Chapter 3

“Everyone stand up. You’ll be questioned one by one!”

The exam supervisor and the inspection team members looked furious.

Ms. Zane’s eyes turned red as she desperately tried to explain, “Officer, this is really a misunderstanding!”

She suddenly spun around. Her voice was sharp enough to cut. “Pearl! And all of you! What exactly are you trying to pull?!”

Pearl shrank back as though she had been frightened, biting her lower lip tightly. “Ms. Zane, you did this just to protect your reputation as a distinguished teacher. That’s unfair to all the other students taking the exam! Even if we're taking the exam for money, we still can’t stand what you did!”

Her words sounded righteous and full of conviction. However, the smug curve at the corner of her lips was almost impossible to hide.

The inspection team’s suspicious gazes swept back and forth between us and the other students.

“Are all of you admitting that you’re taking exams for someone else?”

No one answered.

The students looked at each other, avoiding eye contact. They had been brave enough to go along with the lie, but when it came time to actually say it out loud, no one dared to be the first.

Then, Landon stepped forward. He walked to Pearl’s side, gave her an encouraging look, and nodded toward the inspection team.

“I can testify. This exam substitution scheme was organized by Vivian and Ms. Zane.”

He pulled my phone out of his pocket and showed them the call history.

“Look. She was just on the phone with Ms. Zane on the bus. That’s why the roster arrived so quickly. This was all part of a backup plan they prepared in advance.“

Once someone took the first step, the others quickly followed.

“That’s right. We were all brought here by them.

“The top honors class has always relied on us to maintain its reputation.

“Just start driving already. Who takes the exam doesn’t matter, right?”

Ms. Zane stared at the students who had always been obedient and well-behaved. One by one, they had transformed into experienced con artists who had been lying for years. Her face turned pale, then flushed red. Her chest rose and fell violently.

The college entrance exam bus had stopped by the roadside, attracting a crowd of onlookers.

People pointed at the bus. Their faces filled with excitement over the scandal.

“Exam substitutes? They actually dare to cheat on the college entrance exam?

“And it was organized by a teacher? Tsk. Throwing away their morals just for some meaningless reputation.

“People like this don’t deserve to stand alongside hardworking students!”

Insults came from every direction. Ms. Zane had never been cursed like this in her entire life. She crouched on the ground, trembling uncontrollably, repeating her explanation helplessly,

“I didn’t... I really didn’t... They really are the students..."

I took a deep breath when I saw Ms. Zane was close to collapsing from anger and despair. Then, I raised my head and pointed at the screenshot in the inspection team’s hand.

“Miss, chat records can be fabricated. You can check the image layers and editing traces. That will tell you whether it’s real or fake! Besides…”

I paused for a moment, then spoke calmly.

“If we were really organizing an exam substitution scheme, wouldn’t we do everything possible to hide our identities? Would we really be stupid enough to openly change our profile pictures and usernames to our real ones?”

The inspection team members leaned closer to examine the screenshot. Sure enough, they noticed the subtle layering between the profile pictures and the backgrounds.

Just as the exam supervisor’s suspicious gaze shifted toward Pearl, a flash of viciousness crossed her eyes. She suddenly shouted, “Those are flaws she intentionally left behind! She prepared excuses in advance in case she was exposed!”

As though she had finally made up her mind, she forced each word out through clenched teeth, “Since that’s the case, I don’t want to cover for you anymore.

“I have evidence. They already installed signal transmitters on the rooftops of nearby buildings around the exam site. They're used to send answers to the exam substitutes inside the exam rooms. Go check it out. You’ll bust them for sure!”