Chapter 54
For a split second, everyone in the room froze, their brains feeling as if they had been struck by a bolt of lightning. Their breaths hitched and trembled ever so slightly.
The room was utterly silent, with not a single person daring to speak. The silence was deafening, and the outcome of the competition had clearly taken everyone by surprise.
Did Zoe really win? Did she actually defeat Mr. Shelton? How is that even possible?‘ they all thought in disbelief.
Bang. Herbert and Jacob jumped to their feet, unable to believe what had just happened.
Eunice’s eyes welled up with tears. ‘No, this can’t be, Everything was fine just now. How could Zoe have beaten Mr. Shelton? I refuse to believe it,’ she muttered under her breath.
Cheryl, in a daze, collapsed back into her seat, muttering to herself over and over again, “Why? How could this happen? How is this possible? Zoe was supposed to lose. This just can’t be.”
Zoe, with a cold, indifferent glance, ignored the shock of the crowd. She looked at Zack as if she were a machine devoid of any emotion.
Without hesitation, she jumped off the stage and began walking toward Zack, fully intending to kill him right there and then, as per her own demand. The loser had to die.
Just as Zoe was about to make her move, a sharp voice pierced through the air. “Wait.”
“Mr. Shelton seems to have been poisoned,” Eunice said, quickly making her way to Zack’s side.
She examined him thoroughly before Zack could be harmed. “I noticed something was off about Mr. Shelton’s complexion earlier. I had my suspicions. Now, he’s unconscious and his face is so pale. It’s obvious he’s been poisoned.”
Eunice lifted her eyes, now rimmed with tears and glowing a deep, crimson red. Her gaze was piercing, yet there was a hint of vulnerability in it. “Zoe, how could you?”
“I always looked up to you as a role model, but I never expected you to disappoint me like this. To win a competition, you resorted to such underhanded tactics. I’m so disappointed in you.” Eunice’s words were like a bomb, completely reversing the situation.
Everyone immediately assumed that Zoe had poisoned Zack to win the competition. The scene erupted in chaos. People couldn’t fathom who might have actually poisoned him.
Why would Eunice just accuse Zoe like that? Eunice has a decent talent in medicine at Highcrest University. If she says Mr. Shelton was poisoned, then it must be true, the crowd thought to themselves.
All eyes turned to Zoe, and a wave of condemnation washed over her.
“No wonder. Zoe is nothing but a good–for–nothing. She couldn’t possibly have won on her own.”
So Mr. Shelton was poisoned. Zoe is so despicable. She poisoned him to win.”
15
“What a shameless snake. Zoe had the audacity to poison her opponent right in front of everyone. She’s truly the most venomous woman I’ve ever seen. Zoc, didn’t your mother ever teach you about integrity?”
“Someone grab her and take her to jail.”
The crowd became frenzied, hurling water bottles, phone stands, and even fluorescent lights at Zoe.
In the midst of the chaos, Cheryl finally realized that Zoe had supposedly won by poisoning Zack. She immediately joined in the shouting. “Damn it, Zoe, you’re despicable. I knew you were a loser.
“You ambushed Mr. Shelton before, you threatened Mr. Hunter, and now you dare to poison someone in public to win. Get out of Jelonsburg.”
“Get out of Jelonsburg, the crowd echoed.
Eunice, seeing her plan succeed, allowed a slight, satisfied smile to play at the corners of her lips as she continued to cry.
Zoe’s face grew colder and colder. As everyone around her condemned her for cheating and poisoning, with a sudden, loud bang, she raised her hand and punched the massive billboard beside her.
The billboard, built of brick to withstand the intense battle of life and death that had taken place earlier, was impervious to an ordinary person’s punch
But Zoe’s single blow left a gaping hole in the solid brick structure. The crowd, which had been in an uproar, fell silent in an instant.
1/2
12:10 PM
Chapter 54
Everyone’s eyes widened as they stared at Zoe in utter disbelief. They couldn’t believe she had just punched a hole through a brick billboard.
After a brief silence, the crowd erupted once again.
“Damn it, what is going on here? Did I just see what I think I saw? She actually punched through the billboard?”
“Hey, this thing is made of bricks. Back in the day, Mr. Shelton could barely shatter two bricks with a single punch, right? And Zoe just-”
