Evan Sinclair almost thought he'd misheard. "What?"
He was a little horrified.
Nina Donovan was a young lady who'd been pampered her entire life. Her temper was a bit bad, sure, but it wasn't like she'd committed murder or arson. She was even pretty good to her childhood friends, like them.
"Y-You want to kill her?"
"No."
Evan Sinclair breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the cold sweat from his brow. That scared the hell out of him.
"As long as Nina Donovan and Jasper Sherwood both get the hell out of Ninth High, Vivi won't get hurt. And likewise, she'll only have eyes for me, instead of always thinking about that jinx Jasper Sherwood."
Leon Grant clenched his fists.
He didn't get it. In terms of family background, he was ten thousand times better than Jasper Sherwood. Women threw themselves at him one after another. Yet Vivian Sterling couldn't care less about him, which completely triggered his rebellious streak. He refused to admit he was any worse than Jasper Sherwood.
"Leon..." Evan Sinclair wanted to try persuading him again.
He didn't understand it either. Why was a rich young master like Leon Grant so fixated on dealing with a poor kid with no power or influence like Jasper Sherwood?
"For a whole year, Nina Donovan couldn't crack a tough nut like Jasper Sherwood. So I'll personally be the one to drive him out of Ninth High." A cold glint flashed in Leon Grant's eyes.
Changing the subject, he continued, "What about Elliot Prescott? Is he back at school?"
Evan Sinclair shrugged. "Nope. Heard his family matters aren't settled yet. His dad produced another illegitimate son, and even acknowledged him publicly. He might even get sent to Ninth High."
He clicked his tongue and shook his head, a pitying look in his eyes. "Poor guy."
Of course, he didn't feel pity for their good friend Elliot Prescott, but for that illegitimate son who'd popped out of nowhere. That kid was in for a world of pain.
Leon Grant patted Evan Sinclair's shoulder. "A while ago, didn't Nina Donovan solemnly swear to me that she'd get Jasper Sherwood's spot in the national math competition taken away? She cheated on the school-wide math mock exam for selecting contestants. I want you to find a way to replace her test paper with one that has the exact same answers as Vivi's, then expose the fact that she plagiarized."
His eyes gleamed. "If we blow this up, it'll accomplish two things. One, it'll boost Vivi's reputation, which will help her future competition prospects. Two, it'll make Nina Donovan leave Ninth High, which means less trouble for Vivi. And then, my next target will be Jasper Sherwood."
Evan Sinclair hesitated. "Is that really a good idea?"
Leon Grant's expression didn't change. "There's nothing bad about it. Her reputation is already terrible, so what does it matter if it gets a little worse? Besides, with her grades, her staying at Ninth High is a waste of school resources. The Donovan Family might as well spend some money to stuff her into an elite private school so she's not an eyesore for me here."
Evan Sinclair thought about it and agreed.
Nina Donovan had been chasing Leon Grant for about ten years, and her possessiveness had only grown stronger as they got older.
She was hostile to any woman who appeared near Leon Grant.
No matter how beautiful Nina Donovan was, who could stand that kind of suffocating possessiveness?
Nina Donovan leaving Ninth High would be good for everyone.
"Alright, I'll get it done." Evan Sinclair patted Leon Grant's shoulder. "The nurse's office is just ahead. Remember to get your wound bandaged."
...
「Meanwhile, in Class 3-1.」
This was Ninth High's honors class for the third-year students.
Almost everyone in Class 1 was talented enough to get into a top-tier university.
As for Nina Donovan, who was dead last in the entire school, she had gotten in purely by her family's donations.
The Donovan Family had donated a building, stuffed pockets with cash, and engaged in public charity.
The principal had to hold his nose and place Nina Donovan in Class 1.
The main reason Nina Donovan had come here was to vent Leon Grant's frustrations for him.
Because Leon Grant hated Jasper Sherwood, she hated Jasper Sherwood too.
So, she had high-handedly arranged for Jasper Sherwood's seat to be in the last row.
And she sat right in front of him, disturbing his studies anytime and anywhere. Her goal was to prevent him from studying properly, making him miss out on every competition spot the school offered.
So when Jasper Sherwood walked into the classroom carrying Nina Donovan on his back...
...the entire class fell deathly silent, as if they had seen a ghost.
Everyone knew Nina Donovan hated Jasper Sherwood. She'd even ordered the entire class to ostracize him.
Everyone complied on the surface, but in private, they still sought out Jasper Sherwood to ask questions about their studies. They couldn't help it. Ever since Jasper Sherwood had transferred to Ninth High a year ago, he had never once relinquished his spot as the top student in the school.
Even a top student like Vivian Sterling was always a dozen or so points behind him in total score, ranking second.
Jasper Sherwood placed Nina Donovan in her seat before sitting down behind her. He ignored all the probing stares, quietly opened his textbook, and began to study.
Nina Donovan: "..."
She had to admit, she was quite impressed by Jasper Sherwood.
To be able to face a great villainess like her with such a calm and peaceful demeanor... his emotional stability was almost inhuman.
She'd even had someone beat him up just yesterday.
But when he saw her, he showed no extra emotion at all.
His emotions only wavered when his family was mentioned. Normally, he didn't even show hatred toward Nina Donovan.
A person like that was either an idiot or incredibly calculating.
Nina Donovan preferred to believe the latter—that he was a master manipulator with a thousand tricks up his sleeve, already plotting how to deal with her.
She secretly wiped the sweat from her brow, stealing a glance at Jasper Sherwood's serene face from the corner of her eye.
Then, she remembered her own final end.
After the Donovan Family went bankrupt, she was kidnapped, taken to the mountains, and dismembered. The news reported that she was murdered by a rival family.
The truth was that the mastermind behind it all was Jasper Sherwood.
He was more of a villain than she was.
She mentally lit a few candles for herself.
She pulled a textbook from her desk—a book cleaner than her own face. To think, just one year after graduating from university, she was back in this familiar environment, staring at the dizzying math.
Nina Donovan silently closed the book.
'Sigh. I've already been through college. Who wants to go back to high school and be a workhorse all over again?'
Fortunately, the original owner of this body was also a terrible student, so she felt completely justified in plopping her head on the desk and falling fast asleep.
The atmosphere in Class 1 was tense, with Nina Donovan being the only one at ease.
It wasn't until the Class 1 teacher came in that things changed. He ignored Nina Donovan and started the lesson for the other students.
Jasper Sherwood looked up from his textbook.
His gaze immediately fell upon Nina Donovan's sleeping profile.
Her cheeks were flushed pink, her red lips slightly pouted. She was sleeping soundly.
When he came back to his senses, he realized he had been gripping his pen so hard that he'd gouged an ugly mark into his thick notebook.
He tried his best to control his emotions until he slowly calmed down.
All he wanted now was to get through his final year at Ninth High peacefully, and for his sister to be safely cured.
No more accidents.
He only had these two wishes.
For the sake of these two wishes, he could endure anything.
Jasper Sherwood looked away from Nina Donovan and reached out to smooth over the mark he had made.
As if nothing had happened.
Nina Donovan slept until school let out.
Jasper Sherwood, who sat behind her, had already left the school long ago.
As for what he was off to do, Nina Donovan didn't care.
Leaning on her crutch, she saw Ian Donovan waiting for her at the school gate to go home.
This was a rule Mrs. Donovan had set for him: until she was home, Ian Donovan was not allowed to set foot inside the house.
In the past, the original Nina would dilly-dally for a long time, sitting on a planter and making Ian Donovan stand there for an hour before she would deign to make an elegant appearance.
But this Nina Donovan was not the original. She had no interest in tormenting Ian Donovan. Besides, he wasn't part of her main quest.