All Her Secrets By Chestnut

Chapter 264 Change Her Mind
It had been a while since Catherine had spoken. In Ronin’s mind, this pretty much confirmed Catherine’s refusal to participate in
the upcoming national art competition. But then, to everyone’s surprise, Catherine suddenly spoke up.
“Does anyone know how long this competition will last?” she inquired. Both Ronin and Bryan were taken aback, especially
Ronin.
However, Bryan knew more about the competition, so Ronin didn’t reply, and Bryan responded to Catherine.
“Boss, the competition consists of preliminaries, semi-finals, and the grand finals. It’ll take about a month. They’ve streamlined
the competition this year, and there’s a rule that the top three in the preliminaries can bypass the semi-finals and go straight to
the grand finals.”
The competition wasn’t an everyday affair. To accommodate student participants, it was scheduled on weekends to
accommodate student participants, except for the special grand finals.
Bryan handed the competition schedule to Catherine. Coincidentally, the reality show that Audrey was part of had to make a
substitution due to her injury, which gave Catherine time to participate on the weekends.
After calculating the timing, in front of Ronin and Bryan, Catherine made her decision. “Arrange everything. We’re participating in
the competition.”
Bryan and Ronin exchanged glances in surprise. They wondered why Catherine had suddenly changed her mind. Catherine
leaned back in her chair. With her arms crossed, she glanced at the two of them. “Any problems?”
They both shook their heads in unison. “No problem, Boss. We’ll follow your lead.”
Bryan had never been interested in these things but hadn’t had much fun at the celebration gala. If it meant cooperating with
Catherine and the others again, he was more than willing.
As for Ronin, he always followed Catherine’s orders without question. If Catherine wanted to participate, he would participate. It
was as simple as that.
In Ronin’s view, Obedience to Catherine was above all else. By the afternoon, news of Catherine and their group’s participation
in the competition had spread throughout Class 8.

David and the others were so excited that they banged on their desks and cheered. “Catherine, Bryan, you can count on us.
When the time comes, we’ll cheer you on with all our might!” David exclaimed.
George, who was standing by, looked at them and chuckled. He said, “Our class is truly honored this time. There are only three
slots for the whole school, and we have two!” Ronin turned his head and glanced at George. “Two?”
“Yeah. One of them is Liana. The sisters from the Swanns are exceptional, and each one is better than the other,” George
explained. As George was speaking, Liana happened to pass by.
The somewhat clueless George stopped Liana and stared at her warmly. “Liana, Catherine agreed to participate in the
competition, so our chances of winning just got better, don’t you think?”
When Catherine heard Liana’s name, she glanced up and saw Liana standing there with a forced smile next to George. Liana
appeared calm but was actually on the brink of exploding with anger. It amused Catherine.
Liana had endured a lot over the years to maintain the image of a high-born young lady. Liana’s patience was truly remarkable.
Before passing by this spot, Liana had already heard the news. She remembered that Catherine had initially refused to
participate, and now Catherine had changed her mind. She thought inwardly, “Does this jinx want to hog the limelight?
“She is born to oppose me. She is such an infuriating jinx. “As for the damn George, why does he embarrass me like this?”
Liana was seething inside but had to maintain a gentle and composed demeanor. She looked at Catherine and casually asked,
“Catherine, I heard you declined to join the national competition last time. You claimed you weren’t interested. Why the sudden
change? Is it because you discovered this competition will be broadcast globally, and you want more people to know you?”
She was trying to convey that Catherine was flip-flopping for fame.
“No.” As soon as George heard Liana’s words, he quickly provided an explanation for Catherine. He said, ” Liana, you got it
wrong this time. Catherine agreed to participate because our homeroom teacher enthusiastically invited her. When I was in the
office earlier, our homeroom teacher said she had finally convinced Catherine. She’s delighted that Catherine is representing our
class in the competition.”
Earlier in the morning, their homeroom teacher had summoned Catherine out of the classroom.
Everyone had seen it happen. At that moment, they had been speculating about what Catherine had done to make their usually
mild-mannered homeroom teacher suddenly call her into the office. Now, they realized the situation.

With George’s explanation, everyone understood what had happened. David led the applause and said, ” Catherine, you really
considered our class’s honor.
“Come on, let’s all applaud Catherine. She’s such a modest person. She is willing to lead Bryan into battle for our school’s honor.
We shouldn’t spare our applause.”
At that moment, applause thundered throughout the classroom. Catherine still lounged lazily in her seat. She looked
uninterested. It seemed that all these changes didn’t concern her at all.
As Liana watched Catherine, who was surrounded by adoring classmates and was like a queen, a venomous hatred surged
within her.
The applause and the praises directed at Catherine were like sharp knives plunging into Liana’s heart with each word.
Everything used to belong to Liana, whether in the Swanns or Class 8. She used to be the most dazzling.
In Liana’s view, all the applause and honor were meant for her. She was the family’s pride, even in the Swanns, where boys were
traditionally favored. She was more precious than her two other sisters.
But since Catherine’s arrival, everything had changed, and Liana couldn’t accept it. Liana thought Catherine had taken away
everything that had once belonged to her. She swore to herself that she would get rid of Catherine.
Liana looked up toward Catherine She didn’t expect that Catherine was also sizing her up. Their eyes met, and it seemed that
Catherine could see through Liana’s soul. Catherine hadn’t done anything, but it was as if Catherine had struck Liana’s heart,
which made Liana instinctively lower her head.
Liana’s heart raced, and she felt inexplicably flustered. This feeling made her highly uncomfortable. Finally, she hastily left the
scene. Catherine had been keeping an eye on Liana’s reactions. A cold smile played on her beautiful face when she saw Liana
flee.
She understood Liana’s intentions all toChapter 263 Whether to Participate or Not
The news that the Hacker Alliance had exclusively released to the Duncan Corporation was indeed not ordinary news. Branden
had wanted this chip for a long time and had been waiting for news to be released on the market.
If there were any rumors, no matter how much the cost, he would take the exclusive rights. Hacker Alliance, one of the largest
chip bases in the world, actually took the initiative to release news to the Duncan Corporation, which was indeed unusual.

“Paxton, arrange for Carlo to come back.”
Paxton understood Branden’s intention. Branden wanted to put Carlo Duncan in charge of this matter. “Okay, I’ll contact Carlo
immediately!”
If Carlo was in charge of this matter, Paxton could rest assured. Otherwise, he worried he might not have enough energy to
handle it.
As Paxton was about to leave, he seemed to remember something and suddenly turned around to Branden again.
“Mr. Duncan, do you think it could be related to Miss Swann?” Although they were not sure what Catherine’s relationship with the
Hacker Alliance was, since she knew Joseph, she must have a connection with it. Just as he finished speaking, before Branden
could respond, Paxton denied himself.
“It should not be possible. After all, the matter about chips is important, and only the Hacker Alliance’s decision- makers can
make this decision!”
Branden remained silent throughout the process, his gaze coldly examining the document Paxton had handed him. At the end of
class, the homeroom teacher of Class 8 suddenly went to the class looking for Catherine.
“Catherine, come out for a minute!”
Ronin and Bryan looked at Catherine with concern, wondering what the homeroom teacher suddenly wanted from her.
Catherine, however, stood up gracefully and dragged her body lazily along with the homeroom teacher to the office.
After the homeroom teacher handed Catherine a chair, Catherine sat down immediately. She lazily leaned back in the chair with
a very dominant posture.
It just so happened that the homeroom teacher of Class 7 also walked in and recognized Catherine immediately. Since the last
celebration gala, no one would not recognize Catherine, the popular figure of Loyalty Academy.
Unlike others, the homeroom teacher of Class 7 did not like Catherine. She had long heard about Catherine’s deeds and knew
Catherine slept daily during class and led a group of students in playful distractions.
Most importantly, since Catherine’s appearance, Class 8 had stolen all the limelight from Class 7. The homeroom teacher of
Class 7 had a lot of grievances about this.

Unexpectedly, as soon as she entered the office, she saw Catherine sitting lazily on the chair without paying attention to her
homeroom teacher.
The homeroom teacher of Class 7 immediately became angry. She looked at the homeroom teacher of Class 8 and said
sarcastically, “Miss Joyce, you have such a good temper. You don’t get angry even if some students are so arrogant in front of
you!”
Hearing this, Catherine had an expressionless face and didn’t care.
The face of the homeroom teacher of Class 8 sank. However, there were a lot of grudges between her and the homeroom
teacher of Class 7, and she didn’t make any direct attacks considering their colleagues’ relationship.
Catherine and her homeroom teacher’s silence did not make the homeroom teacher of Class 7 stop being sarcastic but instead
made her even more arrogant.
She sarcastically told Catherine, ” There are all kinds of students nowadays. Some students don’t even have the right sitting or
standing posture and come to school to sleep all day long. This type of student is a typical black sheep. What’s the use of
keeping such students?”
What she said was extremely unpleasant. Just as Catherine was about to retort her, her homeroom teacher suddenly stood up.
She looked straight at the homeroom teacher of Class 7, her face very serious, and her eyes were filled with anger.
“Miss Hart, Catherine is my student. If there is anything she does not do well, I will advise her. As teachers, aren’t you going too
far in making such accusations against the students in my class without knowing the situation?”
The homeroom teacher of Class 7 was furious at those words and was planning to hit back. However, she didn’t expect the
homeroom teacher of Class 8 to continue.
“I advise you to take care of the students in your class and improve their grades when you have time so that you won’t be
criticized again at the next homeroom teacher assembly.”
These words hit the point!
What the homeroom teacher of Class 7 hated the most was that the students in her class were not as excellent as those in Class
8. Every year, she received less year-end awards than the teachers of Class 8.

It could be said that the homeroom teacher of Class 8 had now mentioned the homeroom teacher of Class 7’s sore spot, and
saying those words in front of Catherine made the homeroom teacher of Class 7 more embarrassed.
The homeroom teacher of Class 7 was so angry that she stamped her foot and rushed out of the office. As soon as she left,
Catherine, who was watching the show, gave her homeroom teacher a thumbs up.
‘Nice one!”
Her homeroom teacher pretended to be angry and rolled her eyes at her. “Avoid her when you meet her in the future. I’m worried
that she’ll cause you trouble without me around!”
Catherine thought to herself, “Cause me trouble?
“Does Miss Hart have this ability?” Catherine didn’t continue the topic. After all, she wasn’t afraid, even if Miss Hart really had the
ability.
“Weren’t you looking for me for something?”
The homeroom teacher reached out and patted her forehead, looking cute. ” Yes, I have something to talk to you about. It’s all
Miss Hart’s fault. She almost made me forget about it.”
After saying that, the homeroom teacher took out a document and handed it to Catherine. “This is a document issued by the
school. As the first-place group of the celebration gala, you guys are qualified to participate in the National Literary League.”
Catherine knew about this, and Bryan had mentioned it to her before. She refused her homeroom teacher without even looking
at the document. “I’m not interested. You can find someone else!”
It was the same answer she had given Bryan before. She was really not interested in it. The homeroom teacher knew what
Catherine meant. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have called her to the office alone to discuss.
Although unsure of what Catherine thought, she knew that the core of their group was Catherine, and as long as she could
persuade Catherine, everything would be solved.
“Catherine, this isn’t just an honor for you alone, but for our Class 8. As you can see, Class 8 is in the ascendancy within the
school right now, and to maintain the passion of the whole class, I think you should participate.
“What would other classes think of our Class 8 if our first-place group didn’t even participate?”

Seeing that Catherine didn’t say anything, the homeroom teacher didn’t force the issue. “This is a personal request from me. I
want you to go back and think about it. You can give me the answer tomorrow.”
Catherine’s face remained the same as she stood up with her hands in her pockets and walked out of the office. She went back
into the classroom and sat down.
As soon as she sat down, Ronin and Bryan approached her. “Boss, why did the homeroom teacher ask the office?” you to go to
Catherine didn’t hide it and said lightly, “Something about the National Literary and Art League!”
“So that’s it!” Ronin nodded thoughtfully. “That’s not a big problem. We’ll just not participate.”
He knew Catherine didn’t like these, and she couldn’t participate. There was a slight entanglement between Catherine’s
eyebrows. No one could force her, and she wouldn’t do things she didn’t want to do.
But something seemed to be different this time!
o well. She had repeatedly emphasized that she could tolerate some of Liana’s foolish actions.
After all, every time Liana did something foolish, Liana was the one who suffered in the end. But if Liana sought her own demise,
she shouldn’t blame Catherine for being ruthless.