Reborn as the Villainess

Chapter 18

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Eleanor couldn't help but roll her eyes at Liam's dramatic speech. An alliance? War buddies? Deserters? What on earth is he talking about? she mentally sighed, feeling too exhausted to even address his wild imagination.

Liam leaned in, lowering his voice as if about to share the secret of the century. "Boss, you wouldn't believe it. After you totally roasted Stephen and walked out like a queen last night, he was left in the living room looking all depressed. Can you imagine? So I made a vow.

I need to learn your ways, your aura, make Stephen my loyal follower, and then, boom, I'm on top of the world. But Oscar says your skills can only be felt, not taught. So I've decided that, from now on. I'll stick to you like glue. Absorb your genius. Wherever you go, I'll follow. Fly high, boss, I'll be the wind beneath your wings.

Speechless, Eleanor massaged her forehead beneath her heavy bangs, sighing internally. "I'm really not that impressive. I was just telling the truth last night, that's all," she said.

But Liam was having none of it. "Boss, you're way too humble. I mean, look at you. Even though, let's face it, you're not exactly... easy on the eyes, you've still got Stephen tripping over himself for you. That alone puts you ahead of 99.99% of all women in the country. Eleanor was officially done. She had no words left. 'Why am I even trying with this guy? Liam should be grateful that his last name is Lloyd. If it were anything else, someone probably would have knocked him out by now,"

As if on cue, the blessed sound of the school bell rang, which was like music to Eleanor's ears. She let out a sigh of relief. "At last, some peace.This content provided by N(o)velDrama].[Org.

The classroom door swung open, and their teacher, Betty, walked in with a stern look on her face. She dropped her books. onto the desk with a loud thud that echoed through the room. "Quiet down, everyone. Before we start the lesson, there's, something I need to address."

The students instantly fell silent, pens freezing mid-air, all eyes snapping toward the front.

Benry's cold gaze swept across the room, pausing brielly on Eleanor by the window. Her eyes narrowed as she rolled her eyes. at Eleanor before speaking again, Today, I received an anonymous letter of complaint.

"It accuses a certain student in this class of being unworthy of their place in Class A-not due to their academic abilities, but through underhanded means, I won't name names, but I'm sure we all know who I'm talking about."

A ripple of whispers washed through the room, and Eleanor could feel the weight of every gaze landing squarely on her. Ignoring them was nearly impossible. She raised an eyebrow, staying silent. 'Let's see what Miss Mille will do with this, she thought, her curiosity piqued.

As expected, Betty continued, her voice taking on a formal, no-nonsense tone, "Since this issue has clearly disrupted the learning environment of Class A and tarnished Aloria High School's reputation, I've made a request to the administration.

"If this student can score the class average-680 points-on the upcoming exam, she will stay in Class A. LE she falls short, she will be dismissed. No exceptions. No favoritism"

The room exploded. No one had expected that someone would actually go as far as writing a letter of complaint and they all thought that whoever did it had guts.

One student muttered, "There's no way she can raise her score by 80 points in just two days before the mock exam Eleanor's done for

Another snickered, "Kicked out as soon as she got here? What a disgrace to the Vanderbilt family,"

Someone else whispered, "Shh, keep your voice down. Felix is sitting right there."

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Yet another voice chimed in, "What's the big deal? Felix already has said he doesn't even acknowledge Eleanor as his sister. He only claims Gloria who's gorgeous and sweet. I mean, who wouldn't choose her?"

At that, Felix's grip on his pen tightened dangerously. Then the plastic snapped in his fist, leaving a jagged fissure down its length. His expression darkened.

Sure, I've said some things about Eleanor, Felix thought, his jaw clenched. But that's family business. What right do these idiots have to butt in:

He was about to stand up and say something when, to his surprise, another voice cut through the tension first.

"Miss Mille, don't you think that's a bit unfair?" Liam stood up, his voice booming with confidence. "Every institution has its rules, and if Eleanor passed the evaluation and even got a special recommendation from Mr. Evans to join Class A, doesn't that prove she has what it takes? What right do you have to deny her?"

Standing tall and looking effortlessly handsome, Liam exuded an air of authority that made him, for a fleeting second, resemble Stephen.

Eleanor caught herself mid-thought, startled "Wait, why the heck am I thinking about Stephen?' She quickly shook her head to clear the image from her mind.

Betty, standing at the front of the room, hadn't expected Liam to defend Eleanor, let alone challenge her in front of the whole class. Her face darkened as she felt her authority slip.

She opened her mouth, ready to snap back, but then remembered Liam's stellar grades, his family name-Lloyd-and the influence that came with it. With a forced calm, she swallowed her anger. "But that goes against the principles of fairness. If everyone got in through such... backdoor methods, wouldn't that be a slap in the face to the students who worked hard to earn their place?" Her words hit a nerve with several students, who nodded in agreement. Betty had managed to pull the class to her side.

Liam, however, remained unmoved. Without missing a beat, he shot back, "Let's set aside whether the letter is even real or just some prank. You talk about fairness, but have you upheld it? Fairness means treating everyone with equal respect and without bias. *But here you are, brandishing an unverified complaint like it's some kind of sword of justice. Is that your idea of fairness. Miss Mille? As a teacher, don't you think you're the one being unfair?"

"How dare you... Betty's face turned an angry shade of red, her hand trembling as she pointed at Liam, breathing heavily. clearly too furious to form a coherent response.

Liam, ever the dramatic one, rolled his eyes. He looked over at Eleanor with a smug grin, practically glowing with self-satisfaction. "Don't worry, boss. I got your back." Eleanor sighed, glancing at Betty, who still seemed one breath away from fainting.

Worried she might actually pass out, Eleanor slowly stood up, her voice icy and composed. "Miss Mille, if you doubt me, I'll let my scores do the talking. You said I needed to score 680 to stay in Class A, and you also told me that if I scored 700, I could be the prefect. I hope you'll stick to your word."

Betty's slowly regained her composure, placing a hand over her chest as she exhaled sharply. "Of course," she spat, her voice dripping with disdain.

Eleanor gave a faint, knowing smile before sitting back down. She had spent the past few days intensely reviewing her weakest subject, English Language Arts, and felt confident. With two more days to brush up on writing, she felt she had things under control. Scoring 750 might be a stretch for her, but 700 was well within reach.

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Chapter 18

The two days flew by, and soon, exam day arrived. Meanwhile, the scandal on the school's online forum continued to spread like wildfire. With Eleanor refusing to comment or defend herself, the rumors spiraled even further out of control. It got so bad that even Andrew, busy at work, caught wind of it.

Furious, Andrew had contacted the forum administrators, determined to track down the person responsible for spreading the lies. But Eleanor had stopped him in his tracks.

Using connections to squash the rumors would only cement her image as a spoiled rich kid, and that wasn't going to help her in the long run. Besides, there were no real advantages to proving her wealth in this way. It would only make things

worse.