Back in the present, seeing that I remained silent, Mr. Smith assumed I was admitting to cheating. He knocked on my desk in bitter disappointment.

"I know you're stressed about the SAT exam, Isabelle. But with your excellent grades, you'll have no problem getting into top colleges as long as you perform normally. You have no reason to do this at all," he said.

I snapped out of my initial shock and came back to my senses. Frowning, I gave a slight nod and didn't bother explaining myself.

Just like how things unfolded in my past life, no one would believe me even if I tried. After all, even my essay was identical to Marianne's.

Marianne raised her brows and chuckled coldly. "Who knows? Isabelle might have cheated on all of her past exams. I just happened to catch her red-handed this time."

As soon as her words fell, the way my classmates looked at me changed. Their gazes were now filled with suspicion and disdain.

Mr. Smith gave me a thoughtful look but said nothing else.

Now that I'd been reincarnated, I had to find a way to deal with this.

…

I'd planned to turn in an empty paper in the upcoming math exam in the afternoon. Marianne wouldn't be able to accuse me of cheating off her as long as I didn't answer anything.

When Mr. Smith saw that I wasn't answering, he walked over to remind me about it.

Marianne cast a sideways glance over and saw that my paper was still blank.

She immediately mocked me, saying, "Looks like I was right, Mr. Smith. Isabelle must have been cheating all along. The moment you start keeping an eye on her, she's unable to answer her papers."

Meeting her disdainful gaze, I picked up my pen and took a deep breath before scribbling nonsense on the paper. There was no way she could claim that I'd copied her if my answers were pure gibberish.

"There are only 15 minutes left. Please use your time wisely."

No sooner had the words left Mr. Smith's mouth than Marianne's hand shot up again from beside me.

She gritted her teeth as she glared at me and shouted, "Isabelle is truly shameless, Mr. Smith! She's copying from my paper again!"

Mr. Smith's expression fell. He picked up our papers and compared them.

I cast a sideways glance at Marianne, confident that her scheme would fail this time. After all, my answers were completely nonsensical.

Mr. Smith slammed the papers onto my desk in a fit of rage. "Isabelle!"

A sense of foreboding crept into me, and I swiftly grabbed the two papers. Even my nonsensical answers were identical to what was on Marianne's paper, word for word.

I was completely stunned. I'd clearly written complete gibberish. So why were my answers still the same as hers?

Mr. Smith's face flushed red with fury. "You're truly incorrigible, Isabelle! Go home and reflect on yourself! Don't bother coming back to school before the SAT exam!"

I numbly packed my things and got ready to head home.

I couldn't understand just how my nonsensical answers had still turned out to be identical to Marianne's.

Marianne called out to me before I left the classroom. She smiled, but it chilled me to the bone.

"Looks like you got your past grades by cheating, Isabelle. What would you do for the SAT exam then? It's the only chance for someone as dirt poor as you to change your fate. You'd be doomed if you can't cheat off anyone then!" She walked away with that cruel smile still on her face.

Marianne was right. The SAT was my only chance at changing my fate. I would be doomed if I missed it.

That was why I couldn't let history repeat itself.

Just as I stepped out of the school compound, a sharp voice rang out behind me. "Stop right there, Isabelle!"

I turned around and saw Lance, his face ashen.

He rushed over and pointed at me angrily. "How can you be so shameless? I always thought you were a good student and that you'd earned your grades. But it turns out you've been cheating all along. And of all people to cheat from, you chose Marie? How dare you, Isabelle!"

I let out a cold chuckle. I was truly blind to have liked him in my past life.

When Lance saw how I kept quiet, he continued to threaten me. "I'm warning you—I'll break up with you if you continue to bully Marie and copy her answers!"

I rolled my eyes and snapped, "No. I'm the one breaking up with you. From now on, stay away from me!"

Ignoring the stunned look on Lance's face, I turned around and left. At that moment, I was too busy trying to survive to waste my time arguing with him.

Once I returned home, I shut myself in to prepare for the upcoming exam.

…

Soon enough, it was the day of the SAT exam.

Just as I was about to enter the exam hall, a hand suddenly reached out to grab me. I knew it was Marianne from the all-too-familiar touch.

Her shrill voice rang as she coldly laughed. "You've been cheating all along, Isabelle. I'd like to see you try copying from me in the SAT exam this time!"

Lance's disdainful tone came right afterward. "Let's see how you'll cheat off Marie when the SAT is so strict. You're finished!"

I'd already taken the exam once during my past life. During the days I'd locked myself away at home, I'd reconstructed every subject's paper and memorized the answers by heart.

As soon as the bell rang, I confidently answered the paper in my seat. I was done with it in no time at all.

The bell finally rang after a long wait, signaling the end of the writing exam. But Marianne, who was seated on my left, raised her hand the moment the bell sounded.

"I want to report her for cheating off me, sir." Under everyone's watchful eyes, she pointed right at me.

The exam supervisors' faces fell as they hastily made their way over to us.

After checking the papers, they questioned me, "Ms. Larson, why are your answers the same as Ms. Quentin's? Even your essays are identical."

I wordlessly shook my head upon hearing the exact words from my past life. I wanted to know the answer to that question too.

Marianne shot up from her seat and pointed at me, yelling, "It's not the first time Isabelle has done this! She copied my paper during the mock exam and even got scolded by our homeroom teacher."

Everyone around us started agreeing with her.

"That's right! Isabelle cheated off Marianne a few days ago!"

"How could she be so shameless? She's even trying to cheat her way through the SAT exam!"

"Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained! If she manages to cheat her way to the top of the scoreboard, wouldn't that be a hell of a payoff?"

At that moment, Mr. Smith, who was patrolling the halls, rushed over to the classroom after hearing about it. Bitter disappointment tinged his voice as he said, "This is the SAT exam, Isabelle! And you still dared to cheat!"

He clutched his chest, too furious to say anything else.

Beside me, Marianne continued to fan the flames. "Isabelle has always been the top student in our school, but I've long suspected that her grades weren't real. She copied my answers during the mock exam, and I can't believe she still hasn't learned her lesson.

"It seems like she got all her past grades thanks to cheating. It's one thing to cheat during school exams, but she's even doing it during the SAT exam! Someone like her should be dealt with seriously, Mr. Smith. We should make an example out of her for everyone else!"

My classmates erupted in indignation and started pointing fingers at me.

"That's right! Isabelle is mocking the fairness of exams. She has to be dealt with seriously!"

"Someone as dishonest as her shouldn't even be allowed to take the SAT exam!"

Soon, our headmaster, Mr. Geoffrey Greene, hurried over after hearing about the commotion. His expression darkened when he learned of what had happened.

He said harshly, "I can't believe you did something like this when you're the top student in the entire grade, Ms. Larson. You've truly disappointed us. This matter will be dealt with seriously."

Marianne smirked smugly as she said, "You cheated in the exam. Not only will you be banned from taking the exam for the next few years, but you could even face legal consequences!"

Mr. Smith let out a sigh before he tried to persuade me. "If you play it nice and admit your mistakes quickly, maybe the punishment will be lighter."

At that moment, I finally broke my silence. I turned to look at Marianne and asked, "How are you sure that I was the one who copied from your paper?"

She crossed her arms and laughed coldly. "You really don't learn, do you? You were sitting on my right side, and I saw how you sneaked glances at my paper the whole time. And sure enough, your answers are identical to mine. Isn't this clear evidence?"

I asked, "You're saying that I sneaked glances at your paper while the exam supervisors weren't looking?"

Marianne nodded smugly. "Of course! Even the strictest exam supervisors can't stop someone as sly as you. I noticed you peeking during the exam, but I didn't want to disturb everyone else—so I waited until the end to report you.

"You have a good memory and a perfect vision—of course you could copy my paper word for word!"

I burst out laughing at her words. "My perfect vision? Are you sure that's what you're going for—that I copied your paper just because I have perfect vision?"

Marianne huffed impatiently. "What else could it be? Stop trying to wriggle out of this, Isabelle!"

I took a deep breath before slowly getting up. I then walked away and pulled out a document from my backpack.

I smirked and said mockingly, "Marianne claimed that I copied her paper just because I have perfect vision. You can see for yourselves if I'm really someone with perfect vision then!"

I showed the medical diagnosis to the confused crowd.

Upon seeing my medical diagnosis, their eyes grew wide and their faces paled. Gasps and sharp intakes of breath filled the room.