Sylvie’s score was undeniably high.

Even with limited time to prepare, she’d decided to take the graduate exam for Professor Sterling’s program-and still managed to ace it. That kind of

performance put her firmly among the best of the best.

It was pretty much what everyone had expected from the start.

There was never any doubt that Sylvie would pass with flying colors.

But as for her so-called “rival”-not a word, no news at all.

Did they really need to guess how that turned out?

Octavia was in the middle of her homework when she overheard the

conversation. She grabbed her phone and blurted out, “Elodie? Did she take the exam too?”

Sylvie recalled how Elodie had finished her test early and handed it in ahead of time.

She replied without a care, “Yeah.”

On the other end of the line, Octavia fell silent for a moment.

She’d always believed in working hard and bettering herself, but Elodie taking grad school exams? In her mind, Elodie was someone who always hovered around her brother and the kitchen—this just didn’t add up.

Still, she didn’t dwell on it. The outcome seemed obvious enough, so she told Sylvie, “Be sure to tell me when the rankings are out! I have no doubt you’ll be number one. With this major and that score, I’ve checked the cutoffs and top scores from previous years, and you’re right at the top.”

She was genuinely interested in aerospace engineering herself, and in recent years had followed the field closely. Her brother had an eye for good people, and now he’d brought home a fantastic mentor and future sister-in-law-she couldn’t be happier.

Sylvie knew Octavia had always looked up to her.

The younger girl had a natural admiration for strength, and Sylvie rather enjoyed being the object of it.

She smiled and said, “Alright, you’ll be the first to know. Now get some rest.”

Octavia reluctantly hung up.

Maurice took a sip of his whiskey before finally speaking. “You can’t just coast through the technical courses and the math. If you’ve been out of school for years, deciding to jump into grad school last minute? Either she underestimated Verdant University, or she overestimated herself.”

Back then, Elodie had made her grand declaration in public.

If she failed, her company-VistaLink Technologies—would become the butt of every dinner table joke for weeks.

Sylvie set down her phone and picked up a glass of water, offering a fair observation. “Everyone has dreams.”

“Smart people know when to keep a low profile, especially when things are uncertain. No sense in painting yourself into a corner,” Maurice added with a shrug. “I just checked Professor Sterling’s department-dead quiet. If Elodie had done well, she’d be bragging about it all over town. She wouldn’t be this…’low- key.””

In his opinion, Elodie would probably be too embarrassed to show her face for quite a while.

Pretending nothing happened, hoping the whole thing would just blow over?

Jarrod put down his teacup and shot Maurice a cool glance. “You sure worry a lot about her.”

His tone was mild, almost indifferent, as if Elodie’s affairs held no interest for him whatsoever.

He clearly didn’t want to hear any more.

Sylvie noticed Jarrod’s attitude, smiled knowingly, and raised an eyebrow, not the least bit surprised.

She understood.

After Elodie had insulted both her and her mother last time, Jarrod’s dislike for Elodie had only grown. He couldn’t even be bothered to bring her up these days.

Maurice seemed to get the message that Jarrod wasn’t interested in talking about Elodie, so he sensibly changed the subject. “Do you know the rankings yet? Does Verdant University post them publicly? Has the dean said anything?”

Sylvie hadn’t received any official notice from the school.

The university website hadn’t published the list of accepted students or transfer information yet.

No clear ranking had been released.

Still, she was confident there wouldn’t be any problems.

But it wouldn’t hurt to double-check.

She nodded. “I’ll call the admissions office and ask.”

She was eager to find out when Professor Sterling would send her the acceptance letter.

Joseph, meanwhile, frowned.

Sylvie’s score was well above the cutoff, but Elodie’s…

He couldn’t help but worry.

Sylvie was as decisive as ever—she picked up her phone and dialed the admissions office.

But after hearing the response on the other end of the line, her expression froze

for a moment. Her face paled as she repeated, just to make sure she’d heard right, “I’m…second?”