Unstoppable Unforgiven (Shermaine and Joshua) novel Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Alice and Hannah stood in the school hallway, their faces grim. Their grades had slipped, and to their dismay, Shermaine had outperformed Leslie in the

exam.

They were both humiliated and angry.

Just a short while ago, they had mocked Shermaine as a worthless slacker, but it turned out that they were the slackers.

t didn’t make sense that Shermaine, known as a poor student, suddenly got straight A’s and were

sure there must be something shady going on.

They just couldn’t bring themselves to believe that Shermaine could achieve this on her own.

Alice bit her lip. “Do you think she cheated?”

Hannah thought for a moment before shaking her head. “That ven:

“Why not? There are plenty of ways to cheat. The proctors weren’t

in school?”

”

strict this time, and just look at her–does she seem like someone who’d do well

“Not really.”

The two were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn’t notice Leslie standing nearby.

Leslie had known about Shermaine’s results. His face was filled with confusion and shock as he thought, ‘Shermaine’s got straight A’s. It’s hard to believe. Her mom told me she was struggling and even asked me to tutor her. How could she possibly do so well?‘

As he listened to Alice and Hannah’s conversation, a realization struck him: Shermaine might have cheated, just like they had said. He immediately understood why Shermaine had outperformed him in the midterms and felt a sense of relief. He was sure she could never beat him without cheating.

To be fair, Leslie was excellent in math, physics, and chemistry, scoring full marks. After all, he had won first place in a physics competition. But unlike Shermaine, he’d lost a few points in the other three subjects.

Leslie lowered his gaze, disappointment washing over him as he thought, ‘How could Shermaine stoop to cheating? Is it because of that bet with the dean? Even so, this isn’t the way to go about it. If she wants recognition, she should earn it.

Cheating might work now, but what about next time? Will she just cheat again? And the SAT–it’s nearly impossible to cheat on that. Even if she tried, the chances of getting caught are 99%. And if that happened, the only one who’d be embarrassed is her.

‘Even if she doesn’t care about her own reputation and future, she should at least think about her family.‘

Alice said in a raised voice, “Let’s go report her to the dean.”

“Alright,” replied Hannah.

As soon as they turned around, they saw Leslie. They froze in embarrassment.

Alice, quicker to recover, asked softly, “Leslie, when did you get here?”

Leslie’s face remained cold. “When you two were accusing Shermaine of cheating.”

Alice felt a wave of panic. She wasn’t sure where Leslie stood on the matter, but she gritted her teeth and said, “Leslie, I’m not being petty here. Someone like Shermaine could never do that well. You’re such an outstanding person–you should distance yourself from her. It could damage your reputation.”

“Exactly. Leslie, what were you even thinking? Hannah chimed in indignantly.

Leslie replied, his expression still cold, “Alice, if you hadn’t confronted Shermaine in her classroom, she wouldn’t have made that bet with Mr. Moe. Do you feel proud of pushing her to drop out? You need to stop.”

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Chapter 44

His tone grew firmer as he added, “Sure, Shermaine has her flaws–her temper, for one–but I believe with the right support, the can get back

With that, he turned and walked away. Alice and Hannah were left standing there, stunned.

Alice’s face turned pale. She couldn’t help but think, ‘Leslie has never cared so much about a girl. Shermaine’s such a lousy person, but he still stood up for her. Does he… like Shermaine?‘

Hannah muttered, “Is Leslie out of his mind?”

“Can you believe what he just said? It’s obvious he thinks Shermaine cheated, but he’s covering for her!” Alice was consumed by jealousy, her lips trembling. “Cheaters like her shouldn’t be allowed in our school. Let’s go, Hannah. We’re reporting her to the dear.”

Leslie didn’t go back to his class right away. Instead, he went to Shermaine’s class.

Shermaine’s classmates were still buzzing with excitement. A straight–A student was in their class–a regular class. They were sure some teachers would have high expectations for Shermaine and would try to suggest she take AP classes. Then, she wouldn’t be in the same class as them.

Maybe because she had won many major awards, Shermaine remained calm. But seeing her classmates so thrilled, she couldn’t help but smile.

Happiness was contagious, after all.

Shermaine smiled. “Even if you can’t quite match my performance, as long as you don’t give up before the SAT, you’ll see a big improvement in your

scores.”

Her classmates nodded eagerly. “Sheary, you’re the best! We love you!” someone shouted. One of them even made a heart gesture, earning another smile from Shermaine. In that instant, they were once again captivated by how gorgeous she was.

Just then, Leslie appeared in the doorway. “Shermaine, can we talk?” he asked.

Shermaine’s classmates looked up and immediately felt a surge of anger as they saw Leslie, the culprit of all this.

Shermaine lifted her gaze slightly, gave a soft “Mm,” and stood up to walk out.

It was almost time for class, so the hallway was relatively empty. Most people were in their classrooms studying or discussing the exam.

The wind was strong, and Shermaine’s long hair swayed with it. She brushed a few strands of hair behind her ear and asked, “What now?”

Leslie had never seen a woman so gracefully beautiful, with such an ethereal aura. He fought to suppress the stirring in his chest and replied, “Sorry, I didn’t expect Alice to cause trouble for you because of me and put you on the wrong side of Mr. Moe.”

“Oh, okay,” Shermaine responded indifferently. She thought, ‘He does owe me an apology; after all, he’s the reason all of this happened. There’s nothing between us. But his admirer stormed up to me, questioning and insulting me. I don’t deserve this.’