Two Reborn, One Throne novel Chapter 77

Arthur stared at his phone, utterly perplexed. Seeing his expression, Xanthe asked, "Did Grace say something?"

Arthur took a moment to process. "She told me to call Amber and bring you to the neighborhood pork joint for lunch."

Xanthe blinked. "Lunch? Why is she treating us to lunch?"

"She said she wanted to thank me since she got out of the hospital and Lucian is competing today."

Even repeating it made Arthur feel uneasy.

It wasn't that he thought Grace doing something nice was bad, but this was the first time in twelve years.

Such unnatural behavior definitely spelled trouble!

Yet Arthur couldn't figure out what her angle was. After all, she had dropped by last night and paid the twelve hundred dollars without much fuss. Maybe Amber was right—maybe she wasn't as petty as she seemed.

Xanthe caught the gist of it and smiled gently. "Maybe her son won the fifty thousand, and she's in a great mood. Don't overthink it, Arthur."

Arthur nodded. "You're probably right. But is the Olympiad really over already?"

He checked the time on his phone. He just hoped Amber wouldn't be too discouraged. It didn't matter to him whether she or Lucian won.

Arthur drove Xanthe back to the neighborhood, entirely unaware of one crucial fact: Amber wasn't discouraged. Because she had won.

Back at the competition arena.

"Have you both finished double-checking? Are you certain of your answers?"

Sharif sat in a comfortable chair that the principal had ordered the dean to fetch from his office.

He leaned back, his long legs crossed in a posture that was both impossibly elegant and completely relaxed.

The students in the audience exchanged confused glances. Some of the eliminated competitors had tried to solve the problem along with them, but none of their answers matched Amber's or Lucian's.

Vance was sweating profusely from both the heat and the nerves. "Who actually got it right?!"

The teachers were whispering among themselves, though they all knew the answer perfectly well.

Lucian had no doubt he had won. His approach had been different from Amber's, though their steps were somewhat similar. But in the end, his answer was `-1`, while Amber's was `0`.

Seeing this, a sinister smirk crept onto Lucian's face. "You lose, Amber!"

Joanne's heart was practically beating out of her chest. Even though she was a terrible student, seeing Lucian confidently slaughter the competition was thrilling.

"Just announce the answer already! This is agonizing!"

Her palms were completely slick with sweat.

This was the sixth sudden-death question. With different final answers, it meant one of them had to be wrong.

Julian glanced at Sharif, who looked like a king lounging on his throne, and his mouth twitched. He didn't need the principal to announce it; he already knew who had won.

This student, Amber Newman, truly redefined his expectations every time he saw her.

The crowd was more frantic than the teachers. Lucian practically heard them chanting his victory. He shot Amber a venomous glare. "Like I said. My future is far brighter without you dragging me down."

"You're going to have to accept this defeat, Amber, whether you want to or not!"

Amber's lips curved upward. She looked at him with sheer pity. "The winner hasn't even been announced yet, Lucian. Don't be so confident. Without me, you are nothing but mud on the ground, waiting to be stepped on. Today marks the day you finally start living like the insect you are."

She wasn't going to lose.

The only loser today was Lucian Juarez.

In their past life, he had despised and degraded her. Today, she was going to make him realize that without her clearing the path, his 'number one' status meant absolutely nothing.

No, it was more than that—starting today, Lucian was no longer the top student in Riverport. She was.

Every single accolade she had painstakingly built for him in their previous life was going to return to her, starting with this Olympiad, followed by the upcoming mock exams, and finally, the state finals.

She wanted Lucian to choke on his regrets. She wanted him to spend the rest of his miserable life agonizing over the fact that she had personally stripped away the very crown she had once given him.

*Open your eyes, Lucian. Listen closely. From this moment on, I am number one!*

"The winner is... Amber Newman!!!"

Boom!

Lucian, completely intoxicated by his guaranteed victory, looked as though he had been struck by lightning.