The Scorned Heiress's Hidden Empire (by Jade Quinn) novel Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

“Excuse me, please wait a second!”

The reporter who had just been interviewing Isabelle Grant rushed over, shoving the microphone almost directly into Natalie Moore’s face.

“Hi there! We’re from Seaside TV. Could we have a moment? You’re so striking, are you an arts major?”

Natalie paused for a fraction of a second, her brow furrowing slightly before she answered, “No.”

59

The reporter pressed on, “What did you think of the difficulty of today’s Literature exam? Especially the essay prompt?”

She spoke without a hint of emotion, her voice clear and calm: “It was average.”

“Average?”

The reporter froze for a beat, then followed up, “Do you mean it was moderate? How do you feel you performed?”

Natalie thought about it, but deciding “average” covered it, she said nothing more. With a slight nod, she sidestepped the reporter and walked straight out of the crowd.

Her answer was so brief it bordered on dismissive, and her attitude was anything but warm.

After a moment of shock, the reporters grew even more excited. They shouted a few more questions, but Natalie was already gone, leaving only the sight of her slender, poised back.

The commotion drew the attention of more students and parents, completely stealing Isabelle Grant’s spotlight.

Isabelle’s smile finally crumbled, her teeth gritted in silent fury.

“Average?”

Cut the crap, you fake. Did that nap scramble your brain? I bet you didn’t even read the essay prompt, you pathetic loser!

Enjoy your little spotlight while it lasts. Once the results are out, I’ll make sure this interview goes viral as the biggest joke on the internet!

We’ll see who has the last laugh!

The black Bentley remained parked in place. Passersby stared curiously but didn’t dare look too closely.

A car from Harbor City with a license plate like that meant the owner was someone incredibly powerful.

Rosie Rowan got in.

14:33 Thu, May 14

Chapter 7

Lewis remained silent, but Henry Pierce surprisingly spoke up: “Where is she?”

359

55 vouchers

Rosie had just buckled her seatbelt. Hearing her uncle’s question, she blinked before realizing who “she” was.

“Natalie?”

“She booked a room at a hotel nearby. She’s not coming with us.”

Rosie knew Natalie hated being a burden, she had very firm boundaries.

Hearing this, Henry looked back out at the bustling crowd.

His face was unreadable as he gave a barely audible “Mhm.”

Lewis pressed his lips together, sensing the mood. “Shall we head back to the estate, sir?”

Henry gave a nod of approval.

The estate was one of the Pierce family’s properties in Seaside City.

*****

The afternoon session was Math.

The second the papers were handed out, the room was filled with muffled gasps and low groans.

This year’s Math paper was arguably the hardest in years. The questions were unconventional and tricky, requiring massive calculations. Even top-tier students were breaking into cold sweats.

Even the first five multiple-choice questions-usually easy points-took quite a bit of time to solve.

Looking at the dense clusters of symbols and diagrams, Isabelle felt her palms grow damp.

There were several major problems where she couldn’t even find a starting point. Her heart began to race,

She instinctively glanced toward the corner out of the corner of her eye.

Natalie was as nonchalant as ever. She scanned the entire paper once before picking up her pen at a leisurely

pace.

To Isabelle, this looked like pure laziness. With a paper this hard, she’ll probably just write ‘Solution’ and leave

the rest blank!

In less than an hour and a half, while most students were still desperately wrestling with the penultimate problem, Natalie put her pen down again.

Just like before, she didn’t even bother to check her work. She flipped the paper over and went back to sleep.

…Seriously?’ Isabelle thought, unable to believe what she was seeing.

‘Idiot. Isabelle scoffed inwardly.

14:34 Thu, May 14

Chapter 7

When the final bell rang, Natalie woke up right on time, packed her things, and left.

Outside, the atmosphere was even heavier than it had been that morning.

Many students had bloodshot eyes, some were even sobbing openly, clinging to their parents.

The reporters were busy capturing the tragic scene.

2)

59

55 vouchere

When Natalie appeared, her calm demeanor-so out of place among the grief-immediately caught the media’s attention again.

The video of her morning interview had already gone viral with likes, so the reporters were eager to catch the next wave of traffic.

“Hey! It’s you again!”

The reporter from that morning squeezed through the crowd like he’d found a gold mine.

“Excuse me, can we talk to you again? Everyone is saying the Math exam was ‘Hell-Mode.’ What do you think? How did you do?”

Natalie stopped as the microphone blocked her path.

She looked at the dejected, sobbing students around her, then at the reporter’s expectant face. She tilted her head slightly, appearing to actually consider the question.

“It was average.”

The reporter blinked, “Seriously? Again? Just… average?”

Against a backdrop of such widespread despair, her answer was practically scandalous.

Natalie nodded. Thinking that was enough of an answer, she bypassed the reporter once more and walked

away.

The reporter and the surrounding parents stood there in stunned silence. Some thought the girl was incredibly arrogant.

A few students who had been in her room thought she was trying too hard to look cool. “Average? If I recall correctly, she slept the whole time!”

“Exactly! Isn’t she that girl the Grants adopted? She’s a notorious delinquent. Ever since she moved to Seaside High, nobody can touch her record for the lowest grades!”

“And she’s already been kicked out of the Grant house. Apparently, she stole a necklace!”

“What?”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify