From Ashes to Queen: Now I Call the Shots novel Chapter 185

185 Toppling the Golden Girl

“Now that’s the mindset of a real woman.”

Back then, Calvin had condemned Scarlett without a second thought. So everything happening now? He deserved every bit of it.

“It’s about time. Let’s head to the exam,” Scarlett said, nodding toward the classroom on the left.

“OK!” Sharon chirped, totally unfazed. “Trenwyn never even made it to the finals before. Just making it this far is already a win. Let’s do our best.”

Scarlett couldn’t help but smile at Sharon’s sincere, almost motherly encouragement.

“Did the dean give you a pep talk before you came here?”

Sharon blinked. “Wait, how’d you know?”

Scarlett lowered her head, laughing. It made perfect sense that Wayne would be nervous. After all, more than half the professors from the Skycrest Labs poaching incident were attending today’s event as spectators.

“Don’t worry. Let’s just get inside. The exam’s about to start.”

They entered the exam room without causing any stir. No one even looked up–except Aurora, who sneered inwardly.

For the first time in a long while, she was genuinely looking forward to the test.

The air conditioning in the lecture hall was cranked up high. Aurora glanced at the clock for the umpteenth time, tapping her pen restlessly against her answer sheet.

When she finally set her pen down, quiet gasps spread through the room.

She had finished the test forty minutes early.

But Aurora had always been excellent. Even if others were jealous, all they could do was grit their teeth and keep scribbling.

Scarlett, on the other hand, never looked up once, as if she didn’t even notice someone had handed in their paper early.

Aurora walked out of the exam room with a smug smile.

She’d even gone out of her way to pass by Scarlett’s desk while turning in her sheet–just to gloat.

It was ridiculous. Scarlett hadn’t even finished her anatomy sketch. Aurora couldn’t believe she had ever

considered her a threat.

Inside the room, Scarlett’s pen scratched steadily across the page. When the proctor called out “ten minutes remaining,” she suddenly raised her hand.

“Excuse me, there’s an error in the question.”

Gasps rippled through the room.

Chapter 185 Toppling the Golden Girl

Christian’s head shot up. Dreame’s eyelashes fluttered. Faye’s hand froze mid–motion, glasses halfway up

her nose.

“Question 47, regarding ARDS mechanical ventilation settings.” Scarlett said calmly.

She flipped over her scrap paper, revealing a neatly drawn pressure–volume curve.

“The patient’s listed weight is 70kg. However, according to pathophysiological modeling, tidal volume should be calculated based on ideal body weight–not actual weight. The question is misleading

What?!

Everyone froze.

If what she said was true, then…

No. Impossible. She had to be showboating.

But no one dared act without the proctor’s word.

The chief examiner, director of emergency medicine at Jalindale University’s affiliated hospital, had helped write the questions himself. He was known for his skill–and his humility.

Many brilliant minds came to lecture at Jalindale, but arrogance didn’t fly there. Arrogant experts often ended up humbled by the local prodigies.

So now, instead of brushing off Scarlett’s challenge, the examiner took her test booklet and read carefully. His brow slowly unfurrowed.

Then he used a private communication device to confer with the other writers.

“Scarlett is correct,” he finally announced. “There was an oversight in the question. After discussion, we’ve decided that this question will not be scored for any candidate.”

Fair and impartial.

Most of the room sighed in relief.

With so little time left, recalculating with corrected values would have been impossible.

News of the error spread quickly across all exam rooms.

Aurora, though finished, was waiting in a nearby lounge.

When the announcement came over the loudspeaker, she froze.

She had answered that very question–using the incorrect data.

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