Chapter 4

Everyone stared at the final rankings in shock.

My name was still sitting right at the top. I was the undisputed top scorer with 1,550 points.

Meanwhile, Sienna's ranking had plummeted all the way to 200th in the grade, even worse than her previous ranking of 84th.

The moment Sienna saw her score, her face went deathly pale. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she covered her face and sprinted away in despair.

Yale stared at his phone, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his fists tight.

"How is this possible? I was with you every day. You barely had any time to study…"

I tilted my head and looked at him, a hint of pity in my eyes.

For the past month, he'd taken me to Internet cafes to skip class and play games. While he played, I put on my headphones and listened to online lectures.

He kept me on voice chat, playing duos together until late into the night. I played the game with one hand while solving calculus problems on scratch paper with the other, training my multitasking skills to perfection.

Even when he sat beside me and whispered sweet nothings, I was actually listening to lessons through my headphones.

I reached out and gently touched his handsome face, letting out a reluctant sigh. "Yale, honey, I had a blast playing along with you this past month."

Yale froze for a few seconds. His entire face turned red, from the base of his neck all the way to the tips of his ears.

He let out a helpless, furious roar. "Daphne Quinton!"

Ignoring him, I turned around and walked away.

Behind me, the other three guys burst into merciless laughter at Yale's expense.

Finally, Simon spoke in a slow, lazy voice. "Your methods are all too tame. If you want to solve a problem for good, you have to make sure it never comes back."

He raised his hand and slowly drew his index finger across his throat, making a deliberate slitting motion.

The other three exchanged glances. The amusement in their eyes vanished at the same time.

Zander nodded and said, "Simon's making his move. Looks like she's completely done for."

…

After picking up my scholarship money, I walked out of the classroom and called Dad.

"Hey, Dad. School's out for the break."

On the other end of the line, Dad's voice boomed with pure joy. "That's my girl! My precious daughter came in first again. I've already got a huge feast set up for you at home.

"Oh, and it just happens to be your grandpa's 80th birthday. Several of my friends came all the way to celebrate. I'm going to tell everyone that my daughter is a total genius! Haha!"

I was just about to reply when a sudden, excruciating pain shot through the back of my head. My vision went black, and my phone slipped from my limp hand and hit the ground.

In the last second before I lost consciousness, I saw Simon's cold, expressionless face.

He looked down at me as I lay sprawled on the floor, then turned to the men behind him. "Take her away and get rid of her."

Through the cracked phone lying on the floor, Dad's panicked voice blared. "Hello? Sweetheart, why aren't you saying anything? Hello?"

Simon bent down to pick up the phone. He was about to hang up when a sudden thought crossed his mind. He brought the phone to his mouth, a cruel smile curling across his face.

"Are you Daphne's father?" Simon drawled lazily. "Your daughter crossed the wrong person. Tell her to behave if she wants a second chance at life."

The line fell completely silent for a few seconds.

Then Dad's voice dropped. He sounded like a completely different person.

"Who are you? What did you do to my daughter?"

The more Simon listened, the more pleased he felt. He leaned lazily against the car door.

"What can a bunch of losers do to me, even if you know who I am?" Simon taunted.

After a brief pause, he added, "Fine, I'll tell you the truth. Your daughter has fallen into the hands of the Mercer family."

With that, Simon hung up, tossed the phone onto the ground, and ducked into the back seat of the car.

"Drive," he ordered coldly.

The car slowly pulled away from the school gate.

But less than three minutes later, the driver suddenly slammed on the brakes.

Simon had been resting with his eyes closed in the back seat, but the sudden stop threw him forward.

He lifted his head angrily. "What's going on?"

His subordinate in the front seat spoke in a trembling voice. "Mr. Mercer, we can't get through."

Simon looked up, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

100 helicopters hovered over the road ahead, completely sealing off every exit. Rows of men in black rappelled from the helicopters, their faces expressionless as they raised their weapons.

"Everyone, stay where you are. Don't move."