Chapter 5

"Don't tell me that you don't own a villa?" I asked with wide eyes, making sure to inject just the right amount of surprise into my voice.

The other students began to notice that something was amiss when Bianca stumbled over her words.

"Does she not have one? Was she just putting on an act all along?"

"I don't think so? She looks pretty rich to me. All her clothes are limited edition pieces."

"Maybe they're just really good counterfeits."

Bianca's face turned a ruddy red. She fixed on a haughty look and exclaimed, "Of course, I own a villa! It's just that it's undergoing some renovations recently, so you can't come over now. Give me a week. I'll give you a tour of the place in a week's time."

Her words dispelled the doubt in the students' hearts, prompting them to continue showering her with endless praises.

…

A week later, everyone dropped by Bianca's villa.

Bianca glared at me.

If it weren't for me, she wouldn't have had to resort to taking out a few high-interest loans to purchase the villa. She had even stolen the deed of her house and mortgaged it just to gather enough money.

"Oh, my God, Bianca! Your villa looks so grand! It's even more impressive than the villas that I see on the TV!" a female student exclaimed while covering her mouth.

Bianca shot a gloating look at me.

It didn't matter to her that she had spent a small fortune to purchase the villa. Once I was awarded the title of provincial top scorer and the three million dollars that came with it, not only would she be able to pay off her debts, but she would still have plenty of leftover money to buy anything she desired.

"The scores are out, everyone! Hurry and check your results!"

"Oh, no! I only scored 1,000 points. I'm done for!"

"What about you, Anna? What's your score?"

Everyone gathered around me and pinned their gazes on me.

Bianca was among them, looking as if she wanted to snatch my phone out of my hands and check my score for herself.

I slowly pulled out my phone and languidly navigated to the results site under everyone's scrutiny. I entered my details and waited for the page to load.

Bianca was momentarily stunned when she saw my score. She swiftly snapped back to her senses and grabbed my collar. "Why did you get zero points?" she roared.

"Let Anna go, Bianca," one of the female students said. "The site doesn't show the scores for the top 50 scorers in the province. That's probably why her score is zero."

Although she was a little confused over Bianca's fury, she still patiently explained the situation to her.

Bianca awkwardly let go of my collar. A wide grin broke across her face in the next second as she exclaimed, "Oh, that's right! I totally forgot about that. You must be the provincial top scorer then, Anna."

I slowly lifted my head and stared at Bianca's face that was flushed from excitement. A confused look crossed my face as I said, "But… I didn't take the exams. So, it's impossible for me to be the top scorer."