Hiding Behind Her Superficiality

Chapter 58

Chapter 58 Revealing the Truth

Plagiarized?

Recalling Max’s stubborn face and judging from his rebellious character, she couldn’t imagine him to be someone who would plagiarize during an exam.

“Where is he now?” Elspeth walked downstairs and asked.

Blake’s brows were so tightly knitted that even a fly could be crushed to death. “He’s in school now. The teacher just called us, but I have an opening ceremony to rush to now. There’s no way I can postpone it as the consequences will be hard to bear.”

All of a sudden, he thought of an idea. With a torn look, he inquired, “Why don’t… Elspeth, do you mind visiting Max’s school?”

“Me?”

Elspeth never expected Blake to make such a request.

“Yes. I heard that you were the one who helped Max study before his exams. If there is any misunderstanding, you might be of help to him.” Blake’s phone buzzed suddenly, and he glanced at the screen to find an urgent message. While heading out, he asked, “Elspeth, please help me out this time. I will go to you as soon as I finish my work.”

Although she was a little overwhelmed, thinking of what Max might encounter, she decided to take a look at the situation.

When Elspeth arrived at school and reached the principal’s office, she heard Max’s furious voice coming from inside. “I said I wasn’t the one who copied the note. How many times do I have to repeat

myself?”

Elspeth was surprised to hear that. Sure enough, her assumptions were right. Max was probably wronged.

“Max, is this how you talk to our teachers?” The principal was furious as he slammed the table.

With a cold face, Max sneered disdainfully. “I’ve already made it clear. I wasn’t the one who did it. Even if you ask a hundred times, it’s not me.”

The counselor then spoke up, “Max, although you are from the Winthrop Family, your identity is first and foremost a student. No matter how strong your family background is, it cannot cover your wrongdoings.” After hearing that, Elspeth felt ironic. She couldn’t stand it anymore, so she walked in directly.

“Good morning, sir. I heard Max was involved in plagiarism, so I’m here to find out what happened.” Elspeth showed a polite smile, and all three people inside were stunned.

Max was a little surprised. “Elsie, what are you doing here?”

The principal and the counselor naturally knew Elspeth, who was now a household name. After all, she was a public figure, so the principal talked to her politely. “What brings you here, Miss Lynwood? Oh. You must be here for Max. Max has always been a stubborn kid, so I think it’ll be better for you to ask him instead.”

A trace of coldness flashed in Elspeth’s eyes. “Are you sure that Max plagiarized in the exams?”

“Of course. This note was picked up from Max’s desk, and the handwriting is exactly the same as his. More importantly, Max’s good friend, Jacob Reyes, reported the matter to us, so we are quite certain that he did it.”

Elspeth felt something was off when she heard that. “Reported to you? Can I meet that person?”

The counselor immediately asked someone to call Jacob.

Seeing so many people, Jacob began to act pitiful the moment he entered the door. “Miss, sir, what’s happening? Did I do something wrong?”

“Don’t worry too much, Jacob. Just repeat what you said about Max’s plagiarism in detail.”

The counselor gave Jacob a comforting look, signaling him not to be afraid, but to speak out boldly.

After gulping, Jacob started explaining, “Well, I thought Max was behaving strangely this afternoon, so I paid special attention to him and was surprised to find him writing cheat sheets. I was tormented inside because as his good friend, I thought I should help him get rid of this bad habit, and also for the sake of the fairness of exams, I took the cheat sheet and submitted it to the teacher.”

After hearing that, Max yelled at him directly, “Jacob, I have been friends with you for so long. Is this how you’re going to frame me?”

“I didn’t frame you. Admit your mistakes. Plagiarism is wrong.” Jacob looked regretful, and seeing Max’s ferocious expression, he shrugged in fright.

“That’s enough, Max. Don’t try to deny it anymore. Jacob is your friend. His words are credible!” The principal was almost certain of his decision. “Max plagiarized without repentance, so after unanimous discussion among the teachers, we’ve decided to expel him.”

After saying that, the headmaster glanced at Elspeth and uttered with a smile, “I’m sorry, Miss Lynwood. He’s going to be a bad influence on other students, so I can only resort to this.”

“Wait a minute, isn’t it too early to draw conclusions like this?”

The principal asked suspiciously, “Why? Do you have any insights on this?”

“Sir, here’s the thing. I was the one who helped Max in his revision for the exams, so I doubt that he will resort to plagiarism.”

After hearing that, the principal smiled helplessly. “Miss Lynwood, that’s not it. You should know—”

“If you think that can’t work, just make Max take the test on the spot. You should have backup test papers, don’t you?”

The principal was taken aback as if he didn’t understand the situation.

After listening to Elspeth’s sentence, the counselor replied, “Indeed, there are. The exam is divided into Paper A and Paper B. Paper A has been used, but paper B is slightly more difficult…”

“Take it out and let him sit for it,” Elspeth said without hesitation.

The principal smiled. “Sure. If we make him drop out fair and square, others won’t talk behind our backs.”

With that, the teacher took out the exam paper and placed it before Max. “This set of paper is more difficult, so I’ll give you 150 minutes, an extra half an hour.”

Max pushed it away coldly. “I won’t do it.”

Elspeth frowned. “Do it.”

“Elsie, I did not even plagiarize in my exam. How can they make me do it again?” Max was annoyed this time, so he sounded harsher.

In response, she chuckled. “Just do it and leave the rest up to me.”

Seeing her gentle smile, Max calmed down somehow. “Fine. I’ll do it.”

While Max was working on the paper, the others waited quietly. An hour and a half later, Max closed the pen cap and handed the paper to the principal.

When the principal marked the paper, his jaw dropped in shock. “Did this test paper get leaked out? Why did you only get one fill-in-the-blank question wrong?”

The counselor didn’t believe it either, so he took the test paper and checked the answer carefully while murmuring, “This is impossible… The students don’t even know that there is a Paper B.”

“Now that Max’s level can be proven, let’s talk about Jacob next.”

When he was suddenly being cued, Jacob trembled. “I have nothing to say. Maybe he lucked out this time and got the right answers…” Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Elspeth sneered, “Seems like Max made a really good friend.”