Chloe Sinclair had just returned to her room when Landon Sinclair knocked and came in.
He was carrying a pile of reference books.
"Chloe, I'm here to tutor you."
Landon Sinclair wasn't home often, and this was his first time in a girl's room, so he found it novel for a moment.
Mr. Sinclair had put a lot of thought into the room's decoration and layout for Chloe Sinclair's sake. The color scheme was primarily blue and yellow, creating a clean and simple style.
Chloe Sinclair cleared a spot for Landon Sinclair.
"We'll start with Physics today."
Physics was his field of research, and it was also the subject he understood most thoroughly.
He had bought a number of reference books that afternoon, specifically for this year's college entrance exams, so he started by helping Chloe Sinclair highlight all the key points.
Then, he started explaining the most basic problems.
These problems were extremely simple in Chloe Sinclair's eyes, but she couldn't let on that she understood them perfectly.
After all, she had scored a total of only ninety-nine points across all subjects not long ago. If she suddenly understood everything so thoroughly after just a few days, it would be strange if no one got suspicious.
So, Chloe Sinclair listened attentively, occasionally raising small questions.
Although the questions were simple, Chloe Sinclair's inquiries were quite tricky. Sometimes, even Landon Sinclair would hesitate for a moment before answering.
After nearly three hours of tutoring, Landon Sinclair increasingly felt that there must be something wrong with how her school teachers were teaching.
After all, he was following the official exam syllabus and textbooks.
Three hours later, he felt his little sister was absorbing the material well. Some of her questions even surprised him.
'With this level of understanding, she ranked last?'
'This has to be some kind of joke, right?'
If she knew what her second brother was grumbling about internally, she wouldn't know whether to laugh or cry.
In her past life, she naturally wouldn't have been able to ask such questions.
But this life was different.
She had the God of Study System, which multiplied her learning time several dozen times over. Anyone with such a cheat would probably improve at lightning speed.
Finally, Landon Sinclair had Chloe Sinclair complete a test paper.
As a result, Chloe Sinclair got every question right.
The paper was full of the most basic questions, but Landon Sinclair was still thrilled.
He covered the paper in red checkmarks, his words full of praise. "Chloe, you're very smart."
Chloe Sinclair accepted the compliment without any qualms.
In her previous life, she had passed the college entrance exams on her own merit.
Although she had just barely scraped into a top-tier university, no one knew that she had clawed her way up from dead last in the entire school to the top one hundred in just three months.
And she had done it all while under the pressure of being bullied at school.
Later, with Jasper Shaw's support, she still didn't give up on her studies.
Once her studies bore fruit, Jasper Shaw even set up a company for her under the Shaw Group.
In less than a year, the core technology she developed had already begun to turn a profit.
That single piece of core technology won numerous awards, both large and small.
But even a Genius needs to work hard.
Therefore, Chloe Sinclair said, "I'll keep working hard."
Landon Sinclair was very gratified. He glanced at the clock on the wall and ruffled the little girl's hair. "It's getting late. Rest up. We'll continue tomorrow."
"Okay."
After Landon Sinclair left, Chloe Sinclair took a shower and lay quietly in bed.
Before long, she was sound asleep.
She woke up at five in the morning.
Without hesitation, she sprang out of bed, quickly changed into her workout clothes, put on her running shoes, and crept downstairs.
At five o'clock, the sky was pitch-black, but the villa's road was illuminated by streetlights every few meters, casting an orange-yellow glow.
Chloe Sinclair confidently made her way to the sports field, did a full set of stretches, and started running.
To her surprise, her run today was clearly much easier than yesterday's. She ran twenty laps around the sports field in just half an hour.
Aside from the sweat on her forehead, she didn't feel the slightest bit tired.
At six o'clock, Ethan Sinclair ran into his little sister on the field.
He was slightly surprised to see her running there.
After all, from the looks of it, she had already been running for a while.
Chloe Sinclair saw him at the same time and walked over, twisting open a bottle of mineral water and taking a drink.
"I thought you'd be sleeping in today."
He hadn't seen Chloe Sinclair when he got up early this morning.
He had been a little disappointed, but he also knew that his second brother had tutored their little sister for a long time yesterday, so he hadn't disturbed her.
Who would have thought that Chloe Sinclair had already gotten up and started exercising?
Looking at the beads of sweat on Chloe Sinclair's face, he felt a little impressed.
For a young girl to be able to get up so early to exercise, it showed how strong her willpower was.
And what surprised him next was that his little sister actually kept pace with him during his run today.
Although she was panting by the end, he was still utterly shocked.
At that moment, he truly felt that Chloe Sinclair was different from before.
——
Back at the Sinclair residence, the two of them went upstairs together.
Mr. Sinclair and Landon Sinclair were sitting on the sofa, reading the newspaper.
Nina Sinclair was still absent from the dining table today.
She hadn't returned from her piano competition yet.
Chloe Sinclair happily hummed a tune.
But when she realized Summer Beckett hadn't come to class, her smile instantly froze.
Like her, Summer Beckett always showed up to class right as the bell rang.
So they ran into each other at the classroom door almost every day.
At first, she didn't think much of it, but even after the morning classes were over, Summer Beckett still hadn't come to school.
The empty seat in front of her made her a little frantic.
She hadn't spent much time with Summer Beckett, but after the past few days, she genuinely considered her a friend.
The memory of Summer Beckett's tragic death in her past life filled her with unease.
After class, she asked a few of Summer Beckett's usual underlings, but they all said they didn't know where she was.
One of them even thought Chloe Sinclair was making a big deal out of nothing.
"Our boss just showed up for a few days of school. You didn't actually start thinking she's a model student, did you?"
"Yeah, the boss comes and goes as she pleases. Who do you think you are, trying to meddle in her business?"
"You really think our boss sees you as a friend? Dream on. Do you think you're worthy?"
Clearly, these students didn't take Chloe Sinclair seriously, openly and covertly mocking her for being shameless.
Chloe Sinclair ignored the words of a few little punks; instead, she grew even more worried about Summer Beckett.
She sent Summer Beckett several messages, but received no reply.
"Where does she usually go?"
At first, the students didn't take her seriously, but when they saw Chloe Sinclair's pitch-black eyes, they shivered for some inexplicable reason.
One of the male students stepped forward and stammered, "The back gate of the school... there's a small alley. If you climb the wall, there's an internet cafe. The boss... the boss plays games there."
Chloe Sinclair shot them a cold glance, then left without looking back.
After she was completely gone, the male student who had spoken immediately patted his chest and let out a long sigh of relief.
"Have you guys noticed that Chloe Sinclair is way fiercer than before?"
Everyone nodded in vehement agreement.
——
「The school's back gate」
Seeing no one around, Chloe Sinclair looked at the locked iron gate and hesitated.
In her past life, even though her grades were poor, she had been a well-behaved student. She had never smoked, drank, or even permed her hair, let alone climbed a wall.
But the thought of Summer Beckett possibly being in danger erased all of Chloe Sinclair's hesitation. She pushed off, took a running start, and with quick eyes and fast hands, grabbed the top of the fence, landing on the other side in the blink of an eye.
She glanced at the security camera.
And then... sprinted away.