Chapter 39 The Fall of Naomi
After all, aside from the last monthly exam, Eliza’s performance had always been inconsistent.
“Teacher. what about Naomi?” Zayden suddenly asked, realizing her name was nowhere among the award recipients.
Not even once.
At the mention of Naomi, the homeroom teacher sighed, clearly frustrated. “She failed the exam.
Zayden froze.
“Naomi? Failed? That can’t be right. There must be a mistake.”
Naomi had always had good grades. Even if her last exam wasn’t great, failing outright seemed impossible.
“I haven’t received the original test paper yet, but I do have a photo of it.”
The teacher then pulled up a photo of the test and handed it to Zayden. “See for yourself. Also, please tell Naomi to come to Jmy office. I need to speak with her.”
Zayden glanced at the photo.
Most of the paper was blank. The large problems in the back hadn’t even been touched.
Suddenly, a memory surfaced: Naomi’s practice book. It had been completely blank too.
She’d explained it by saying she had already finished a whole workbook and was using the new one just for review.
At the time, he hadn’t thought much of it.
But now if she’d really done that much work, why had he never once seen her solve a single problem?
Eliza, on the other hand.
Zayden fell into deep thought
He left the office silently, but not before casting a long glance at Eliza.
From the dark, conflicted look in his eyes, Eliza could tell: Zaydeh was starting to suspect Naomi.
But to her, that didn’t matter anymore.
She turned and walked away.
Naomi, it’s your turn to explain all those tests I took for you.
Class 1.
Zayden stood at the door.
Naomi lit up when she saw him and rushed over to ask why he’d gone to the office, but Zayden spoke first.
“The math competition results are out. Want to know your score?”
Her smile froze.
“Sixty–three,” he said flatly. “I didn’t expect this from you.”
Naomi paled. “Zayden, I…”
“You didn’t take the last few monthly exams yourself, did you?”
Zayden’s eyes were cold, his voice even colder.
It was impossible for anyone’s performance to drop this drastically in just one month.
It didn’t add up.
And he remembered how, on the way to the math competition, Naomi had boasted she was sure she’d win an award.
She’d been so confident.
Yet she failed
Even a teacher would get suspicious, let alone him.
“I.. I just didn’t go to the prep class, so I wasn’t familiar with the test format…”
“And the last monthly exam?”
Zayden pressed on. “You barely passed, and that test was way easier than the ones before. How did you even manage that?”
Naomi’s expression grew more panicked by the second.
Or… were you letting Eliza take your exams this whole time?”
Zayden didn’t want to believe it.
He couldn’t imagine that sweet, kind Naomi would ever use her sister like that.
“Zayden, it’s not what you think! Let me explain-!”
“I don’t want to hear it. Save your explanation for the teacher.”
Naomi felt her legs weaken.
Zayden didn’t say another word. He just turned and walked back to his seat.
The rest of the class didn’t know what had happened–until a student appeared at the door.
“Naomi, the homeroom teacher wants to see you in the office.”
Naomi stood frozen in place.
Zayden didn’t speak up for her. He simply kept his head down, quietly working on his assignments.
With no other choice, Naomi dragged herself to the office.
By the end of the day, the whole school had heard: Naomi hadn’t placed in the math competition.
Even worse—she had failed the test.
And by Class I’s strict merit–based policy, Naomi’s score would need to be reassessed.
If she couldn’t meet the standard, she’d be kicked out of Class 1.
“My daughter? Failing? That’s impossible!”
Evelyn had come storming into the office after receiving the teacher’s call.
No matter how the homeroom teacher tried to explain it, Evelyn refused to believe that Naomi had failed the city–level math competition.
After all, Naomi had always been raised with strict tutoring and private lessons. Her grades had always been solid.
Never in her life had she failed anything.
