“Another set of zeroes?!”
“It must be a system issue. Unless they were caught cheating, scores would never be invalidated like this. And now we’ve got two zero scorers at once?”
“If the scores are real, then the ex–wife just won the first two rounds!”
Jade looked as if the ground had vanished beneath her. She didn’t even notice Hayden fuming beside her. She just kept mumbling, “No… No, it can’t be… How could this happen?”
Watching her unravel, I couldn’t help the cold smile that crept across my lips.
She thought she could trade her daughter’s two hundred score for my daughter’s seven hundred plus.}
But she never imagined this would be the outcome.
What’s wrong?”
Already breaking down?
But the real show had only just begun.
Just like Jade, my daughter was struggling to process what had happened. Her eyes were full of confusion and self–doubt as she whispered, “How could I get a zero? I worked so hard on every question. I even checked my answers multiple times. How could it be zero…?”
“Did I write the wrong exam number? Or misspell my name? Mom, does this mean the last three years were for nothing?”
Her voice trembled and cracked, barely getting the words out.
I pulled her into my arms and whispered gently, “Test scores aren’t the only measure of a person, sweetheart. You must believe in who you know yourself to be.”
“And I believe in you too. Even if the score says zero, my daughter can still get into her dream school, Stanford or Harvard. Don’t forget what we talked about.“>
I leaned in and whispered something in her ear.
The gloom in her eyes slowly gave way to a glimmer of light.”
In contrast to Jade’s flustered appearance, Vivian was still clinging to hope–perhaps out of logic, or desperation.
“Dad! This has to be a system error. It has to be! There’s no way this is my real score!”
“Mom, hurry–get someone to check it. Something must’ve gone wrong!“>
Her words seemed to snap Jade back to reality. She quickly pulled out her phone and dialed.
“Hello, Professor Shane? Vivian’s results came out, but it says zero for everything. You know her performance best, and we took the exam very seriously. It’s just not possible. Could you please check what’s going on?”
“Yes… there’s another student with the same result. Uh–huh… okay.“}]
She hadn’t put the call on speaker, so we couldn’t hear the other side.
But we could see her face getting darker and darker as the call continued until she finally hung up.
“Hayden,” she said, turning to her husband, “the teacher said if Vivian followed procedure and there were no major errors, then someone must’ve tampered with her results.”
She glanced at me meaningfully.@
“With how advanced tech is these days, it’s not impossible for someone to hire a hacker to breach the scoring system. I demand a manual re–check!”
Oh? So now I’m a criminal mastermind hacking into the national exam system?}
She really thought America’s cybersecurity was just for show–especially when it comes to something as sensitive as college entrance
exam scores.
Hayden frowned. “You really think the score’s wrong? Do you have any idea how difficult it is to request a re–check? Even if I pull some strings, there are risks involved.“}
“And what if the re–check proves the score was correct? Do you understand the consequences?“}
But Jade, now clinging to her last thread of hope, was unshaken.
“I’m sure,” she said firmly.”
After a few moments of silent calculation, Hayden reluctantly nodded and stepped aside to make some calls.&
Then, as if remembering something, Jade turned back toward me.!!
“Didn’t Perrie also doubt her score? Why not re–check her paper too? I’m sure she didn’t truly score zero either.”
I immediately refused.”
“No need. I have no doubts about her score.”
But the more firmly I refused, the more Jade believed I was afraid.
“Gwen, just because you don’t want the papers re–checked doesn’t mean your daughter agrees. And this involves a major bet. We have to be cautious. Don’t you agree, Hayden?”
My daughter, now calm after our whispered conversation, no longer cared much about the numbers.
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“No need. I have no doubts about her score.”
But the more firmly I refused, the more Jade believed I was afraid.
“Gwen, just because you don’t want the papers re–checked doesn’t mean your daughter agrees. And this involves a major bet. We have to be cautious. Don’t you agree, Hayden?”
My daughter, now calm after our whispered conversation, no longer cared much about the numbers.
Hayden clearly wasn’t thrilled either. Re–checking one student’s paper was already a headache–but two?>
Still, with so much money on the line, he had no choice. He stepped outside to make more calls.
And since they clearly weren’t going to back down, I didn’t bother arguing further.
After all, I wasn’t spending money or pulling strings.
just had to sit back and enjoy the show.
