Chapter 21
Though the storm had subsided and Jane had finally cleared her name, her heart still resonated with the echoes of what had transpired at the Warner’s residence. The vivid memory of Drake aligning himself with Annie, his involvement in having her searched, clung to her like an unwelcome ghost. A pulsating sense of betrayal, raw and palpable, writhed within her. How could he have ever believed her capable of such deceit?
A scoff, filled with bitterness, escaped her lips as her thoughts wandered into shadowy territories. “May Drake and Annie forever be devoid of the joyful laughter of children,” she found herself silently wishing.
“Bro, why does Mom look like she swallowed a lemon?” young Zoe inquired, hugging her toy robot. Her large eyes blinked at Zane with innocent concern.
“Shh… Mom’s just a bit tired. Let’s play quietly and let her nap,” Zane whispered, his gaze soft on his mother as she draped herself over the couch, resembling a spent sunflower.
“Oooh, then let’s prepare dinner for her!” Zoe suggested, a burst of youthful enthusiasm igniting her words. “We don’t want her to be tired, do we?”
“You’re absolutely right,” Zane agreed, tousling his sister’s hair. “But remember, let’s keep my big competition tomorrow a secret. We don’t want to add to Mom’s stress, okay?”
“Roger that, Zaney!” Zoe saluted her brother, her face glowing with trust.
Tomorrow was the highly anticipated day of the Luminary Intellect Arena, organized by the renowned Einstein Elites. It was a competition where the brightest young minds between the ages of three and seven clashed in mental arithmetic. Zachary, too, was expected to participate. Zane wondered if their paths would cross once again.
As the morning sun sprayed golden hues over the cityscape the next day, Zachary, accompanied by his butler, took his place among the participants. He calmly surveyed the other competitors, his gaze cold and detached.
“Zac, where’s your old man?” a small boy in a dashing suit hurried towards him, his eyes blazing with a provocative challenge.
“Save your breath, Bennet,” Zachary replied, an icy note seeping into his tone.
This pint–sized braggart was Jake Bennet, a distant relative of Annie and an endless source of mischief. Zachary had never taken a liking to him.
“Come to say hello, and all I get is a cold shoulder, eh? Zachary, I’m going to outperform you!” Jake spat, his cheeks flushing with anger.
Zachary raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms in sublime indifference. “Dream on, Bennet.” Their rivalry was well–known. Jake had always strived to overshadow Zachary, but the scoreboard consistently tilted in Zachary’s favor. Jake’s jealousy of Zachary’s superiority plagued him incessantly. It only worsened when his parents constantly drew comparisons between them. Bitterness grew with each praise heaped upon his adversary.
“Well, we shall see about that!” With these final ominous words, Jake turned on his heel, his eyes smoldering with a dark promise.
Meanwhile, an anonymous boy wearing a duckbill cap observed the drama unfold from the back row, his attention keen as a tack.
The competition began in full swing, and soon Zachary found himself competing against Jake and a few other participants. Zane watched the event from his spot at the back, his heart pounding with anticipation of his turn. Suddenly, Zane’s eyes narrowed. How could there be foul play in this supposedly highly revered competition?
As the contest reached its climax, the judges announced the scores. As expected, Zachary claimed the top spot in his group. However, what happened next was nothing short of pandemonium.
Jake leaped up from his chair, face contorted in outrage. “Teacher, Zachary cheated!” he roared, his accusation echoing through the shocked hall.
The allegation hit like an arctic deluge, chilling the atmosphere instantly. An accusation of cheating in this prestigious children’s competition in Willowshire, where the results could earn recommendations for renowned schools, was scandalous. Outrage erupted immediately and thunderously.
Indignant parents leaped to their feet, pointing fingers at Zachary as a storm of indictments pummeled him.
“Such dishonesty at such a young age! Where are his parents? Is this how they raised him?”
“It’s a disgrace! Using underhanded tactics and still securing first place. What a shame!”
“Disqualify him immediately!”
The judges, caught between a rock and a hard place, grappled with the situation. These parents didn’t know the child’s identity, but they did. Zachary wasn’t just any contestant. He was a scion of the mighty Warner family! The repercussions of their decision could be dire.
“Please, let’s all remain calm. There must be some misunderstanding here,” the host implored, attempting to regain control over the increasingly hostile crowd.
“But I saw him using a cheat note!” Jake interjected, his voice sharp with triumph. “Check under his desk!”
The host and the staff promptly inspected Zachary’s seat. Lo and behold, tucked away inside the leg of Zachary’s desk was a rolled–up note containing solutions to questions strikingly similar to those posed in the competition. The auditorium erupted with a fresh wave of outrage.
“Disqualify him! Expose this to the public!”
“This competition is a sham! Our children have worked hard, and this is how you reward them?”
“We demand justice!”
Amidst the chaotic chorus of accusations, Zachary stood resolute in his smart black suit, his voice steady and his gaze unwavering. “I didn’t cheat,” he declared, his defiance resounding throughout the venue.
An uneasy silence descended, the audience taken aback by the unwavering determination in the child’s eyes. But a wave of scornful laughter swiftly shattered the silence. “Yeah,
right! As if a thief would ever admit to stealing!”
Jake’s heart swelled with triumphant laughter, yet he skillfully maintained a facade of contrived sorrow and outrage. The irony was delicious, and he savored every second of it.
“He’s not just a cheater! He’s a bully too! He once attacked me at our school for no reason. If my parents hadn’t been there, I might have ended up in a wheelchair!” Jake’s voice rose with escalating fervor, stirring a wave of righteous indignation throughout the crowd.
Zachary, however, witnessed this farcical play with clenched fists. Yes, he had struck Jake once. But only because Jake- that snake had found lifting a little girl’s skirt hilarious, reducing her to tears. Zachary had charged forward, fists ready, defending her honor. The audacity of Jake to dredge up that incident!
Meanwhile, Zane observed the spectacle of Zachary’s character assassination with icy detachment. A firm line formed around his lips, and he rose, forging a path through the sea of people toward the stage.
As the crowd laughed and jeered, a small figure maneuvered through the chaos toward the stage. Zane approached the host, whispered something in his ear, and then politely took the microphone. His calm demeanor contrasted sharply with the chaos unfolding in the auditorium.
Zachary’s gaze fell upon Zane, wrapped in winter clothing. His forehead furrowed slightly. This person seemed familiar, but from where?
“We didn’t witness Zachary cheating, did we?” Zane’s voice resounded through the hall, not rushing to Zachary’s defense as expected but introducing another layer of doubt into the
mix.
“Did he pay you off? As the teacher always says, ‘Seeing is believing.‘ I saw it, so don’t try to play advocate here!” Jake interjected.
Zane calmly continued, his voice measured and composed. “We shouldn’t defame an innocent person, but we shouldn’t also let the guilty go free. Determining whether Zachary cheated or not is simple. This hall is brimming with surveillance cameras, practically capturing every angle. I am confident that we have recorded the incident with perfect clarity.”
With that, the host swiftly instructed the backstage staff to project the surveillance footage from the podium onto the large screen. Jake, however, maintained a composed expression, unruffled by the turn of events. He had meticulously memorized the camera positions in the hall and deliberately chosen a blind spot to discard the note. Therefore, the cameras couldn’t capture it.
But as the staff projected the footage onto the big screen, Jake’s confident smirk dissolved. His foolproof plan began to crumble, or so he realized as the video played. Cold dread crept up his spine, draining the color from his face. His eyes widened, and his fists clenched in his lap
