No longer a pushover (Noelle and Cedric)

Noelle wasn't surprised by Xenia's accusation. She calmly replied, "Xenia, you're too dumb to question me like that."

"Don't try to change the subject, Noelle," Xenia retorted, her face flushed with anger. "Obviously, you don't have what it takes to solve this question.

"You must have secretly searched for the answer on your phone, and that's why your answer is so perfect! But that doesn't mean you're actually capable of solving it!"

Samantha, still amazed by Noelle's performance, had believed she was genuinely skilled. Yet, Xenia's accusation made her start to think it was all just an act.

With a self-righteous expression, Xenia added, "Noelle, I'm only exposing you for your own good. You need to stop making the same mistakes over and over again. Lying isn't right."noveldrama

Noelle laughed aloud. "You're such an idiot, Xenia. Do you really think everyone is as single-minded as you? I don't need someone who scored zero on the college entrance exam to be concerned about me."

Xenia's face turned bright red, sensing that everyone around her was laughing at her.

Samantha shot a disdainful glance at Xenia. But not wanting Noelle to get too smug, she quickly fired back, "Our business school doesn't care about grades for admissions. A country bumpkin like you will never understand."

"Isn't it hilarious for someone like you, an ignorant good-for-nothing, to question others about cheating?" Noelle replied calmly.

Samantha shot up in fury. "Did you just call me a good-for-nothing? I've been raised as an elite since I was young.

"A person like you-a country bumpkin-can only see us on TV. Deep down, you're probably jealous of me, aren't you?"

Noelle smirked. "If you're so competent, why don't you solve this question then?"

"Hmph! This question is too easy for me. Since we're studying programming, why don't you write a little program to prove you're really capable of solving it?"

Noelle's smile widened. "You want to bet?"

"Sure," Samantha said confidently. "If you can write a program, I'll believe you actually solved this question.

"But if you can't, it means you cheated. Then, you'll have to kneel and apologize to Mr. Yade and the entire class!"

Noelle glanced at Samantha's smug expression before responding coldly, "What if you lose?"

"I can't possibly lose!" Samantha responded confidently. Based on her prior knowledge of the course, she was certain Noelle was incapable of writing a program.

Noelle raised an eyebrow. "Too scared to take the bet, huh?"

"No, I'm not! What are the stakes?"

"Good," Noelle said with a bold smile, her chin held high. "If you lose, you'll have

to kneel and apologize to everyone for slandering me."

Patrick and the whole class watched the scene with skepticism, thinking Noelle was digging her own grave by going up against a Merlock.

"I feel so sorry for you, Noelle because you're going down!" Samantha smirked before walking confidently to the podium.

"Let's start with the school forum, then. I'll write up a redirect," she said.

Samantha accessed Patrick's

computer and opened the school's

forum, showing the headline about Noelle staying out all night, with rumors circulating about her being materialistic.

She deliberately exposed it to the class, hoping to ruin Noelle's reputation for good. In a few

moments, Samantha had composed a code and set up a redirect to the post which included a photo of Noelle getting out of a luxury car.

The audience couldn't help but gossip about Noelle's late-night escapades.

A victorious smile spread across Samantha's face as she said, "Noelle, care to explain why you came out of a luxury car this morning after staying out all night?" "That wasn't her first time showing up to school in a luxury car, right?"

"Look at those branded clothes on her. Could she have earned them by sleeping with some rich man?"

Samantha's lackeys began mocking Noelle, laughing at her.

Noelle remained calm. "Spreading malicious rumors can have legal consequences, you know? And it was just a luxury car-I can easily afford it!"

In fact, Noèlle had a pretty solid

income. Aside from her

live-streaming earnings, she also

had a salary from Maple Enterprise and received various projecto bonuses.

Samantha burst into laughter. "My God, Noelle, stop bluffing, you country bumpkin. Do you even know how much that luxury car costs?

"You'll probably never see this much money in your life! What a joke you are."

Still laughing, Samantha continued, "It's your turn now, Noelle. If you really can't do this, just apologize, and I might let you off the hook."

"Save it for yourself," Noelle replied coldly, walking up to the computer and typing skilfully on the keyboard.

Soon, she had finished writing the code and embedded it in the post, quickly collecting comments with relevant keywords.