All Her Secrets

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 too 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.