Too Late to Hold Me Back novel Chapter 454

The next day at school, Mr. Harth pulled Mira aside to tell her that several top-tier universities had offered her guaranteed admission slots.

"Mira, you should seriously consider this. Aethelgard University is on the list."

Mira knew how incredibly high the admission thresholds were for these Ivy League-tier institutions. Aethelgard University, in particular, only accepted a handful of students from the entire state. The slightest mistake on the national entrance exams could cost her a spot.

But if she accepted the guaranteed admission, she would forfeit the right to take the public entrance exams altogether.

Elara Finn, Harvey Rivers, and Wesley Scott had also received olive branches from other prestigious schools. But all three of them had rejected the offers, determined to test into the same university as Mira.

If they failed, they would settle for their backup schools, but at least they would have fought for it.

If her friends were bold enough to gamble their futures, why shouldn't she roll the dice and aim for the absolute highest score in the state?

For Mira, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to conquer the exams.

Securing the title of top scholar would be a dazzling accolade on her resume.

Furthermore, as a shrewd businesswoman, Mira knew she could leverage the massive media hype of being the state's valedictorian to boost Solflare Entertainment's global visibility.

It could bring immeasurable benefits to her empire.

Her mind was made up, though she still felt a flutter of anxiety. What if something went catastrophically wrong during the exams and she lost her shot at Aethelgard entirely?

Needing a sounding board, she called Owen. He had been through this exact grinder before.

"Owen, I want to aim for the state's top score. I'm going to reject the guaranteed admission offer from Aethelgard."

"If that's what you want, then go crush the exams. Stop second-guessing yourself.

A guaranteed slot at Aethelgard is rare, sure. But with your current academic metrics, as long as you don't spontaneously combust, you'll easily test into Aethelgard even if you don't take the number one spot in the state.

And on the flip side, even if you do bomb it, it's not the end of the world.

You can just pick another top-tier school with a killer computer science program. It doesn't have to be Aethelgard.

Worst-case scenario, you just apply to an Ivy League abroad, right?

With your foundation, getting into a world-class university overseas is a breeze. It's not like you can't afford the tuition. What's there to stress over? Seriously."

"Owen, so if I don't get into Aethelgard, I'll just go study abroad?"

"Get out of here. We'll talk about this later."

Now, Owen had to actively pray that Mira aced her exams, or his peaceful life was over.

Having made her decision, Mira banished all her doubts and threw herself entirely into her studies.

With the exams looming, the entire senior class was wrapped in a suffocating bubble of academic panic. Even Mara and her usual posse of mean girls stopped causing trouble, desperate to cram their way into a decent college.

Meanwhile, Shane no longer needed Mara to feed him corporate espionage. If he wanted to know anything, he just called Adrian directly.

The deadly game of chess between Shane and Adrian had officially begun.

From that moment on, Adrian no longer wanted Ethan to succeed, nor did he want the Mercer Group to remain profitable.

Adrian's daily routine at the office now consisted of bribing executives, fishing for insider info, embezzling funds wherever possible, and liquidating corporate assets into untraceable cash.

He had effectively become the biggest parasite feeding off his own company, all while meticulously planting fabricated evidence to frame Ethan for the financial bleeding.

If they were looking for evidence of Ethan's incompetence, Ethan was more than happy to hand it to them on a silver platter.