Chapter 264


    It had been a while since Catherine had spoken. In Ronin’s mind, this pretty much confirmed Catherine’s


    refusal to participate in the uing national artpetition. But then, to everyone’s surprise,


    Catherine suddenly spoke up.


    “Does anyone know how long thispetition willst?” she inquired. Both Ronin and Bryan were taken


    aback, especially Ronin.


    However, Bryan knew more about thepetition, so Ronin didn’t reply, and Bryan responded to


    Catherine.


    “Boss, thepetition consists of preliminaries, semi-finals, and the grand finals. It’ll take about a month.


    They’ve streamlined thepetition this year, and there’s a rule that the top three in the preliminaries


    can bypass the semi-finals and go straight to the grand finals.”


    Thepetition wasn’t an everyday affair. To amodate student participants, it was scheduled on


    weekends to amodate student participants, except for the special grand finals.


    Bryan handed thepetition schedule to Catherine. Coincidentally, the reality show that Audrey was


    part of had to make a substitution due to her injury, which gave Catherine time to participate on the


    weekends.


    After calcting the timing, in front of Ronin and Bryan, Catherine made her decision. “Arrange


    everything. We’re participating in thepetition.”


    Bryan and Ronin exchanged nces in surprise. They wondered why Catherine had suddenly changed


    her mind. Catherine leaned back in her chair. With her arms crossed, she nced at the two of them.


    “Any problems?”


    They both shook their heads in unison. “No problem, Boss. We’ll follow your lead.”


    Bryan had never been interested in these things but hadn’t had much fun at the celebration g. If it


    meant cooperating with Catherine and the others again, he was more than willing.


    As for Ronin, he always followed Catherine’s orders without question. If Catherine wanted to participate,


    he would participate. It was as simple as that.


    In Ronin’s view, Obedience to Catherine was above all else. By the afternoon, news of Catherine and


    their group’s participation in thepetition had spread throughout ss 8.


    David and the others were so excited that they banged on their desks and cheered. “Catherine, Bryan,


    you can count on us. When the timees, we’ll cheer you on with all our might!” David eximed.


    George, who was standing by, looked at them and chuckled. He said, “Our ss is truly honored this


    time. There are only three slots for the whole school, and we have two!” Ronin turned his head and


    nced at George. “Two?”


    Ccontent ? exclusive by N?/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.


    “Yeah. One of them is Liana. The sisters from the Swanns are exceptional, and each one is better than


    the other,” George exined. As George was speaking, Liana happened to pass by.


    The somewhat clueless George stopped Liana and stared at her warmly. “Liana, Catherine agreed to


    participate in thepetition, so our chances of winning just got better, don’t you think?”


    When Catherine heard Liana’s name, she nced up and saw Liana standing there with a forced smile


    next to George. Liana appeared calm but was actually on the brink of exploding with anger. It amused


    Catherine.


    Liana had endured a lot over the years to maintain the image of a high-born youngdy. Liana’s patience


    was truly remarkable.


    Before passing by this spot, Liana had already heard the news. She remembered that Catherine had


    initially refused to participate, and now Catherine had changed her mind. She thought inwardly, “Does


    this jinx want to hog the limelight?


    “She is born to oppose me. She is such an infuriating jinx. “As for the damn George, why does he


    embarrass me like this?”


    Liana was seething inside but had to maintain a gentle andposed demeanor. She looked at


    Catherine and casually asked, “Catherine, I heard you declined to join the nationalpetitionst time.


    You imed you weren’t interested. Why the sudden change? Is it because you discovered this


    competition will be broadcast globally, and you want more people to know you?”


    She was trying to convey that Catherine was flip-flopping for fame.


    “No.” As soon as George heard Liana’s words, he quickly provided an exnation for Catherine. He


    said, ” Liana, you got it wrong this time. Catherine agreed to participate because our homeroom teacher


    enthusiastically invited her. When I was in the office earlier, our homeroom teacher said she had finally


    convinced Catherine. She’s delighted that Catherine is representing our ss in thepetition.”


    Earlier in the morning, their homeroom teacher had summoned Catherine out of the ssroom.


    Everyone had seen it happen. At that moment, they had been specting about what Catherine had


    done to make their usually mild-mannered homeroom teacher suddenly call her into the office. Now, they


    realized the situation.


    With George’s exnation, everyone understood what had happened. David led the apuse and said, ”


    Catherine, you really considered our ss’s honor.


    “Come on, let’s all apud Catherine. She’s such a modest person. She is willing to lead Bryan into


    battle for our school’s honor. We shouldn’t spare our apuse.”


    At that moment, apuse thundered throughout the ssroom. Catherine still loungedzily in her seat.


    She looked uninterested. It seemed that all these changes didn’t concern her at all.


    As Liana watched Catherine, who was surrounded by adoring ssmates and was like a queen, a


    venomous hatred surged within her.


    The apuse and the praises directed at Catherine were like sharp knives plunging into Liana’s heart


    with each word. Everything used to belong to Liana, whether in the Swanns or ss 8. She used to be


    the most dazzling.


    In Liana’s view, all the apuse and honor were meant for her. She was the family’s pride, even in the


    Swanns, where boys were traditionally favored. She was more precious than her two other sisters.


    But since Catherine’s arrival, everything had changed, and Liana couldn’t ept it. Liana thought


    Catherine had taken away everything that had once belonged to her. She swore to herself that she would


    get rid of Catherine.


    Liana looked up toward Catherine She didn’t expect that Catherine was also sizing her up. Their eyes


    met, and it seemed that Catherine could see through Liana’s soul. Catherine hadn’t done anything, but it


    was as if Catherine had struck Liana’s heart, which made Liana instinctively lower her head.


    Liana’s heart raced, and she felt inexplicably flustered. This feeling made her highly ufortable.


    Finally, she hastily left the scene. Catherine had been keeping an eye on Liana’s reactions. A cold smile


    yed on her beautiful face when she saw Liana flee.


    She understood Liana’s intentions all too well. She had repeatedly emphasized that she could tolerate


    some of Liana’s foolish actions.


    After all, every time Liana did something foolish, Liana was the one who suffered in the end. But if Liana


    sought her own demise, she shouldn’t me Catherine for being ruthless.