy. “Just make sure you get your math competition work

problem,” Cordelia

hold back

She didn’t respond.

doesn’t make your win entirely legitimate. There are countless math prodigies out there. Take Jake from

Cordelia was increasingly

but snap back, her misty, cold gaze sweeping across

his mouth

irritation. He had offered a friendly warning, but she treated

the harsh reality

stuck on the same problem until six in the evening

if she

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