A Familiar Figure

Standing in the dimly lit stairwell, Jace threw his hands up defensively. He took a step back, shaking his head. "Don't worry, Boss. I swear I didn't expose you," Jace assured her. He patted his chest to swear on his life. "Rest assured and please continue your disguise in peace. They have nothing."

Evangeline studied his face for a few seconds before nodding. She accepted his word. "Let's keep in touch on the phone from now on," she reminded him. She stepped closer to secure her fragile cover. "The Vanes will be suspicious if they ever see you hanging around me."

"Understood," Jace whispered. Right after he offered a quick salute and hurried away down the concrete stairs, Evangeline turned the corner to head back to class.

She nearly ran headlong into Finley. She jolted, her pulse spiking as she clutched the heavy math documents to her chest. Managing to calm her racing heart just in the nick of time, she dropped her shoulders and lowered her gaze. She slipped back into her meek persona and quietly walked past him without saying a word.

Later that evening, Evangeline sat at her bedroom desk under the glow of a small lamp. She pulled out the thick stack of Math Olympiad materials Jace had provided and began reviewing the dense pages. As she scanned the complex equations and geometry proofs, a wry smile touched her lips. She realized she had overestimated this elite school's academic standards. The so-called advanced questions were simple to her genius mind. She shoved the packet into her desk drawer. She didn't need to worry about this competition at all.

During the week-long Olympiad tutoring sessions held after school, the classroom dynamic shifted. A popular girl named Tessa used studying as a thin excuse to approach Finley. She would lean over his desk with her practice sheets, batting her eyelashes and asking for his guidance. However, Finley publicly rejected her every single time. He crossed his arms, leaned back in his chair, and coldly told her to figure the equations out herself.

When the actual competition began, the student body buzzed with anticipation. Everyone in the school assumed Tessa, last year's champion, would claim victory once again. Whispers in the hallways confirmed they expected a boring repeat of last year's results.

Evangeline desired nothing more than to maintain a low profile and avoid further scrutiny. Navigating the test paper took mere minutes. She breezed through the algebraic formulas and complex calculus that left the other students scratching their heads. When she reached the final, highest-scoring question at the bottom of the page, she deliberately left the space blank. She needed to lose crucial marks to stay out of the spotlight.

To her profound dismay, when the final results were posted on the main bulletin board, she still managed to place first by a landslide. Her unexpected victory stunned the entire school. Nobody expected a supposedly uneducated girl from the countryside to eclipse their reigning top student. Tessa's jealousy flared, her pristine reputation shattered in a single afternoon. Thrilled to his core by discovering such a rare prodigy, her math teacher boasted to the principal. The administration hastily arranged a special, publicized grand award ceremony in Evangeline's exclusive honor.

At the award ceremony, Evangeline sat on the wooden chairs lined across the stage. She suffered through over an hour of tedious speeches from the senior faculty. The principal droned on about Veridale's academic future. Finally, she was invited to step up to the podium.

"Let us welcome our champion of the Math Olympiad—Evangeline Ashford."

The eager applause of the student body dissolved into loud, disappointed murmurs. They craned their necks to see the legendary top scorer, only to get a clear look at her heavily disguised appearance. They saw an ugly girl with a dark, uneven complexion, thick framed glasses, and an atrocious, hunched posture. They judged her in silence, shaking their heads in disappointment as they assumed she only cared about books and nothing else.

Unbothered by their shallow judgment, Evangeline stepped up to the microphone. She adjusted the stand, preparing to recite her rehearsed script.

Suddenly, her breath hitched in her throat. She spotted a tall, imposing, and familiar figure standing quietly in the back of the auditorium audience.

*Why in the world is Dominic here?* she wondered in a panic. She had only expected Grandpa Jeremiah to attend such a mundane school function. She gripped the edges of the wooden podium and blinked hard.

In a fraction of a second, the striking figure was gone.

Evangeline exhaled a steady breath. She dismissed the sight as a mere hallucination brought on by two days of exhausting math exercises. Regaining her iron composure, she leaned into the microphone. She delivered her speech with shocking fluency and commanding confidence. She never stumbled over a single word.

Yet, it was no hallucination.

Standing hidden within the shadowy crowd near the heavy auditorium doors, Dominic had zoned out. He stared fixedly at the eloquent woman commanding the stage. His dark eyes tracked her every movement. This hunched, dark-skinned girl carried an undeniable aura when she spoke. Her poise and clear diction were a stark contrast to the meek, stuttering persona she usually projected around the Vane mansion.

As soon as her speech officially concluded and the polite applause began to ripple through the hall, he didn't linger for a single second longer. Dominic turned sharply on his heel and quietly walked away into the shadows.