After saying that, his face turned even more solemn. “Why else are you looking for me, then?” “Elise Sinclair,” he uttered, deepening the tone of his voice while maintaining his anger. “Am I not worthy of your trust in your heart?” “It’s not like that.” Previously, she wanted to avoid the marriage agreement, so she chose to keep many things in the dark. But after that, slowly through their interactions, she fell for Alexander as well. At that moment, a small crowd was starting to build up outside the venue. Looking at the man’s grim face, Elise whispered, “Alexander Griffith, I promised Professor Merlin that I’d attend the ceremony tonight. Can I speak with you later?” However, it was as though Alexander didn’t hear a thing she said, and he just stood there without a reply.
Then, she grabbed his hand directly and placed the phone on his palm. “Professor Merlin told me about this ceremony at the last moment, and I planned to return your phone personally. Alex, I just wanted to avoid the marriage agreement at first, but trust me—I’ve never planned to keep hiding things from you. Would you like to attend the ceremony together with me now?” Softly, he grunted in reply and grabbed her hand, leading her into the event hall. By the time they were inside, everyone else was already there, and the host was on the stage announcing the ten award winners, starting from the tenth place.
Elise didn’t know anyone that was mentioned, until the host reached the seventh place—Janice Garcia. Receiving an award on the same stage as her was the last thing Elise wanted, and she thought, Just my luck! I really shouldn’t have turned soft-hearted and agreed to Professor Merlin’s invitation to this ceremony. After Janice got off the stage, Elise glanced at her from the corners of her eyes, but saw that she was walking toward a man, and that man was none other than Faye’s fiancé, Johan Olson! They know each other?! While she was still in bewilderment over the fact that Janice and Johan knew each other, the host announced the first place, and the spotlight was on her. Without any questions, she became the focus of all eyes.
And Alexander was also exposed in front of everyone without so much as a warning! Seated at the audience seat, he was dressed in a black suit, knees above each other with his hands stacked on top of them leisurely, looking casual and domineering at the same time. Stunned, everyone didn’t think that Alexander cared that much about Elise. However, Elise also became a subject of Janice’s jealousy. Why is she attending an academic ceremony like this when she has such an awesome fiancé? Did she really obtain the first place with her own abilities? “I’ve seen people bringing their families to receive an award, but I’ve not seen anyone bringing their backers.” “Exactly! Everyone knows your fiancé is Alexander Griffith, and while there’s nothing we can say about the fact that you have the Griffith Family as your backer, there’s no need for you to be so pompous about it.”
“What do you guys mean by this? Are you implying that Elise got the first place because her fiancé bought the position for her?” Addison stood up in a huff, feeling unjust. However, someone immediately argued, “The rich have done no less of things like this.” “Nonsense! The Mathematical Olympiad is strictly invigilated, and there are surveillance cameras as well. Are you people questioning the lack of strict proctoring?”
“I don’t care if you guys don’t believe me, but I won’t allow you to tarnish my reputation like this.” There was no way that Elise would allow people to ruin her name this way. She had no regard for an Olympiad such as this, and after agreeing to Professor Merlin, she had planned to attend this ceremony quietly and leave after receiving the award.
However, these people were simply too idle and picking a fight with her out of nothing. “If you really want to stop the rumors, then prove it to us! President Griffith is here, and his family is so influential. How can we be sure that you didn’t use the back door or a special access?” Janice argued in anger. Her words made Elise knot her brows, and she sprang up, but Alexander quickly grabbed her hand to stop her. The next second, he stood up as well and placed her behind himself. “Who are you to question my woman?” he asked, scanning across the room with razor-like eyes. In other words, he was saying that it was not up to an insignificant person to prove her abilities. In spite of that, there were many people in the hall, and they became daring because of that.
“If she didn’t use your relations to get this award, then prove it to us in front of everyone! I have a trial question here, which is a question by a renowned mathematician in the country. If you can solve it, I’ll bow down to you and apologize.” After saying that, Janice whisked out her cell phone and showed the question. Step by step, she paced toward Elise, and after Elise saw the question, she smirked in indifference.
This was a question she had solved when she was ten. “I’m not solving this question—” “I think you don’t have the guts to!” Not knowing the reason behind Elise’s refusal, Janice ignited the fire on herself. In response, Elise sneered, “It’s got nothing to do with guts. I’ve solved this question before, and it will be unfair if I solve it again. Everything I do is based on my interest, so there’s no need to prove anything to anyone.”
Tonight, she was here because of Professor Merlin’s invitation, and she didn’t want to blow things up. “It just looks to me that you’re having chicken feet and spouting nonsense in this hall. Anyway, I won’t acknowledge that you got the first place!”
