The Mocked Miss’s Hidden Crowns novel Chapter 1693

“What’s that?”

Everyone in the room leaned forward, eyes glued to Mr. Lane as he held something up. The second they caught a glimpse of the email, shock rippled through the crowd. Wide-eyed and breathless, someone gasped, “Shirley's paper got into *Physical Review Letters*?”

That name alone was enough to silence the room. *Physical Review Letters* stood at the very top of the physics world, a journal that almost never published work from anyone except the most famous scientists—never ordinary students, unless their research was nothing short of groundbreaking.

Shirley's acceptance was proof of just how extraordinary her work was. Cabinda University’s physics department had only seen a handful of students published there in its whole history, and never a freshman. It was the kind of dream most physics students, and even career academics, would chase their whole lives and never reach.

With a success like that, Shirley had made the university proud on a whole new level. A three-hundred-thousand-dollar scholarship seemed almost small by comparison. She could have won triple that, and everyone would have nodded in agreement.

“I’m the sponsor of the scholarship,” Patricia said from her seat, her voice cool and authoritative. “But if Shirley didn’t have the skill, do you think she’d be standing here right now?”

No one dared speak. All the speculation and doubts evaporated.

Patricia then turned her eyes to Pandora, who looked lost and devastated. There was no anger, just a heavy sort of disappointment in her words. “Pandora, you can get by in life without money or influence, but you can't afford to have a bad heart. Once you start down that path, it only leads to regrets that you can’t undo.”

Pandora couldn’t meet her gaze. Tears kept falling, silent and helpless. No matter how unfair it felt, she knew the fight was over. In the end, she still lost to Shirley.

Gallagher looked equally defeated, too embarrassed to argue anymore. Before he left, he paused to ask Patricia, “Patricia, may I ask, what is your relationship with Charlotte?”

The moment Charlotte’s name was mentioned, Patricia’s whole face softened and brightened. She smiled, eyes shining with warmth. “Charlotte? She’s the baby of our family. Our little treasure.”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify