Chapter 109
Quentin paused for a moment before continuing, “I really admire you. You’ve been away from academia for five years, yet you still have the courage to compete at
the highest national level.”
Selene smiled, but her eyes–dark and clear–were as cold as a frozen lake.
“I could say the same for you,” she replied. “Five years, and you’ve climbed effortlessly up the ladder, all the way to being considered for dean.”
Quentin waved his hand in mock humility. “Oh, not at all. I have no real interest in the race for dean. I’m just there to make up the numbers.”
Selene gave him a pointed reminder. “Mr. James, the road ahead might not be so smooth for you from now on.”
Standing across from the man who had stolen her research, Selene’s calm demeanor was only a mask. Inside, her rage was ice and fire.
She wanted nothing more than to see Quentin utterly destroyed.
One day, she swore, she would see him stripped of every stolen word–one by one–by the hand of justice.
Quentin looked at her, face arranged in a show of harmless innocence.
He always wore that look–a wide–eyed, guileless stare–like he was incapable of wrongdoing.
He tried to say something else, but Selene walked past him without a glance.
She was as cold and untouchable as a blade of polished steel–sharp enough that no one dared get close.
Quentin turned, watching her slender figure disappear down the corridor, his gaze magnified and warped behind thick lenses..
When she was finally gone from sight, Quentin pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with one finger and muttered, “God, she’s such a tease. I’d love to rip that dress right off her and pin her against the stairwell. Bet her screams would echo through the whole building.”
The dozen or so young men around him–brilliant, brash, the cream of their small–town crops, brought together at the nation’s most prestigious university–immediately let their imaginations run wild.
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21:39
Chapter 109
Wyatt snorted. “She’s good–looking, sure, but let’s not forget, she’s had two kids. Be you could fit your whole hand-”
The others burst out laughing, crude jokes echoing off the marble walls.
For all their intellect, for all their dazzling futures, in that moment, the veneer of promise split and the rot underneath showed through.
“Wyatt, you just don’t get the appeal of a married woman,” another chimed in. “The moment you unbuckle your belt, she knows exactly how to move for you. There’s gotta be a reason my brother–in–law won’t even look at anyone else.”
Wyatt gave a dismissive snort. “ALI Group and all the media have put her on a pedestal, but once the final scores come out, she’s going to come crashing down. Smashed to pieces. And when that happens, Professor James, we’ll make sure you get to see just what she’s really like.”
Quentin straightened his expensive suit jacket and drew his neck in, once again playing the part of the mild–mannered scholar.
But behind the thick lenses, his features twisted and blurred, turning monstrous under the glass.
In the exam hall, a dozen cameras panned across the competitors.
To feed the hype, ALI Group had set up individual livestreams for every contestant.
As soon as the stream for Selene’s camera went live, more than a hundred
thousand viewers flooded in.
“Selene’s face gets a 97 from me–don’t ask why. Let’s just say I actually took off my helmet at a red light just to see her better, and got docked 3 points for it.”
“She’s gorgeous! Grrr! My screen’s dirty–let me just lick it clean!”
“Gold medal belongs to Selene! Gold medal for Selene!”
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