"So what’s the deal with Grace Winslow from the Foreign Languages Department? She was dropped off by a private car. I don’t think we’ve ever had a student that flashy at our school."

"How do you know we don’t? The real heirs and socialites from the capital’s elite circles are all low-key. She’s the one making a big show of it. I don’t even know what she’s showing off. It’s just a car, right? Like nobody else has one?"

"Oh? Does your family have one?"

"No, mine doesn’t."

"Well, Grace Winslow is famous now. That car is a big deal. You could tell just by the license plate. Not just anyone gets to ride in a car like that."

The campus was buzzing with gossip about Grace Winslow and Joanne Chase returning in a private car.

Naturally, the department director heard the rumors as well.

He sent someone to ask around, and the results were astounding: the car belonged to Leon Rhys, the Minister of Diplomacy.

Furthermore, Grace Winslow had interned at the Ministry of Diplomacy during both her summer and winter breaks.

For a first-year student to land an internship at the Ministry of Diplomacy was already a huge deal. But she had gone twice, and the second time, she was personally invited by the Minister himself. She was only there for a few days, but it was enough to show how highly they regarded her.

And now, he had even sent his secretary to personally drive her back to school...

Some things were better left unexamined. Once you started digging, the implications were staggering.

Speculation about Grace Winslow’s family background was already rampant on campus, but now the theories were growing even bolder.

In all of Celestia, there was only one person with the surname Winslow in such a high-ranking position. It was very likely that Grace Winslow was his daughter. If that were the case, then forget the Sinclair and Dalton families—no one could afford to offend her.

The department director, terrified that Claire Dunn might have actually been intimidated by his threats and would remove Grace Winslow’s name from the list, rushed to Claire’s house that very night to find her.

Claire Dunn had already told her husband that she might lose her job.

Patrick had thought it must be something serious to make Claire Dunn so worried, but it was just the small matter of losing her job. He laughed after she finished explaining. "So you quit. So what? It’s not like I can’t support you."

"If you’re worried you’ll be bored at home, I’ll help you figure something out. We can find you another job. Teaching English at a high school wouldn’t be a bad idea. You’d still be a teacher, right?"

"Don’t worry. We don’t have any children, and we’ve built up a decent amount of savings over the years. I can easily support you even if you stay home and don’t work for a few years."

"And if worst comes to worst, a lot of people are going into business for themselves these days, aren’t they? You could always look into starting a small business. There are always more solutions than problems."

Hearing Patrick’s words, the knot of anxiety in Claire Dunn’s chest finally loosened. She leaned against his shoulder. "You don’t blame me? All I had to do was give in and agree to the director’s demands to remove those two students’ names. I could have saved my job."

"If I lose my job, your mother will definitely give you an earful about it. She never liked me to begin with."

"Why do you care what she thinks? You’re not living with my mom; you’re living with me. As long as I don’t mind, that’s all that matters. Why are you always so concerned with other people’s opinions?"

"Claire, you did nothing wrong, so there’s no need to blame yourself. If I were in your shoes, I would have made the exact same choice."

"Since you didn’t do anything wrong, why should you be afraid of what people might say?"

"If my mom says anything, I’ll go talk to her. Don’t you pay her any mind. She just can’t keep her opinions to herself and loves to meddle in everyone’s business."

Claire Dunn sighed. "She already has very strong opinions about our decision not to have children."

"I’m the one who doesn’t like kids; it has nothing to do with you. Besides, my older and younger brothers are both married, right? And they have kids. They can carry on the Dunn family line just fine. We’ll live our own lives; we don’t need her meddling." Patrick shook his head. Seeing Claire Dunn still looked upset, he smiled. "What is it? Still not happy?"

"How about this? If you get really bored, I happen to know a few department heads. There’s a batch of foreign-language documents that needs translating. If you don’t have anything to do, I could recommend you for a job at the Translation Bureau. What do you think?"

Claire Dunn was deeply moved.

She didn’t know what good deeds she had done to deserve such a wonderful man who always put her first.

"Alright. If I really do lose my job, I suppose I’ll have to let you support me," Claire Dunn said with a nod.

The words were barely out of her mouth when there was a knock on the door.

"Who could that be so late?" Patrick wondered, getting up to open the door.

When he saw the department director standing on his doorstep, his expression turned odd. "Well, if it isn’t Director Chase. What brings you to my home so late at night? Are you here to announce my wife’s termination?"

"No, no, not at all! It’s all a misunderstanding. I came to tell Ms. Dunn that everything today was just a big misunderstanding. Since she has already selected Grace Winslow for the exchange program, there’s no need to change it. However, about that other student, Joanne Chase... do you think we could perhaps make a change there?" The director said with a shameless, fawning smile.

Claire Dunn, who had heard his voice and come to the door, was instantly furious. "I am not striking anyone’s name off the list. If you want to fire me, just say it. But I don’t believe you have that authority, do you? You can report this to the university leadership and request my dismissal, but I will not listen to you. If you have nothing else to say, you can leave."

With that, she shut the door in his face, giving him no chance to reply.

The department director stood outside the door, his face a mask of anxiety. ’I can’t offend both the Sinclair and the Dalton families, can I? The university’s development depends on donations from both of them.’

He was sick with worry, but Claire Dunn was utterly unyielding.

There were only four study-abroad spots for the entire second-year class of the Foreign Languages Department. Claire Dunn controlled two of them. The other two had been claimed by students with connections even more powerful than Tina Sinclair and Miles Dalton, so he didn’t dare touch those names.

But soon, he would no longer have to worry about the matter.

The next day, the university issued an announcement: Harvey Chase, Director of the Foreign Languages Department, had been removed from his position on suspicion of accepting bribes from students’ parents.

Meanwhile, Claire Dunn, for her outstanding performance, was promoted to be the new Director of the Foreign Languages Department.

When Harvey Chase heard the news, his vision went black.

He had never imagined that offending a student he’d assumed had no connections would bring his entire career to a halt.

As for Claire Dunn, because she had chosen the right side, her career had just taken a meteoric rise.

When Claire Dunn received the news, her face was a mask of disbelief.

She had been expecting an announcement of her own dismissal.

She had even prepared herself to teach one final class before leaving the university for good.

She never expected such a wonderful surprise to come so suddenly.

She began to cry tears of joy.

The other professors around her rushed to offer their congratulations.

By the time Claire Dunn arrived at her classroom, she was still overcome with emotion.

The students in her class spontaneously burst into applause. "Congratulations on your promotion to department director, Ms. Dunn!"

"Congratulations, Professor!"

Looking out at her students, Claire Dunn’s eyes began to well up.

Her efforts had not been in vain. The students she taught—with a few exceptions—were good, outstanding people.