The Mocked Miss’s Hidden Crowns novel Chapter 1606

As soon as she finished speaking, the whole auditorium went wild. Everyone’s eyes shot straight to Mr. Lane, clearly rattled by the shocking accusation.

What was Karan getting at? Was she saying Dr. Cole and Mr. Lane had helped Shirley cheat? That sounded crazy. Both of them were legends, not just on campus, but in the entire physics world. It was impossible to imagine them cheating right out in the open.

Andrew’s hands were damp as he glanced anxiously at Charlotte. “Charlotte, you…” His voice wobbled.

Charlotte turned to him, her eyes cold and steady. She looked right at him and said, “No.”

“You didn’t leak the questions?” Andrew’s voice was barely above a whisper, and he kept his head down, looking worried. “I knew you wouldn’t do something like that.”

Charlotte gave him a look—it was obvious she thought he was being ridiculous. “I didn’t come up with the questions for the third round,” she said.

Andrew didn’t know what to say to that. So the claim that she leaked the questions to Shirley didn’t even make sense. And Mr. Lane? The man never messed up. He just wouldn’t.

“What are you even talking about?” Shirley couldn’t hold back anymore. Her voice was sharp with anger. “There’s no cheating. We didn’t do anything wrong!”

Karan scoffed and pulled out her phone. She found a saved video, pointed the screen toward the stage, and said, “This is my evidence.”

The video showed Mr. Lane sitting in a lounge, patiently showing Shirley how to use a piece of equipment. Shirley’s brow creased as soon as she saw what it was.

“You—” she started, but Mr. Lane stood up before she could say more, motioning her to be quiet.

“Cheating?” Mr. Lane folded his hands behind his back. His stance was calm, but his face looked a little bit sad. “If you have doubts, then let’s clear them up, one at a time.”

Karan stopped breathing for a second. Meeting Mr. Lane’s eyes made her feel even more anxious, but she tried to keep her cool. Was he really just going to twist things around and protect Shirley, no matter what?

“I want to clarify something in front of everyone here today.” Mr. Lane turned to a gray-haired professor sitting up at the judges’ table and spoke with respect. “He’s the one who wrote the third round questions, not Dr. Cole. So there’s no way a leak could have come from her.”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify