Ms. Anna had been preparing for this moment the entire morning.
Dragging every teacher into the office wasn't about fairness, rules, or responsibility. No—she wanted an audience. She wanted Jade Quinn embarrassed in front of as many authority figures as possible. Today was supposed to be Jade's public downfall: humiliated, cornered, and finally expelled.
Most of the teachers didn't even question why they were summoned. They were tired, half-awake, and expected the same thing they always saw from Jade: blank pages, zeros, and another lost cause. Just score her a zero and go home—business as usual.
But the second the exam papers were passed around, something shifted.
A small gasp.
A confused frown.
A page turned slowly.
Then again.
And again.
"Wait… this is Jade's?" one teacher asked under her breath, her voice trembling with confusion.
Another teacher leaned closer, flipping through the neat pages. "These answers… she actually wrote all of this?"
Their eyes widened in disbelief.
This wasn't the Jade Quinn the school knew.
Not the troublemaker.
Not the quiet, failing girl.
Not the student everyone had given up on.
This Jade?
Unrecognizable.
Ms. Anna's pride swelled as she watched the shock spread. She misread their expressions, assuming they were stunned by Jade's mistakes. She imagined messy scribbles, nonsense answers, pages filled with random words. She waited for them to confirm her dream ending:
"Give her a zero. Expel her."
Instead… the room grew tense.
Jade walked in with hands tucked into her pockets, her expression lazy but sharp. She scanned the room full of teachers.
Wow.
A whole audience just for her.
"You called?" Jade said simply.
"Step inside," Ms. Tian ordered, lifting her chin. "Stand right there."
Jade didn't move closer. The perfume on Ms. Anna was so heavy it could knock out a small animal.
Minutes stretched.
No one spoke.
Every teacher kept rereading her papers as if unable to process what they were seeing.
Finally, Ms. Anna snapped, annoyed. "Are you all finished? It's obviously a zero! What is taking so long?"
One teacher looked up, stunned. "I… had to double-check the solution method. I've never seen anyone answer like this."
Another teacher lifted her paper. "She wrote flawless logic flow. Every answer is structured like a professional."
"And her handwriting," someone whispered, "is immaculate. This can't be the same Jade."
Ms. Aiden leaned forward to peek—
And her smile evaporated.
The handwriting was elegant.
The logic was clean.
Every formula lined up perfectly.
"This—this must be a mistake," she stuttered.
Mr. Liu shook his head. "You told us to grade Jade Quinn's papers. These are Jade Quinn's papers."
"My course exam," a teacher said, breathless. "Full marks."
"Same here."
"And mine!"
Mr. Gabriel lifted his paper with a sigh. "She missed two points on my bonus question. So she got a 98."
Jade's ears burned slightly. She offered him a tiny guilty look.
Okay… so she fell asleep during the bonus question. That one was on her.
Ms. Anna stumbled from table to table, grabbing each graded paper, searching desperately for an error.
Nothing.
Not even a small mistake.
"Your student is extraordinary," Mr. Liu said calmly. "Truly impressive."
But instead of pride, Ms. Anna's face twisted in panic.
"This—this is impossible!" she shrieked, pointing at Jade with a shaky finger. "She cheated! She did all this to avoid expulsion!"
Jade let out a quiet laugh. "Ms. Tian… do you have something going on with Dean Lynn next door?"
Silence.
The entire room froze.
"W-What nonsense are you saying?!" Ms. Tian's voice cracked. "Don't lie about me!"
She was trembling.
Her affair wasn't public.
Jade's guess had struck straight through her armor.
Jade shrugged. "I don't have proof. Do you?"
"What?" Ms. Anna blinked in confusion.
"You're accusing me without proof," Jade said calmly. "So isn't it fair for me to do the same?"
A shocked exhale swept through the office.
Checkmate.
Ms. Anna's cheeks flushed with humiliation and rage.
"You—don't speak to a teacher like that! Based on your grades, it's normal to suspect you!"
"And it's normal for me to suspect you," Jade replied lightly. "You're dressed very nicely today. Maybe you visited Dean Lynn?"
A few teachers choked, holding in laughter.
Mr. Fang burst out laughing outright. "Oh, she's hilarious."
Ms. Tian spun toward him. "Mr. Fang! She insulted me! Why are you laughing?!"
Mr. Fang sipped his coffee, unfazed. "Because you're making this too easy."
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
"It means," he said lazily, "you're human. She's human. Humans question things. You're not a god."
Ms. Tian opened her mouth, speechless.
Jade blinked.
This teacher was… odd.
But entertaining.
"Well then," Jade said, "I suppose I'm not last place this time?"
"Your results are fake!" Ms. Tian shouted. "PKU doesn't tolerate cheating!"
The other teachers exchanged uneasy glances. Jade's improvement was insane. Unrealistic even. They all knew her history. No one could jump from failing to perfect in one exam.
And that hesitation gave Ms. Tian courage again.
"Everyone knows your reputation!" she said. "These scores are suspicious!"
Jade raised her hand—and firmly flicked Ms. Tian's finger off her arm.
Ms. Tian gasped dramatically. "You—you struck a teacher!"
She was shaking, but not from anger.
From fear.
For one moment, Jade's gaze had turned ice-cold—sharp enough to slice straight through her.
Mr. Fang set down his coffee, watching Jade with a more serious expression. Something flickered in his eyes—recognition, maybe. Or warning.
This girl… she wasn't normal.
"Enough!" Ms. Tian snapped frantically. "I'm expelling you! I'm reporting this right now!"
She grabbed her phone with trembling fingers.
Jade didn't move.
She didn't panic.
She didn't look remotely threatened.
Instead, she said two words with chilling calm:
"Do it."
Ms. Tian froze.
The confidence in Jade's voice wasn't the confidence of a guilty girl begging to be believed. It was the confidence of someone holding all the cards.
"For the last time," Jade said, voice low and steady, "show me your evidence."
Ms. Tian clenched her teeth. "My evidence is your past grades! That's proof enough!"
"That's gossip," Jade corrected. "Not evidence."
Ms. Tian's lips trembled. Words refused to come out.
Jade took one slow step forward.
Just one.
But the air in the office tightened instantly.
"Ms. Tian," Jade said softly, "you want me gone so badly that you're willing to destroy yourself?"
Ms. Tian's face drained of color.
"You think PKU will protect a teacher who accuses a student without proof? A teacher who hits her students first? A teacher who spreads rumors?"
Whispers rippled through the office.
A few teachers shifted awkwardly.
She knew Jade was right… and so did they.
Mr. Fang finally spoke. "Let's make this simple. All of her papers are correct. Perfect, even. The only difference is the two points she missed in mine."
Jade flushed again.
Did he have to keep mentioning that?
Mr. Fang continued, "If you claim she cheated, you're claiming we're too incompetent to catch it. So… are we all fools?"
Ms. Tian's lips quivered. "I—I didn't say—"
"Then be quiet," Mr. Fang said flatly.
The silence returned—heavy and absolute.
For the first time since Jade Quinn reentered PKU… she stood at the top.
Mr. Liu cleared his throat. "I believe Jade's grades are genuine."
"Same here."
"She solved questions even we struggled with."
Confidence spread through the teachers.
One by one, they supported Jade.
One by one, Ms. Tian's last bits of hope crumbled.
"You…" she choked out, pointing at Jade. "This isn't over…"
Jade smiled—slow, cold, victorious.
"It already is."