She Was the Treasure All Along novel Chapter 17

“I’m telling you, Loyce, you’re going to admit it to your teacher and to the principal right now. A disciplinary mark is better than getting expelled.” Byron’s voice turned icy. “I’m doing this for your own good. Do you understand?”

Loyce gave a humorless laugh. “For my own good? So you don’t even investigate and just slap ‘cheater’ on me?”

Byron’s anger flared. He turned to the principal and Loyce’s homeroom teacher. “I’m sorry. Loyce did this because she’s jealous of Quiana. The Sampson family already kicked her out. Whatever discipline the school decides, go ahead.”

The homeroom teacher agreed. With a few quick exchanges between him and Byron, Loyce’s “cheating” was essentially treated as a settled fact.

Keegan sneered at Loyce. “No wonder you dared to bet with me. You cheated your way to first. Now that the truth’s out, Loyce, either apologize to Quiana or honor the bet.”

Byron frowned. “What bet?”

Quiana immediately explained, even showing Byron her scraped palm. “Loyce didn’t mean to push me. She’s just upset with me after leaving our family. Keegan only made the bet because of me. That ridiculous bet can’t count.”

Keegan shook his head. “Quiana, you’re too kind. That’s why you keep getting bullied.”

The moment Byron saw Quiana’s injured hand, his temper spiked. “Loyce isn’t part of the Sampson family anymore. That bet has to be honored.”

In that moment, everyone in the room was against Loyce, waiting for her to become a joke.

Calmly, she took out her phone and called the school’s largest shareholder. “Heath, something happened at school. My homeroom teacher and principal think I cheated on an exam. Come deal with it.”

The principal immediately signaled for the dean to take over. The dean cleared his throat and addressed everyone. “Earlier, Loyce helped save a critically ill patient outside the research institute. I believe her progress has been substantial, and her fundamentals are very solid. Declaring her a cheater without due process is… inappropriate.”

Byron said coldly, “Dean, there’s no need to investigate. I know Loyce. She cheated. Just discipline her.”

The dean ignored him and offered a fairer solution. “Loyce, if you insist you didn’t cheat, I have a new exam here that’s even harder. Will you take it? If you score above eighty percent, I’ll accept that you didn’t cheat.”

Loyce had planned to let Heath handle this. A retest wasn’t part of her plan. So who was helping her?

She didn’t know, but she accepted without hesitation. “I’ll take it.”