Ch. 971..980

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 971-After she calmed down, Corinne walked back and sat on the sofa hand-in-hand with Jeremy. “Mister Lucas, you don’t even live here. Why would you keep a dog here?” she asked curiously.

Lucas stroked Ralphy’s head. “He’s not mine.” Corinne raised her eyebrow. “But he lives here.” “A friend of mine went on an overseas trip and asked if Ralphy could stay in this apartment for the time being,” explained Lucas patiently. “Someone will come every day to feed and walk him, while I’ll drop by from time to time to make sure he’s okay.”

To Corinne, Lucas was a person who had a very strong class consciousness.

He would never do something that did not benefit him, so why would he agree to take care of his friend’s dog?

“Which friend is this? Is it a man or a woman?” asked Corinne curiously.

Lucas was a little surprised Corinne would ask him those questions, but he smiled nonetheless. “So you’re finally interested in my personal life?” Corinne frowned and twisted off the cap of her soda bottle. “I was only asking for the fun of it. You can choose not to answer if you don’t want to.” Lucas would not dare to not answer Corinne’s question, of course. “It’s a woman.” Corinne narrowed her eyes. “And are you two dating?” Lucas shook his head. “No. We’re just friends.” Corinne pursed her lips, tasting the sweetness of the soda. “I don’t believe you.” After all, why would someone like Lucas be willing to take care of Ralphy if his owner was just a ‘friend’?

‘There must be more to their relationship than just a friend,’ she thought.

Lucas smiled. “I’m telling the truth. Plus, she’s already married.” Corinne frowned. “I can’t say I condone this behavior of being a homewrecker.” Lucas frowned. “Trust me, nothing is going on between us. Plus, you’ll be the first to know if I’m dating anyone.” Corinne pouted. She suddenly lost all interest in the topic. After giving her awful soda to Jeremy, she got up from the sofa and called Ralphy over to the balcony to play with her.

At that moment, only Jeremy and Lucas were left in the living room.

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Lucas leaned back on the sofa tiredly. “How’s Holden Group’s share price now?

Did you manage to get everything under control?” Jeremy took a sip of Corinne’s soda before answering, “Yes. It was difficult, but not something unmanageable.” It was rare for Lucas to show kindness to Jeremy. “Let me know if you need any help. I’ll get Edmund to do anything that needs doing.” Jeremy was surprised. He then looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a new perspective. “Mister Lucas, in what capacity are you talking to me now? As Corinne’s brother?” “My family must bear the responsibility for your company’s falling share price since Anya was behind the online scandal. And you know, one thing led to another…” Lucas pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly. “Of course, I wouldn’t have wanted you to be my brother-in-law, but since Corinne chose you, I have no choice but to respect her choice.” Jeremy chuckled softly. “Mister Lucas, where are your principles? Remember how you kept pressuring me to take responsibility for Anya, the apple of your eye? How can you change your stance just because you found out Corinne was your long-lost sister? Do you really think Corinne would be grateful to you just because of this?” Lucas did not know what to say. He knew he was being contradictory, and this caused him endless regret. “Sorry. I admit that I was wrong back then.”

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 972-Jeremy’s eyes darkened. “Corinne doesn’t want to accept you as her brother.

Even if she does, I’ll never allow her to do that!” Lucas frowned. “Why? Is it because you’re afraid the bad blood between our families will affect your relationship with Corinne?” “Nothing can ever affect my relationship with Corinne. But, if she accepts your family as hers, it’ll make her position awkward in my family. I can protect her when I’m with her, but it’s not like I can bring her along wherever I go.

“Plus, I know her; she won’t like for me to do that too. Given how hard her life was when she was young, I think it’s best if we don’t add any more trouble for her. It’s not wrong to keep the status quo too, you know.”

After mulling over it, Lucas concluded that what Jeremy said was reasonable.

“I’m all for keeping the status quo for now, but I won’t stand by and do nothing if you hurt you.” Jeremy drank a mouthful of the soda before saying confidently, “That’ll never happen.” After a while, Edmund arrived at the apartment with the private nurse.

Corinne relayed the doctor’s orders to Edmund before leaving with Jeremy.

At first, Edmund was a little surprised to find Jeremy in Lucas’ apartment but less so after discovering Corinne was there too.

‘This apartment holds a special meaning to Mister Lucas,’ he thought. ‘He rarely allows anyone to come here. Even Miss Anya hasn’t been here before. Miss Corinne, however, is his long-lost sister and the person he cares about the most. It’s not surprising he’d allow her to come here.’ “Mister Lucas, how did you hurt your foot? Has the driver been caught yet?

Should I ask someone to look into it,” Edmund asked.

“Jeremy will take care of that. Edmund, did you or the rest of the patrol team come across anyone suspicious when patrolling around the Holdens’ mansion in the last few days?” replied Lucas.

Edmund shook his head. “None so far.” Lucas narrowed his eyes. “Continue with the patrol, and remind them to be vigilant.” “Yes, Mister Lucas!” … Three days later, Corinne held a press conference at Central Park. Before that, Aaron was tasked with inviting all the major media players at home and abroad as exam invigilators. The press conference was scheduled for eight o’clock in the morning, but the park was already jam-packed with reporters and camera persons a little past seven o’clock.

Corinne was just a nobody to them. Before the scandal broke out, there was no information about her at all. The only people who knew her were limited to her lecturers and ex-classmates at University of New Capital City.

Thus, the only reason why the major media players would be interested in her was because there was a rumor going around online that she was Jeremy Holden’s wife. The Holden Group was the richest and more powerful company in the country, so any news about it would definitely attract attention.

This morning, Jeremy drove to his company after dropping Corinne off at Central Park. Aaron and Xante’s car was parked nearby, and Corinne went to look for them before the reporters found out she was there already.

It was not even half past seven when she got into their car, and she had no plans of getting out of the car until the press conference began. She knew she would be hounded by the reporters to get an exclusive interview should she get out before then.

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 973-Aaron and Xante both turned to look at the yawning Corinne after she got into the car.

“Boss, you’re here alone? Why didn’t the Holdens arrange an entourage to support you? Where’s Mister Jeremy?” asked Aaron unhappily.

Xante was similarly displeased, too. “Yeah. Why didn’t the Holdens come, too?

Are they worried you’ll lose the competition, that this is their way of leaving themselves a way out?” Corinne shook her head tiredly. “You guys are overthinking things. It was Jeremy who dropped me off. I don’t think this competition is a big deal, so I asked him to go to work.”

Aaron frowned. “So he went to work just like you asked him to? Does he even love you? How can he abandon you to the reporters? Isn’t he worried that they’ll eat you up?” Corinne raised her eyebrow nonchalantly. “As if I’ll let them eat me up.” Aaron shrugged. “I know you won’t ’cause you’re a true straight-A student, but it’s not like Jeremy knows you as I do!” “It’s not like he can do much if he stays for the competition. His presence will only fuel the flames. The main thing is I don’t want the media to tie me too closely with the Holdens. This way, there’ll be a less likely chance of Holden Group’s share price dropping again should I get involved in another scandal. It’s best to keep them guessing whether I’m really married to Jeremy.” After thinking it over, Aaron thought what Corinne said made sense. “Fine. But my heart really goes out to you, Boss. I mean, what’s the point of having a husband if you can’t lean on him in times like this?” Corinne side-eyed him. “Just mind your own business. What’s the status of the thing I asked you to do last time?” Aaron smiled. “Which one, Boss? You asked me to do so many that I don’t know which one you’re talking about.” Of course, he knew exactly which ‘thing’ Corinne was talking about.

Corinne’s eyes darkened. “Stop playing dumb! Is Annie still working at the company?” Aaron shrugged. “Yeah.” Corinne narrowed her eyes. “What’s her position?” Aaron smiled. “Um… My… My secretary.” Corinne frowned. “Do my words mean nothing to you? Why do you insist on playing with her feelings?” Aaron waved both of his hands. “No! That’s not it. I won’t ever dare to play with your niece’s feelings. There’s a good reason I asked her to be my secretary.” Corinne glared at him threateningly. “A good reason?” Aaron sighed. “Yeah. You told me to make her hate me in a way that wouldn’t hurt her pride, right? So I asked her to be my secretary. That way, she can get to know my true colors little by little. Eventually, she’ll come to hate me so much that she’ll resign on her own accord. But if I fire her, it’ll only make her want me even more. I mean, no woman would be willing to give up on such a charming guy as myself after all.” Both Corinne and Xante looked suspiciously at him.

“And how are you going to show her your true colors?” Aaron smirked lewdly. “Well… I plan to…” He then covered up his face shyly.

“Gah, I’m too embarrassed to say…” Corinne was speechless.

Xante rolled her eyes at him. “Boss, he plans to bring a different woman back to his office every day and do unspeakable things to them. It’s all very cheap, if you ask me.” “That’s not true, Xante, and you know it! Do you really think I’ll do something like that in the office? Yes, I’m going to bring a different woman back every day, but I’m not actually going to do anything to them! It’s all just an act to make Annie hate me, remember?” Xante frowned in disgust. “That still doesn’t make you innocent, you know.”

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 974-Aaron put his hands under his cheeks. “But I’ve always been very innocent.” Xante pretended to puke. Suddenly, she saw what was happening outside the car from the corner of her eyes. “Boss, Josephine and her mother are here,” she said solemnly.

Corinne looked out the window and saw Josephine and her mother surrounded by the reporters.

Josephine and her mother kept to their version of the story whenever the reporters asked them any questions regarding the scandal. Also, they announced confidently that Josephine would come out as the winner today.

In fact, Josephine had changed. She was no longer the timid girl who only knew how to cry at the smallest provocation. She was fielding the questions confidently as though she had already won the competition.

Xante pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses. “She looks confident. According to our research, she was an average student at school. There’s a chance she might cheat on the test.” Corinne nodded. “Well, let’s just see how she plans to pull that off when the test is being broadcasted live.” After that, she got out of the car.

Seeing this, the reporters rushed over to her side. However, just when they were about to reach her, a wall of burly men suddenly appeared to block their path.

Corinne was surprised to see them there. ‘Jeremy, Lucas, or both of them must’ve hired these men to protect me…’ She was grateful either way since this meant she could walk up to the stage without getting harassed by the reporters.

There was a standing microphone in the middle of the stage and a table on either side of it. Corinne sat at the table on the left to wait quietly for the test to begin.

Seeing this, Josephine and her mother also went up to the stage. Josephine sat at the table on the right while her mother glared threateningly at Corinne.

“Corinne, there’s still time for you to save yourself. You only need to own up to your mistake before the test begins. Otherwise, it’ll be worse once you lose to my daughter.” Corinne smiled. “That’s still too early to say. How do you know I’ll lose to your daughter for sure?” Josephine’s mother scoffed, rolled her eyes, and turned her face away.

The host who presided over the press conference was arranged by the Riveras.

After the host walked up to the stage, he first asked Josephine’s mother to step off the stage before doing a sound check on the microphone and adjusting the height of it.

“Ahem! Ladies and gentlemen, I’ll need you all to take your seats and keep the noise level to a minimum. The competition between Miss Corinne and Miss Josephine is about to begin! This competition will be broadcasted live to ensure the fairness, transparency, and impartiality of the test results!” To not delay the competition starting since that was what they went there for, the reporters quickly returned to their seats.

The host introduced the teacher who came up with the test paper, as well as the subjects Corinne and Josephine would be tested on. After that, he held up the test paper to the camera to show that they would each receive the same test paper before giving it out to them.

Josephine’s eyes immediately lit up with confidence when she saw the questions on the test paper. She then peeked at Corinne to see her reaction.

Corinne was yawning with her cheek resting on one hand while her other hand was spinning her pen lethargically. She looked like the bad student who always slept in class. In fact, she did not seem to be taking the test seriously.

‘She must be stumped by the questions,’ thought Josephine gleefully as her victory was even more assured. She then picked up her pen and began to answer the questions.

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 975-The comment section on the live broadcast exploded with all sorts of comments.

[Corinne looks like she’s just fooling around. Is she even taking this test seriously?] [What more can you expect from a problem student like her? A leopard can’t change its spots. We shouldn’t expect her to win this competition.] [Yeah. Compared to her, Josephine looks like a straight-A student.] [Look at how serious and confident Josephine is!] [I think so, too. I support Josephine. Down with all the evil capitalists!]

[I’m an alumnus of the University of New Capital City, so I can say with certainty Corinne is a true straight-A student!] [Hey, did Corinne pay you to say that? How much is she paying you?] [You’ll all see for yourself what I said was true once the test result came out.] [Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Josephine is a straight-A student too, you know.] [Go, Corinne! Everyone from the University of New Capital City is rooting for you.] [Yo, look how united those people from the University of New Capital City are. I wonder if they’re getting any benefits for showing support to the evil capitalists.] [We’re showing support for Corinne, not the evil capitalists!] [Same difference! She wouldn’t have gotten to where she is now if it weren’t for the Holden Group pulling strings to get her into the University of New Capital City. Showing support for her is as good as showing support for the evil capitalists!] [I bet they’re kissing *ss right now in the hopes of getting a job offer from Holden Group after they graduate.] [Huh! And they call themselves students of an elite university. They’re a joke, that’s what they are!] [Everyone, stop fighting! We’ll know for sure who’s lying after the test result comes out. You can all continue with this war afterward.] [He’s right! Go, Josephine! Show the evil capitalist that we regular folks aren’t to be messed with either!] [Corinne will win for sure!] [Josephine will win for sure!] … Both Corinne and Josephine had no idea of the war going on in the comment section.

Cedric, Beatrice, Greg, and Pamela were watching the live broadcast and waiting for the result at home too.

Lucas, who was off work due to his injury, was watching the live broadcast from his apartment while stroking Ralphy.

Jeremy was not at work, too. He was in his car and watching the live broadcast on the car’s TV with one hand on his cheek.

The minutes ticked by, and both Corinne and Josephine were nearly at the end of the test.

The test paper consisted of three pages. For the sake of convenience, the test was not divided into subjects but of various subjects cobbled together.

Josephine was the first to finish the test. She got up and handed her test paper to the host.

Immediately afterward, Corinne put down her pen and put up her hand to let the host know she finished her test as well.

The host went to pick up her paper, and he asked the high-school teacher who came up with the test paper to go up the stage so he could mark both of the papers live.

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 977-[Well, we’re just talking based on the situational evidence! Josephine is so much smarter than Corinne since she got a perfect score even after not studying for such a long time.] [Yeah! That makes Josephine the real straight A-student here!] Meanwhile, the Riveras, who were watching the competition at home, all sported different expressions when they heard the result.

Both Cedric and Beatrice frowned. They were leaning toward Corinne’s side, but after the results were revealed, they did not know who to believe anymore.

Maxwell continued to drink his coffee while he watched the TV screen worriedly.

‘Why does Corinne keep on yawning? Is she so nervous that she didn’t get to

sleep last night?’ Anya and Phoebe exchanged glances with each other. They had expected Josephine to get a perfect score since Phoebe managed to get the test paper from the high-school teacher before the competition. After that, she got someone to fill in all the questions with the correct answer before sending the test paper to Josephine for her to memorize the whole thing.

However, they were disappointed to know Corinne got a perfect score too. They thought she would not be able to pull off such a feat and that she might make a mistake or two. They would have come out as the winner! In the end, the competition ended in a draw, and they did not know what next step they should take.

After thinking it over, Phoebe asked, “Mom, Dad. Who do you think won the competition?” “Didn’t you hear what the host said? Both of them got perfect scores, so it’s a draw,” answered Cedric.

“Yes. They showed us both of their test papers, and they did indeed get perfect scores,” added Beatrice.

Phoebe shook her head. “I know they both got perfect scores, but I still think there’s a way to find out who’s really the winner.” Cedric frowned. “How?” Phoebe opened up the comment section for them to read. “Look, most of the commenters say Josephine is the real winner since she still got a perfect score after spending the last few years farming. Corinne only graduated from university this year, which meant she had been receiving the best education money can buy in the last few years, so it’s not surprising she got a perfect score. Compared to her, doesn’t Josephine’s score hold more weight?” “Mom’s right,” said Anya, agreeing with Phoebe. “Corinne must’ve worried she would be exposed if she scored too low in her university exams, so she must’ve gotten her up to speed with high school material after she got into the University of New Capital City. Josephine had spent the last few years working in the field, yet she still managed to get a perfect score. Do you know how hard that is to achieve?” Cedric and Beatrice exchanged glances with each other while suspicions about Corinne started blooming in their hearts.

Maxwell looked at the troublemaker Phoebe with disgust but said nothing.

Meanwhile, at the Holdens’ mansion.

Greg smacked his wheelchair armrest heavily. “I told you so! This competition will only bring more humiliation to our family name! What is Corinne going to do now that the other girl got a perfect score too?!” “Oh, calm down. It’s not like Corinne failed to get a perfect score too,” said Pamela with a frown.

Greg scoffed. “That’s like comparing apples and oranges! It’s not surprising your granddaughter-in-law will get a perfect score since she just graduated this year.

The other girl has spent the last few years working on her family’s farm!” “You do know she’s both of our granddaughter-in-law, right?” “No. I’ll never accept some random girl I don’t know as my granddaughter-inlaw.”

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 978-Back at the press conference, a reporter asked, “Miss Corinne, Miss Josephine, do you have anything to say for yourself now that we can’t find out for sure who it was that got into the University of New Capital City since the competition ended in a draw?” Josephine quickly put up her hand, and the host passed her the microphone.

“I think I should be crowned as the winner as I turned in the test paper first,” said Josephine with a slight accent. “And also because I answered all the questions based on all the knowledge I gained in high school. In the time that Corinne was studying at the University of New Capital City, I was working on my family’s farm, yet she handed in the test paper later than me.”

The reporters all nodded along to what she said. They felt she must be telling the truth since she defended herself so confidently.

“Miss Josephine is right. Straight-A students are always the first to hand in their test papers since they go through the questions very fast.” “Yeah, I think Miss Josephine is smarter than Corinne, too!” “Yeah! She makes taking the test paper look so easy, even though she hasn’t been studying for the past few years. I mean, if it were me, I would’ve long forgotten all that I’ve learned in high school.” “Me too! To be honest, I can’t even answer half of the questions on the test they were taking!” “Seems like Miss Josephine was the person who got into the University of New Capital City!” “Miss Corinne, do you have anything to say?” asked a reporter.

However, he failed to receive a reply from Corinne since she was fast asleep on the table.

Pregnancy had made her crave more sleep than usual. Coupled with the fact that she had woken up very early this morning, she dozed off after turning in her test paper.

The reporter frowned. “Well, that’s rude of you. Serves you right for losing the competition, then!” The host blushed with embarrassment. He quickly walked over and knocked on Corinne’s table. “Miss Corinne? Miss Corinne. Wake up, please.” It was only then Corinne woke up. She looked tiredly at the host. “What’s up?” The host frowned. “Miss Corinne, this isn’t the time nor the place to be sleeping.

A reporter asked you a question just now, so please answer him.” Corinne raised her eyebrow. “Oh. What did the reporter ask me?” She was really fast asleep, so she did not hear the question. Her nonchalant attitude started to get on everyone’s nerves.

“The reporter asked you whether you have anything to say for yourself now that you and Miss Josephine both got perfect scores,” the host explained.

Corinne narrowed her eyes. “We both got perfect scores?”

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 980-Josephine started to panic a little. “A… A retest?” Corinne nodded. “Yeah. We should do a retest since this one ended up in a draw. I’m sure everyone was hoping there will be a clear winner in today’s competition. Don’t you think so?” Josephine’s gaze started to dart around. “Umm… I…” At that moment, Josephine’s mother ran up to the stage. “Don’t be a sore loser, Corinne!” Corinne smiled. “But I didn’t lose. We both got perfect scores.”

“Even so, everyone seems to think my daughter is the clear winner. You say you want to do a retest again? How? It takes time for the teacher to come up with the test paper, so it’s not like you and Josephine can take another test immediately.” Corinne smiled. “I didn’t say we need the teacher to come up with another set of questions. We can just use the ones who did before.” Josephine’s mother was caught off guard by her answer. She had no idea where Corinne was going with this. “Then what’s the point of doing the retest? The two of you will just get perfect scores again. Or do you want to compete to see who hands in the test paper the fastest?” The reporters and camera people were confused by Corinne’s suggestion, too.

“Yeah, what’s the point of doing a retest with the same questions?” “I bet she’s just doing this to buy herself some time. Is she going to ask for another retest if this second test ends up in a draw too? When will it ever end?” “Why can’t she just be honest and admit her wrongdoing? Everyone will probably forgive her if she makes a sincere apology.” Corinne turned to face the audience and shouted to get heard over the noise, “There’s no need to come up with new questions since we only need to replace the numbers in the question with new numbers!” This confused everyone even more.

“That’s even more pointless!” “Corinne Carew, why can’t you just accept the fact that Josephine is smarter than you?” “What’s the point of changing the numbers since you can just get to the new answer using the same formula as before?” Corinne picked up her pen and started twirling it. “Oh, but there is a point. A person who has a solid and real understanding of the theory behind the formula would be able to get to the new answer even when the numbers had changed.

And I promise you all, I’ll admit defeat if we both get perfect scores in the retest.” Everyone exchanged glances.

“Miss Josephine, do the retest! You have nothing to fear since you’re smarter than her! Make her eat her words!” “Yeah! You should do it! We’re all rooting for you!” “You have nothing to lose since Miss Corinne said she’ll admit defeat if you both get perfect scores!” Josephine could not get out of the retest anymore, not when everyone was cheering her on.

Corinne, still twirling her pen, looked at her quietly. “Miss Josephine, are you perhaps scared of competing against me again?” Josephine did not say anything. ‘Oh no, what should I do?! I have no idea how to calculate the answer at all… It was only through memorization of the answer that I managed to get a perfect score!’ Seeing this, Josephine’s mother immediately said with annoyance, “My daughter is tired. She doesn’t have the energy to do a retest.”