The Mocked Miss’s Hidden Crowns novel Chapter 926

Shirley’s mind went completely blank.

What the heck.

All the contestants had cleared security and were now in the exam hall. On the giant screen above, the ten best students from The Cabinda University’s physics department appeared, each one under the watchful eye of high-definition cameras. Every move was being tracked, not just by the judges, but by the crowd both inside and outside the venue. Cheating was basically impossible.

At two o’clock sharp, the first round of the hands-on competition kicked off.

Shirley had used circuit equipment before, but nothing this complicated. For a second, she just froze, staring at the setup.

“Why isn’t Shirley doing anything? Don’t tell me she’s stuck on the first round?” Andrew, sitting near the back, glanced at Charlotte, who still had her eyes closed, looking half-asleep. His voice was a little too loud, “Charlotte, Shirley worked her butt off for this. If she loses, she’s totally going to break down, isn’t she?”

“Charlotte, are you even—”

“Be quiet.”

Charlotte sounded bored as she opened her eyes and looked at the big screen, which was streaming every moment of the competition live. Her brow furrowed when she saw the problem and the equipment. This was hard. Graduate-level hard. Shirley might have seen something like this before, but she probably never got the chance to really try it.

“Oh.” Surprised by Charlotte’s sharp reply, Andrew shrank back in his seat, fidgeting. How could Charlotte look so chill? Wasn’t she worried about Shirley at all?

Olivia’s smile faded, her face pinched with disbelief. She actually knew what to do? How could she possibly handle something this advanced? Was she some kind of self-taught genius? Olivia didn’t buy it for a second.

The first student to finish was Beck. Four more wrapped up soon after. Shirley picked up the pace, finishing fifth. She let out a relieved breath. Honestly, that was way better than she expected.

Beck checked the rankings and grinned, looking pretty pleased with himself. Fifth place... Unless Shirley totally aced the written exam and got first, making it into the top three was nearly impossible. No one had ever gotten a perfect score on a Cabinda University Physics Society competition.

Unless... Beck glanced at Shirley, a dark suspicion creeping into his mind.

Unless she cheated.