Vera Xavier made a face at Zachary Preston. "Dad, you’ve asked that question several times this morning! Everything’s ready!"

Zachary Preston laughed. "You little rascal, getting impatient, are we? Alright, it’s about time. Let’s go!"

The father and daughter walked out together. When Cara Preston saw how harmoniously they got along, a bitter feeling welled up inside her. She bit her lip and followed them.

When the three of them reached the main gate, Nathaniel Nathan was already waiting there. "Vera Xavier, I’ll take you to the exam."

Before Vera Xavier could say anything, Cara Preston had already chimed in gleefully, "Thank you, Brother Nathaniel!"

Zachary Preston felt mortified hearing Cara Preston’s words, but it wasn’t a good time to say anything. He left his bicycle with the gate guard and got into Nathaniel Nathan’s car with them.

Nathaniel Nathan had absolutely no intention of giving Cara Preston a ride. But since Zachary Preston was also there, kicking Cara out of the car would have embarrassed Zachary, so he had to tolerate it.

Cara Preston was finally in Nathaniel Nathan’s car. ’I’m one step closer to him,’ she thought. Unfortunately, the wounds on her face hadn’t fully healed yet, and that annoying Vera Xavier was sitting right beside her!

After getting in the car, Zachary Preston said politely, "Nathaniel, this is very thoughtful of you."

"Vera has her exam, and I happened to be home. It’s only right that I give her a ride." Nathaniel Nathan respected Zachary Preston, so he spoke politely as well.

Both Vera Xavier and Cara Preston were assigned to the exam site at No. 2 High School. No. 2 High School was a bit farther from the Preston Family home than No. 1 High School, but by car, there wasn’t much of a difference.

The college entrance exam in the nineties was taken seriously, but its fanfare was nothing compared to the post-2000 era. Some students didn’t even have family to see them off and just came to the exam site on their own.

As Vera Xavier was getting out of the car, Nathaniel Nathan called out to her, "Vera Xavier!"

Vera Xavier turned to look at him. He pulled a rose-gold Parker pen from his pocket and handed it to her. "It doesn’t matter if you get first in the province or not. Just do your best."

He was usually disingenuous when he spoke to her, so hearing him say something so sincere today—whether it was encouragement or comfort—made the corners of her mouth lift. She gave a slight nod. "Don’t worry. I won’t let you down."

Cara Preston saw that beautiful Parker pen and was overcome with jealousy. She had once seen a Parker pen at Elise Langdon’s house that wasn’t even as nice as this one, and Elise had treasured it like it was priceless, saying the pen cost several hundred yuan! 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

And the fountain pens she used had never cost more than ten yuan!

She once again put her "fine tradition" on display, hopping in front of Nathaniel Nathan with a coquettish pout and asking, "Brother Nathaniel, where’s mine?"

Nathaniel Nathan didn’t even spare her a glance, offering her a single word: "Scram."

Cara Preston’s face instantly turned pale. Vera Xavier chimed in from the side, "Nathaniel Nathan, be a little gentler. Cara has a heart condition."

Still not even glancing at Cara Preston, Nathaniel Nathan said, "Then she can scram a little more gently!"

Vera Xavier’s mouth twitched. Zachary Preston interjected from the side, "The exam is about to start. You two should hurry inside and find your classrooms and seats!"

Vera Xavier leaned close to Cara Preston’s ear and whispered, "I bet right now you’re weighing the pros and cons: faking a heart attack and fainting to get Nathaniel Nathan’s attention versus taking a gamble on the college entrance exam."

Cara Preston looked at Vera Xavier in shock. It felt awful to have her innermost thoughts exposed like that! Her hands unconsciously clenched into fists.