Chapter 4

I noticed that a hint of delight flickered across Timothy's face as he looked at Queenie expectantly. She didn't react to him in the slightest, simply staring at me with a furrowed brow.

Queenie fixed her gaze on me in disbelief. "What do you mean by that? Does this mean you're actually firing me, Zachary?"

I repeated myself just to make sure Queenie understood the situation. "You don't have to come over to my place to tutor me anymore. You should help Timothy instead. Otherwise, his future will be ruined if he doesn't make it into college, Queenie."

"I've been tutoring you for two years already, so aren't you afraid that stopping so suddenly will affect your chances of getting into college?" Queenie asked, her voice trembling slightly.

"You don't need to worry about that, so please see yourselves out," I said as I politely held the door open for the pair.

In my previous life, Queenie tutored me right up until the exams, but my grades barely improved. I ended up going abroad to study anyway, yet I was still held responsible for Timothy's tragic circumstances.

I couldn't help but realize what an absolute fool I was in my past life.

Queenie's hands trembled, her knuckles paling from clenching them too hard. She then said through gritted teeth, "You'd better not regret this, Zachary!"

With that, she left with Timothy.

She made a point of studying with Timothy more openly from then on. Their discussions were loud enough that my earplugs couldn't keep the sound out.

I also made a study plan and decided to begin reviewing from the fundamentals.

Timothy looked very upset about the effort I was putting into my studies. He came up to me with a textbook that contained Queenie's recent annotations and said derisively, "You're actually taking your studies seriously now, Zachary.

"Do you even understand what you're studying by doing it on your own, though? You see, I have Queenie's notes here if you need any help."

He slightly shook the notebook in his hand, a sneer tugging at the corner of his lips. "How forgetful of me. Queenie isn't tutoring you anymore, so I guess I can't share these valuable notes with you."

He spoke sharply, making sure the surrounding classmates could hear him. Queenie, who usually kept herself out of such matters, even looked toward us.

Resting my chin with my hand, I retorted, "You should first worry about your own appalling physics marks instead of being so concerned about someone else's education. I mean, don't you feel ashamed of that single-digit score of yours?"

Timothy turned red with rage, but he had no comeback for what I said.

Queenie suddenly knocked on my desk and asked, "Can we step outside to talk, Zachary?"