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Novel Catalog
Chapter 53
The room fell into stunned silence as the results flashed on the big screen—Bonnie had achieved a perfect score on the SATs. A perfect score. The Best Scholar Award was practically guaranteed now.
No one could move. It was as if time itself had frozen.
“No, no, no. This can’t be true. I must have typed in the wrong information. This has to be someone else’s score,” Fernanda stuttered, her eyes wide with disbelief as she stared at the screen.
But there it was. Bonnie’s name. Clear as day. Her perfect score was displayed for everyone to see.
Maybe it was a different person with the same name?
Fernanda’s mind tried to cling to that possibility, but the thought evaporated as quickly as it appeared. Trina had given her the student ID. It had to be Bonnie.
Trina’s jaw tightened in fury. Her hands gripped her outfit so hard her fingers were white from the pressure. Impossible. Bonnie, a nobody, had a perfect score? How could this be? How could someone she had written off as nothing more than a suburban girl with no future come out on top like this?
“Have we underestimated Bonnie?” Hadwin’s voice broke through the tension, and his gaze shifted to Bonnie. The disdain that had once filled his eyes had vanished, replaced by a strange, neutral curiosity.
Trina’s heart skipped a beat as she saw Hadwin’s attention shift to Bonnie. She had worked so hard to make him hers, to win him over, and now Bonnie was throwing a wrench in everything. She wasn’t going to let that happen. Not now. Not ever.
“Awesome, Bonnie. This is really surprising,” Trina said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “You said Bonnie always skipped classes and flunked her tests, Hadwin. How do you think she managed to pull this off?”
Hadwin looked at her smugly, his words dripping with scorn. “I’m guessing she cheated. She’s a nobody. How else could she have won the Best Scholar Award? The authorities will probably get her very soon to revoke her status and ban her for life.”
That was the best possible outcome in Trina’s mind. She couldn’t wait for Bonnie’s downfall to unfold. She was sure of it.
Gresham and Vera stood frozen, still trying to process the impossible reality before them. When they finally regained some semblance of composure, they overheard Trina and Hadwin’s exchange. So, Bonnie had cheated, according to them? What were they going to do now? If an investigation confirmed it, their family would be humiliated.
With this in mind, they turned to Bonnie, their eyes filled with a mix of disbelief and anxiety. “Tell us the truth. Did you cheat?”
Bonnie had thought that with the results so clearly displayed for all to see, no one would question her. But, as always, there was skepticism, especially from her own family.
“Are you going to buy whatever Trina throws at you?” Bonnie said, her voice steady, yet her eyes fiery with frustration. “What do you think the SATs are? Do you really think the teachers wouldn’t notice any cheating? Do you think it’s so easy to cheat and get a full score?”
The room went quiet again. Harold and Yolanda exchanged looks, struggling to process Bonnie’s words. They were clearly having a hard time accepting that she had earned that score—that perfect score. It was just too much for them to believe.
Harold, who had been on the edge of his seat, finally sighed and shook his head, as if coming to a reluctant conclusion. His eyes softened, and he placed a hand on Bonnie’s shoulder. “Well done, Bonnie. You’ve finally made us proud.”
Trina, seeing Bonnie regain the upper hand yet again, seethed with frustration. She wanted to scream, to lash out, but there was nothing more she could do. No argument could undo what had just happened.
Bonnie had not only proven herself on the SATs, but she had also outmaneuvered every challenge Trina and her allies had thrown her way. All that remained now was to see how this new revelation would ripple through the family—and how much longer Trina could keep up her charade of superiority.
But for Bonnie, this was just the beginning.