The Billionaire's True Heiress: From Fake Jewel to Real Crown novel Chapter 199

“What? Cheating? No way!” Lemuel’s face went pale, his shock clear as day. The other students looked just as stunned, eyes wide and mouths slightly open. Len, who sat next to Claire in class, spoke up right away. “Are you sure there’s not some mistake?” he asked. “Even if someone in our group cheated, it wouldn’t be Claire. She’s at the top of her game.”

The rest of the students nodded, still processing what they’d just heard. Most of them didn’t know Claire personally, but her reputation for being smart and hardworking was basically legendary. No one could believe she’d do something like this.

Mr. Fletcher, the administrator, had been running these competitions for years. He looked a bit flustered himself. “Let’s all stay calm,” he said. “We only received a report. There’s going to be an investigation. If it turns out Claire didn’t cheat, we’ll clear her name, I promise.” He was just giving everyone a heads-up so they wouldn’t be caught off guard later.

Everyone’s eyes shifted to Claire. She hadn’t said a word, just sat there calm as ever. Most people—even if they were innocent—would be freaking out or at least upset about being accused. But Claire looked like she was handling it just fine, no panic, no anger, just kind of quiet and steady.

Len tried to reassure her. “Don’t worry, Claire. This has to be some kind of misunderstanding. I don’t know who would report you for something like this.” Everyone knew Claire’s grades were legit—her only “flaw” was that whole fake heiress thing, and even that didn’t affect how hard she worked. Len was one of the few classmates who never turned on her after the news about her background, always treating her the same.

A few others chimed in too. “Yeah, if there’s an investigation, it means they don’t have any real proof,” someone said. “We’ve all seen Claire’s grades. There’s no way she’d cheat.”

Even Wendy, who was usually shy and quiet, looked up and said, “I believe you, Claire.”

Claire smiled a little, surprised by how much support she was getting. “Thanks, everyone.” Oddly enough, hearing about someone reporting her for cheating made her feel almost relieved. She’d known something like this was coming. Molly had teamed up with Octavia, and they’d been looking for ways to keep her out of the winter camp. If they hadn’t tried anything by now, that would’ve been the real surprise.

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