Bones Learn To Listen When Silence Speaks by Ryn Miles 288

Chapter 288 The Scum–Busting Game 

Chapter 288 The Scum–Busting Game 

Jasper was the one keeping the lowest profile in the room. 

When he heard Aurelia had also scored 255, his first reaction was pure skepticism. He figured she must’ve used some shady tricks to pull it off. 

After all, she’d been dead last before. 

He thought that kind of underdog comeback only happened in novels. In real life, the odds were practically 

zero. 

But after Henry explained everything, Jasper realized that whole last–place thing was just a misunderstanding. Aurelia had actually been impressive from the very start. 

And her real score was 260, actually 5 points higher than Tessa’s initial score. 

Just now, he’d secretly messaged his buddy who’s a teacher assistant, asking what scoring 260 even means. His friend didn’t hesitate: [Genius!] 

[No, wait, make that the genius of geniuses!] 

[Professor Horton’s exam is pure hell mode. Even if I took it, I’d be lucky to get 180 or 190. But 260? That’s legendary, like an academic god!] 

[And at that level, every single point is a milestone, crazy hard to cross!] 

Jasper went even quieter after seeing the replies. 

And to top it off, after Henry read Aurelia’s paper, he kept saying Stephen had actually been way too stingy with the score. 

That meant Aurelia could’ve totally scored even higher. 

After a long silence, Jasper finally leaned over to Cassian. “Is Aurelia really that amazing?” 

Cassian didn’t even glance his way, his eyes locked on Aurelia. There was something deep and unreadable in his gaze, but his expression stayed perfectly calm. 

“You just figured that out?” Cassian replied, with a casual shrug in his voice. 

Jasper felt a jolt inside. “You knew all along?” 

Maybe Jasper’s stare was just too obvious, because Aurelia picked up on it and looked up, shooting a glance this way. 

Cassian, totally unfazed, just shifted his gaze away, shutting down any emotion in his eyes. 

Instead, it was Gideon whose eyes locked with Aurelia’s. 

His heart skipped a beat, and cold sweat broke out on his back. 

Kyler was on edge, but at last, Tessa returned to the office and told Stephen, her voice ringing with conviction. I’ve got all the proof I need. This paper is mine.” 

Stephen raised a hand. “Then let’s see it.” 

To make sure everyone could see clearly, Stephen provided the office projector for her. 

Tessa hooked up the projector with total confidence, not a hint of nerves on her face. 

Seeing that, Kyler finally let out a quiet sigh of relief. 

Once Tessa proved her innocence, he was ready to pull out all the stops to get Stephen on her side. 

Aurelia could leverage Gideon’s influence. So, of course Tessa could get a leg up from him too. 

If Stephen agreed to take Tessa in, he would see firsthand just how huge the gap was between Aurelia and Tessa. 

Meanwhile, Tessa hooked up the projector and started walking everyone through her evidence, laying it all out 

Successfully unlocked! 

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Chapter 288 The Scum–Busting Game 

one by one. 

“Actually, I wrote this paper eight years ago, but I never published it. Here’s a screenshot of the original email, and here’s the content. Professor Horton, feel free to check for yourself,” Tessa said. 

To back up her claim, Tessa added, “With the exam coming up and the HelixTech IPO keeping me busy, I didn’t have time to write anything new, so I ended up reworking my thesis from eight years back.” 

She paused, then looked over at Henry. “That’s still within the rules, right?” 

“Yes, it’s within the rules.” Henry nodded. 

Tessa gave a self–assured grin. “That’s all I’ve got.” 

Kyler’s eyes were locked on the screen, his heart racing. ‘Eight years ago? Even the dates line up perfectly!‘ Stephen’s gaze stayed fixed on the screen, his eyes cold, his face set in a hard line. 

He didn’t say a word, and that just made Tessa even more certain that her evidence was so watertight, Stephen couldn’t poke a single hole in it. 

Just as Tessa was feeling like she had this in the bag, Aurelia spoke up from the side. “Could you put up the third screenshot again?” 

Tessa frowned, her eyes turning cold. ‘Aurelia knows I can’t refuse with all these eyes on me, she’s deliberately making things difficult.‘ 

She really had no choice but to pull up the third screenshot again. 

“Zoom in,” Aurelia said. It sounded more like a command than a request. 

Tessa frowned, clearly annoyed. 

Karlie couldn’t help but snap at Aurelia, “Do we have to do whatever you say? Who put you in charge?” 

Aurelia was a pro at dealing with people like Karlie, who spoke before they thought. 

She just shot back, light as a feather, “Afraid to do it?” 

That shut Karlie up in an instant. 

Tessa didn’t want to get into it with Aurelia. She just wanted to wrap up this whole proving–her–innocence thing, so she zoomed in on the picture like Aurelia asked. 

She kept going until Aurelia finally told her to stop. 

“That’s an inbox, not a sent folder,” Aurelia said after taking a closer look. 

Tessa was sly enough to crop out the important parts of her screenshot. 

Back then, the old webmail pages for inbox and sent looked almost identical. If one wasn’t paying close attention, they’d never spot the difference. 

Aurelia only noticed because, back when Honoria Capital was breaking into the overseas market, she was the one managing all the email traffic herself. 

Over time, it became pure muscle memory for her. 

Aurelia’s challenge caught Tessa off guard for a second. For a moment, her cool composure cracked, her face stiffening. 

“You’ve got quite the eye for detail, Ms. Corin,” Tessa said dryly. 

She was hinting that Aurelia was just picking holes to serve her own interests. 

But since Aurelia had already pointed it out, Tessa could only explain, “Yes, this is an inbox screenshot. Eight years ago, I sent that email to my advisor, Professor William, and he’s the one who sent me this screenshot. “The reason I don’t have a sent folder screenshot is because my account was compromised. After I moved overseas, I registered a new email and stopped using the old account.” 

Tessa was able to give this explanation because Jonathan had told her that the original owner of that email. account had long since stopped using it. 

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