Just as the old professor was about to leave, Yolanda rushed to ask, âHas the admission score of Summerfield College gone up?â
The professorâs gaze landed back on Yolanda, a hint of annoyance in his eyes. âI heard you won an award in a major piano competition by plagiarizing. No matter your score, our school wonât accept a student with bad character.â
The other university professors were all surprised. They had always thought of Yolanda as a polite and refined student. They couldnât believe she would plagiarize to win an award. It was absolutely unacceptable!
Yolandaâs face turned pale instantly.
Another admissions officer also said, âAlthough our admission score this year is 600 points, we also donât accept students with bad character.â
âWe are the same.â
âDonât even think about getting into our school. Even if you apply, we wonât accept students with character issues. Our principal attaches great importance to studentsâ character.â
âOur principal does too.â
Hearing the teachers from these top universities express their rejection one after another, Yolandaâs face turned even paler, and she could barely stand.
Attlee was shocked, only understanding what had happened after they had left.
And when Olga saw the nanny still filming, she snapped angrily, âWhat are you still filming for? Havenât we been humiliated enough?â
The neighbours enjoyed the spectacle, especially Fiona Bishop, who had previously tried to sign a contract with them. She was clearly enjoying their discomfort. Olgaâs face was burning. She pulled Yolanda and whispered, to the others, âGet inside the house now.â
They all hurried into the house and locked the door.
âHow could Arabella possibly be the top scorer of the college entrance exam? She must have cheated!
Iâm going to report her! What makes her qualified?â Olga paced anxiously around the living room.
Before anyone else could speak, Olga angrily said, âIt must be her. She must have leaked what happened at the awards ceremony. How else would the teachers from these top universities know what happened that day? Donât forget that the awards ceremony was not public!â
As she said this, Olga wished she could strangle Arabella.
âThereâs no such thing as a perfectly kept secret! I donât think it was Arabella who spilt the beans. Attlee sat on the couch, his earlier confidence and arrogance gone.
Yolanda was also upset. Her dad still trusted Arabella so much. If it wasnât Arabella who leaked it, then who was it?
âHow do you know it wasnât her? You always take her side!â Olga stomped her foot in frustration. âYou and your mom are fooled by that girl!â
âIf Arabella really did tell the professor from Summerfield College, it would mean they knew each other.
But that professor clearly didnât know Arabella. He even mistook Yoli for the top scorer of this yearâs college entrance exam!â
Everyone listened and thought his reasoning made sense.
âMaybe she told the professor over the phone, so he didnât know what she looked like?â Olga suggested.
âThe point now is not who leaked the news!â Attlee corrected angrily. âThe point is, Yoli was rejected by those famous universities at the same time. How will the neighbours view this? Can we still choose those universities in the university town when we apply to college in the future? If not, she will be so far from Zachary. What if Zachary is attracted by other girls? Then what about Yoli?â
âYouâre right.â Olga quieted down, starting to think of a solution.
âStop blaming everything on Arabella. If you hadnât done such a drastic thing before, we could have also been proud of Arabella for being the top scorer in the college entrance exam.â
âAnd before that, if we hadnât made our relationship with her so bad, even if Yoli plagiarized Arabellaâs work, Arabella wouldnât have been so strict. Now she wants us to compensate for the loss and cut ties with us.â
âAnd before that, she knew Dylan. She might have been able to help us establish a good relationship with Allbara Investment.â
âAll these good connections, you ruined them all!â