Chapter 14

Returning to her classroom, Madelyn surveyed the familiar yet foreign faces of her classmates, able to name only a few. The bell signaling the beginning of class rang out, and Madelyn hastily resumed her seat, guided by memory. Just as she was about to set down her backpack, she noticed several students glancing her way, murmuring among themselves.

“That’s Forrest Arnold’s seat. She’s got some guts sitting there.”

“She was on sick leave for a few days. Did she go mad or something?”

‘What? Forrest?’ Madelyn looked at the clean, book-less desk in front of her, immediately standing up. ‘How can this be Forrest’s seat? I’ve always been in the second-to-last row. Am I not?’

As if by some cruel twist of fate, there stood Forrest at the entrance, clad in an untidy school uniform, his tie loosely done. He held his bag in one hand and stared defiantly at Madelyn. He clicked his tongue against his back teeth, his eyes icy cold. His stare alone was enough to give Madelyn goosebumps. Right behind him were his faithful sidekicks, Timothy Johnson and Adrian Mitchell.

Forrest, her sworn enemy, was the school bully that no one dared to mess with, dominating the school in his own bullish manner. Madelyn rarely had any interaction with him. But when she did, it was always because Forrest had a bone to pick with her. No specific reason, just that he simply disliked her. Yes, that was it—he simply disliked her.

Catching sight of Serena’s pointed indication—second desk from the window in the first row—Madelyn finally realized that the seating had been rearranged during her leave. Wincing at her mistake, she quietly slid into her actual seat. Forrest was a notorious jerk, known for his violent temper. He approached his own desk, kicked it with a swift stroke, sending it toppling into the corner. Even the metal stool was not spared, its leg bent inward from the force of the kick. The loud crash startled everyone in the class, a few unfortunate souls near the scene flinching from the commotion.

“Forry, you just got to school. Where are you off to now?”

Adrian slapped Timothy’s shoulder. “Where else? He just doesn’t want to see her.”

Timothy approached Madelyn’s desk, giving her stool a kick. “Madelyn, why couldn’t you just stay home? Why’d you have to come and be an eyesore? Once I graduate, I’ll be the first to investigate the Jent family. Just wait, you’ll end up spending the rest of your life in prison with your bumpkin dad.” He adjusted his tie smugly after his pronouncement.

Madelyn lifted her beautiful, sparkling eyes to scrutinize the two.

The reason Timothy could strut around so brazenly in front of her was because his father was the chief of the National Investigative Bureau, a man so incorruptible that even Hayson was helpless against him. Over the years, the Johnson family had been hounding Hayson relentlessly, ready to bring him down the instant they found a grip on him. As for Adrian, he hailed from a renowned legal family. His father was one of the most internationally authoritative judges, and his mother was a pioneer of the legal industry and a globally recognized attorney. These two were Madelyn’s natural nemeses.

Faced with Timothy’s rage, Madelyn’s expression did not waver in the least; instead, she nodded in approval. “Well said, such ambition! I too think Hayson is a scumbag, and I’m rooting for you. Push yourself to rise to the challenge and take him down!”

Timothy blinked, his face turning dark with anger as he pointed at Madelyn, speechless for a moment. Seeing that Forrest had nearly disappeared, Adrian quickly grabbed the miffed Timothy and hurried to catch up with Forrest. These three were notorious for skipping classes, and the teachers were helpless. Even parental involvement rarely solved anything. Therefore, the teacher turned a blind eye to students who disliked attending classes. After all, this class was considered the lowest performing among the six classes in the senior year. The students were distributed across these classes based on their academic performance, with each class consisting of 30 students. Notably, Class One stood out as the class comprising exclusively of elite students.

In her past life, Madelyn truly had no idea where Forrest’s abhorrent attitude toward her originated. From the start of the school year till now, she had always refrained from provoking others. If someone provoked her for no reason, she would not hesitate to give them a taste of their own medicine. She had a fiery temper, equally as bad as Forrest’s. But the Madelyn of now was a far cry from the past. She had shed her irritable nature and her prickliness was long gone.

The first class of the day was mathematics. Shuffling through the pile of math papers in her desk, Madelyn pulled out a test paper scored only eight out of a total of a hundred and twenty points.

‘Well, I really scraped the bottom there.’

Upon a retrospective glance at the paper, she found the problems were not that difficult. She realized she could actually solve many of them with ease.

Madelyn pulled out a red pen and started working through the incorrect problems one by one on a piece of scratch paper. Then she filled in the correct answers. Her gaze unintentionally landed on the toppled, unattended desk scattered with books and thought, ‘There’s still one chance to switch classes this semester. Let’s see if I can get good grades in the final exam and change classes.’

When it came to college entrance exams, she already had a university in mind.