After another 30 minutes, Rosa began working on the third problem. Meanwhile, Lana was still standing in front of her blackboard, chalk in hand. Once she lifted the chalk, she froze, staring blankly at the three problems."In trouble now, aren't you? Can't do it, huh? Let's see how long you can keep up the act.""Now you finally understand what advanced math is, right? You can't even understand the problems. Yet you dared to challenge a world-class competitor. Utterly delusional."Smiling slyly at everyone, Joyce said, "Come on, folks, she's just a young girl who hasn't seen much of the world. If she loses later, don't mock her. After all, we need to take care of her dignity."Joyce's implication was clear: Lana was destined to lose.At that moment, a cold voice cut through the air. "Maybe you should worry about your daughter being mocked instead."Joyce turned around to see Mandy looking at her with a smile that didn't reach her eyes."Mandy, if Rosa does something embarrassi

"What are you doing, Rom? You scared me."Romelius suddenly came to his senses. "Did you call me 'Rom'?""I don't want to call you Uncle Romelius. So, I have no choice but to call you Rom. Since it's rude to call you by your name directly." Romelius' attention was clearly not on how he was being addressed. After he calmed down, he sat next to Lana and said, "You mentioned that you were an orphan. Is that true?""Rom, do you think I would joke about something like that?" Lana asked as she looked at him disdainfully. "That's true. Where are you from? Why are you so capable?""I'm from Gilsbury. But I wasn't always there. I lived there until I was eight. I came back last year," Lana said directly. Romelius' heart skipped a beat, and his entire body was trembling. The hope he felt scared him. He didn't want to be disappointed. "Rom, why are you trembling?" Lana felt Romelius' forehead with her palm. Then, she muttered, "It doesn't seem to be a fever."Afterward, she grabbed hi

"Did you hear what they say, Grandma? Mandy isn't doing anything illegal or immoral. Why should she take the insults they are throwing at her?"The more Romelius tried to defend Mandy, the more it angered Priscilla. "Why should I care? If she is innocent, she shouldn't be affected by the words of others," Priscilla said as she glared at Mandy. With a single sentence, Priscilla instantly pinned all those disgraceful rumors about Mandy as fact. Mandy finally realized how unsightly she was to Priscilla.Mandy clutched the cards Lana gave her tightly. She stood abruptly and said, "Don't be angry, Grandmother. Romelius was just blowing things out of proportion. I'm not troubled by what Rachel and the others are saying.Rachel smirked at Mandy and said, "Mandy is right. We weren't speaking ill of you. Romelius, did you have to overreact like that?"Joyce was displeased that Romelius decided to defend Mandy while disregarding her feelings. But she quickly stepped in to play the Good S

"I guess we went through similarly hard lives, so we feel for each other." Lana tried to explain. "We were both adopted and had to live by other peoples' rules." There are many things that others could never relate to unless they also went through the same. That was why Lana felt for Mandy at the Quinn Residence and wanted to help her. Mandy patted Lana's head and said, "It's not worth getting on the bad side of the Quinns just to stand up for me."Lana knew what she was getting into. She smiled faintly and said, "But I think you're worth it." Mandy felt terrible. She thought Lana was brave because she didn't understand how scary the Quinns could be. But she knew about the risk of offending the Quinns. She decided that she would keep a closer eye on Lana to keep her safe.Mandy brought Lana to the most prosperous neighborhood in Dawsbury City. Lana bought an apartment here, and the price tag made her wallet bleed. The money she spent on the apartment was enough for a vill

After Lana brought Liam home and had him shower, she immediately went to the kitchen to cook for him.To Liam's surprise, Lana had magically whipped up four dishes and a soup for him by the time he came out of the shower. She prepared honey orange shrimp, crab omelet, roast quail, braised collard greens, and a pot of rich chicken broth.While the portions were not big, the dishes looked exquisite. Just the smell alone was making Liam's mouth water.Liam had never had much of an appetite for food. Before meeting Lana, he mostly ate whatever the chef at home cooked. However, ever since he got to know Lana, he surprisingly became picky about food. Lately, he often thought the chef in the company's cafeteria needed replacing. How could the food the chef prepared taste so bad anyway?"What are you looking at?" Lana brought the chicken broth from the kitchen. When she noticed Liam standing beside the dining table and observing the dishes, she immediately seated him at the table.