As expected, Jeffrey's so-called shortcut didn't help at all.

Inside the bus, the earlier noise was gone, replaced by unease on every face.

With every tick of the digital clock, their expressions turned a shade paler.

"Are we really going to miss it?" the class secretary, Kole Steele, asked the driver in despair.

He only got a mocking laugh in return.

If they hadn't wasted 15 minutes insisting on waiting, none of this would have happened.

By the time the bus reached the exam venue, the entrance had already been locked down. No more candidates were allowed in.

Heidi stepped off the bus, her face drained of color. She stared at the barricade in disbelief. "How is this happening?"

Kole tried to rush past the line, but the police stopped him. "The SAT has already started. No one is allowed in."

More students got off the bus, their legs barely holding them up.

Just like Heidi had said, this exam could change everything with a single point difference. And they had just missed it entirely.

I looked at them coldly, a trace of satisfaction flashing through my eyes.

Weren't they all so willing to gamble their futures with Jeffrey? So why were they crying now?

Then Heidi suddenly spoke. "Everyone, calm down. We were late for a reason. We can explain it to the teachers and ask for a retake."

A spark of hope lit up everyone's faces. Like drowning people grabbing a lifeline, they quickly shouted that they needed to see a teacher.

But before they could move, our school principal, Hayden Wright, arrived with a group of teachers, his face dark with anger.

For some reason, seeing his expression made Heidi's stomach drop.

"You delayed departure by 15 minutes on purpose. What exactly were you thinking? Don't even think about a retake. You're lucky we're not marking this as deliberate refusal. A three-year ban from the SAT would have been the minimum."

After Mr. Wright finished, the parents waiting in the rain outside the venue began pointing at them and whispering.

"You can be late for something this important? You're not taking your future seriously at all."

"If my son did this, I'd drag him home and beat him senseless."

The parents' words pushed everyone deeper into despair.

Kole grabbed Heidi by the collar and shouted, "Heidi Moore, didn't you say Finley was just jealous and lying and told us to trust Jeffrey and wait? So why can't we even enter the exam venue now?"

The others turned on Heidi too, their faces full of rage.

Heidi stood there, completely drained. Her head was lowered in regret.

Jeffrey choked up, his voice trembling. "How could a road that's never usually jammed just happen to be blocked on the one day I was late?"

It sounded like self-blame, but it was clearly steering the blame elsewhere.

Suddenly, Heidi raised her head and locked her bloodshot eyes on me. "Finley, was it you? You're jealous of Jeff and want him to miss the exam! When it didn't work at school, you had your mom send people to block the road!

"How could you be so vicious? You gambled with the futures of the entire class just because of petty jealousy!"

I couldn't help but feel how absurd it all was.

Heidi had actually come up with something this ridiculous just to defend Jeffrey.

"It wasn't me."

I tried to explain, but Jeffrey grabbed my hair and yanked me toward the bus.

Mr. Wright stepped in to stop him, but Heidi shouted with bloodshot eyes, "I saw it myself! He texted his mom. He's the one who ruined everything for our entire class. Are you seriously going to protect someone like this, Mr. Wright?"

The others silently surrounded me while coldly watching Mr. Wright and the teachers. They were showing their stance through their actions.

Jeffrey looked at me with feigned anguish and said, "Finley, I know you don't like me. But even if you wanted revenge, you shouldn't drag everyone else down with you."

Heidi's expression turned sharp as she helped Jeffrey press me toward the side of the bus.

With a loud bang, my head slammed hard against the metal frame. Blood immediately ran down my skin.

But I still heard Heidi's furious voice. "Finley, you got everyone to miss the exam. Even if you're my boyfriend, I'm not letting this slide."

She shoved me again and again into the bus, each impact making the pain feel unbearable.

But I knew I couldn't give in here.

The reason Heidi was pushing this lie so hard was simple. She needed to clear Jeffrey's name.

After all, they had all stayed behind for him.

I forced myself to shout, "You were the ones who delayed the departure! This has nothing to do with me!"

Heidi gritted her teeth. "Stop denying it."

At that moment, Jeffrey suddenly pointed his phone camera straight at me. "Chat, this is the guy. He's jealous of me, so he sabotaged the whole class and made everyone miss the SAT."

I looked up just in time to catch the flash of satisfaction in his eyes.

By now, Jeffrey had stopped pretending.

The SAT was a trending topic, and his livestream instantly exploded. Tens of thousands of viewers flooded in, and the chat filled with hateful comments.

"How pitiful. Following for support."

"He ruined everyone's future over jealousy? What a disgusting person."

"Which school is this? Who are his parents? Someone send me the address. I'll kill him."

Kole rushed forward like he had lost his mind. "This is the SAT! How could you do something so cruel?"

The other students didn't step in, but their eyes alone looked like they wanted to tear me apart.

In just a few minutes, Jeffrey's stream hit over 300 thousand viewers. Most of the comments were curses, even dragging Mom into it.

Behind the camera, Jeffrey's expression grew more and more satisfied. He clearly thought he had already won.

"You evil piece of trash. You deserve to die."

Just as Heidi raised her hand again to slam my head into the bus, a voice suddenly cut through the crowd. "Stop!"

Mom pushed through the students with a group of bodyguards and rushed straight to me.

Seeing the blood on my forehead, she pulled me into her arms. "How dare you lay your hands on my son?"

Kole rasped, "Finley made us miss the SAT. He deserves it!"

"He will never do that!"

Mom lifted her phone and raised her voice. "The one who caused you all to miss the SAT is Jeffrey. I have surveillance footage as proof."