I Returned to the Day He Brought His First Love Home-Chapter 148: Falsified College Entrance Exam Scores?
"You!" Pearl Thorne was so furious she almost spat blood.
"Pearl Thorne, how can you be so shameless? You’re the one who deliberately threw away the notebook the professor gave to Grace Winslow, which made her miss the class time and an important lecture. How do you have the nerve to stand here and say Grace framed you?" At this point, the other students in the class couldn’t help but speak up for Grace.
"Exactly. She’s utterly shameless. Dressing like that every day, who knows who she’s trying to seduce. And now she’s trying to harm people. Get out of our class."
"How did someone like her even get into university? They should investigate her. She probably assumed someone else’s identity to get in."
The students all chimed in, one after another. Their words made Pearl Thorne’s face turn deathly pale. She covered her face and ran out in tears.
Grace Winslow looked away and went back to her book.
That very day, many people wrote letters reporting Pearl Thorne, suggesting she might have assumed someone else’s identity to get into Crestwood University and demanding a thorough investigation from the school.
A few of them even reported her using their real names.
The university administration took this matter very seriously. Besides, Vincent Holland had already assigned someone to find out who wrote the letter reporting Grace Winslow. One look at the handwriting was all it took to recognize it as Pearl Thorne’s.
"This Pearl Thorne, where is she from? Go investigate. If there’s really a problem, if she assumed someone’s identity, expel her." Vincent Holland despised people who schemed behind others’ backs, so he showed no mercy.
But in this era, investigating someone wasn’t so simple.
Records weren’t shared between institutions, making investigations difficult.
Upon hearing this, Maloney Hughes left to get started.
Pearl Thorne’s admission file showed that she was from a town near Coronet, not too far away.
Maloney Hughes happened to have no plans for the weekend, so he drove over to investigate.
Had he not gone, he never would have known. But the trip truly did uncover a major scandal.
Pearl Thorne’s college entrance exam scores were indeed fake.
She had paid someone to take the exam for her.
And the person who took the exam for her was none other than the woman her brother had married—a "sent-down youth" who had been dispatched to the countryside years ago.
Marvin Thorne treated his wife horribly, constantly beating and cursing her. Not long ago, he had even caused her to have a miscarriage. Now, she was barely clinging to life.
As for the proxy exam, it was practically an open secret.
All of Pearl Thorne’s former classmates knew her grades had always been poor; she was always at the bottom of the class. So when she suddenly got such a high score on the college entrance exam and was admitted to Crestwood University, who wouldn’t be suspicious?
Pearl Thorne herself had even bragged to her close friends that it only cost her two yuan to get her sister-in-law to take the college entrance exam for her.
She even boasted about the various ways her sister-in-law was abused and tortured at home.
Maloney Hughes felt a chill run down his spine as he listened. He couldn’t believe such dark things were actually happening.
He secretly glanced at the woman being tormented by the Thorne family. She was all skin and bones, her eyes were vacant, and she had lost all will to live. It looked like she might try to take her own life at any moment.
He didn’t dare to delay. He immediately drove back to Coronet and told Vincent Holland what he had discovered.
Vincent Holland flew into a rage upon hearing the news.
When Grace Winslow returned after going home for a meal over the weekend, she discovered that something major had happened in her dorm.
Pearl Thorne had been expelled from Crestwood University.
Her luggage had been thrown out, and she was still at the entrance, crying and making a scene.
Several security guards stood there, forming an impenetrable wall. They were expressionless, ignoring her crying and screaming, showing no reaction at all.
"I heard her college entrance exam scores were fake. She had a proxy taker. And her sister-in-law was raped by her brother and then forced to marry into their family. If Secretary Hughes hadn’t gone and investigated, that woman would have been tortured to death."
"Yeah, that poor woman. It’s awful. And now Pearl Thorne has been expelled for faking her scores."
"I knew it! With a brain like hers, there’s no way she could have gotten into Crestwood University. She never even paid attention in class. Expelling her is letting her off easy. She should be arrested and shot."
"Shut up! Shut up! All of you, shut up!" Hearing everyone gossiping about her, Pearl Thorne felt like she was about to have a complete breakdown.
She screamed like a madwoman, but no one paid her any attention.
"Get lost, you trash. Someone like you doesn’t deserve pity, even in death."
"Exactly! And you framed Grace Winslow! Who the hell do you think you are? You think you’re even worthy of being compared to Grace?"
"Damn trash, get out of Crestwood University!"
Pearl Thorne broke down.
She ran out in tears, not even bothering to pack her things.
But before she could even leave Crestwood University, she was arrested by the police.
Bribing someone to take the college entrance exam was a serious crime. Especially now, with the exams having just been reinstated, the crackdown on such behavior was extremely severe. What awaited Pearl Thorne was the harsh punishment of the law.
Grace Winslow, who was nearby, heard the gist of it. She had no sympathy for people who resorted to fraud.
As she was about to leave, she saw Yvonne Hale running out of the crowd with a panicked expression, looking as if she had received a terrible fright.
Grace Winslow raised an eyebrow. ’This Yvonne Hale looks pretty suspicious, too.’
’Could she have also faked her college entrance exam scores?’
’It’s a shame I don’t know which department she’s in. Otherwise, I could report her.’
Having seen enough of the commotion, Grace Winslow returned to her dorm.
With Pearl Thorne gone, the atmosphere in the dorm was indeed much better.
Although Grace Winslow still didn’t interact much with the others, the previously tense, hostile atmosphere had vanished.
Everyone had come to Crestwood University to study. This was their one chance to change their fate, and they all cherished it.
They all wished they could squeeze out every possible moment for studying; none of them could bear to waste any time.
Grace Winslow’s academic life was back on track.
This past week, she had been off campus, accompanying a senior official to the Sovereign every day. Grace Winslow learned a great deal, even getting the chance to converse with a foreign guest and receiving a tip.
She found it quite novel, as she had never experienced anything like it before.
However, she didn’t dare to simply keep the money. As soon as the interaction was over, she immediately handed it to Claire Dunn.
"Professor, this is the tip a foreign guest gave me during the conference." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
The tips were all one-US Dollar bills, forming a thick stack of about fifteen or twenty of them.
Grace Winslow was beautiful, and her every move exuded a subtle, classical Eastern elegance. When she spoke, it was with a fluent Valorian accent, which made a great impression on the foreign guests. The interactions were pleasant, and they had tipped generously.
Claire Dunn glanced at the money and waved her hand. "You can keep it. You don’t have to turn in any tips you receive during the conference. You did an excellent job this time. You’ve already caught the eye of a big shot at the Ministry of Diplomacy. You might even get an offer to join the Ministry before you graduate."
Grace Winslow was a little surprised.
’I’m still a long way off. At least when it comes to translation, I’m nowhere near proficient. Right now, I can only handle simple conversations. When faced with professional terminology, I’m completely in the dark. The Ministry of Diplomacy? I wouldn’t dare to dream of it.’
