Reborn in the Enemy's Embrace

The teacher, Joyce Hewitt, walked into the classroom. She glanced at the parents and students before smiling." Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the parent-teacher conference of this semester."

She pushed up her glasses before presenting her slides. "Normally, we shouldn’t be disclosing students’ scores, but Class Alpha is full of elites and geniuses, where every child has great potential."

"As such, we’ll be presenting the scores to the parents and children so that they can understand where they stand. It would also serve as motivation and encouragement for each other."

Sophia glanced at Dexter and asked, "Are you nervous about seeing the kids’ scores?"

He was sitting upright, shaking his head despite clearly looking nervous.

She chuckled and grabbed Dexter’s hand.

Sunlight streamed in through the windows, casting a warm glow on the desks and chairs of the students.

For a brief moment, Sophia felt disoriented as if everything was all but a dream. When she came back to her senses, she and Dexter were still with the children, sitting inside the classroom while listening to the teacher.

"These are the scores of the student who ranked last in class." Joyce pulled out Xan’s scores and said, "She scored zero in every subject."

Resigned, she looked toward Sophia and Dexter and said, "Xandra didn’t even bother putting her name down. Please try to guide her more, Mr. and Mrs. Black."

The students and parents started laughing as soon as Joyce finished speaking. They were looking mockingly at Sophia and Dexter. "Isn’t this an advanced class? How could a dimwit who scored zero in exams be allowed to stay here?"

Some parents were trying to create trouble.

Ashton’s face instantly fell. He looked like an angry beast, raring to protect his sister.

Sophia reached out to pull Xan and him into her embrace. Dexter and her each covered the children’s ears.

She then looked up at Joyce and said, "My daughter just couldn’t be bothered to answer the papers because she found them too easy. She found answering them a waste of time."

The parents roared in laughter. "That’s quite a brag! Why not just say your child is at the top of the entire grade instead?"

Another parent quipped, "That’s right! A dimwit can’t stay in this class, which is the school’s biggest investment in terms of money and energy. The best teachers were brought in for this class.

"This is a private school, and education isn’t equal to begin with. She should leave the class if she can’t keep up with her grades!"

The parents started being pushy.

Xan looked up at Sophia and whispered, "I’m sorry, Mom. I’ll answer the papers next time."

Sophia smiled and replied, "You did nothing wrong, Xan. The questions were too easy, so there’s no point answering them in the first place. But you should learn to respect the exams."

Xan nodded and turned to look at Dexter obediently. "I’ll answer the papers to the best of my ability, Dad." Dexter ruffled Xan’s hair in return.

"Alright, let’s give Xandra another chance. If she still scores zero in the next exam..." Joyce looked at Sophia and Dexter apologetically before continuing, "We’ll have no choice then."

Both of them remained quiet.

Joyce said, "Let’s take a look at the students’ scores one by one."

The scores in the class weren’t too far apart up until the second place. It was evident that the students in this class were the cream of the crop. Even the lower-ranking students would be considered top students in any other classes.

A parent commented, "Our children’s scores aren’t too far apart. I don’t think the top student would be any better.

Another replied, "The main subjects add up to 500 points. It’s impressive enough for them to score around 430 points. Surely, the top student’s score is around that range too. With the difference of scores being so close, the top scorer only got a lucky break."

The parents started pouring excuses for themselves.

"Today’s focus is to show everyone the scores of our top student." Joyce clicked on the next slide, showing Ashton’s score to everyone.

Out of a perfect score of 500 points, Ashton obtained 499 points.

Sophia almost choked on her water when she saw his score. She shot him a glare. He was supposed to tone it down.

Ashton looked at her innocently, letting her know that he had done his best to tone it down, but the questions were just too easy.

A parent exclaimed, "How could that be? That’s 499 points-just one point short of a perfect score! How did he lose that one point?"

"Ashton lost one point because his handwriting was too sloppy," Joyce said, looking regretfully at Ashton." However, he’s still at the top of the entire grade."

Ashton still turned out to be at the top of the entire grade even when he deliberately lost a point. He had failed to tone it down.

A parent said, "Where are the parents of the top student? We should really learn from them."

Another commented, "That’s right! Who are Ashton’s parents?"

The parents were restlessly looking around for Ashton’s parents.

Sophia and Dexter sat there, full of nerves. Ashton and Xan truly couldn’t tone things down at all.

"I’d like to invite Ashton’s parents out to share their experience in raising their child." Joyce smiled at both of them.

Dexter shook his head anxiously. He couldn’t do it when he had social phobia.

Sophia rolled her eyes at him, finding him utterly useless. She then gathered her courage and got to her feet.

The parents were shocked. "Both children—the top student and the last-ranking-are actually from the same family?"

"It seems they weren’t joking when they said their daughter couldn’t be bothered to answer the papers."

All the parents stared at Sophia as she walked out. She coughed, finding herself getting nervous.

She said, "Well... I have nothing much to share. My husband and I don’t really keep an eye on our children. We’re both young and inexperienced in educating children, so we just let them develop on their own."

Sophia was just stating the truth, but the other parents fell silent upon hearing her humblebrag-

They worked hard in educating their children, yet they couldn’t even hold a candle to her, whose child still ended up getting the top spot without her doing anything.

"Well, the thing is, my husband and I just focus on building the children’s character and helping them become kind people. As for their grades, it’s all thanks to their teachers!" Sophia sensibly said.

Upon hearing her words, Joyce beamed and hurriedly started clapping for her.

Dexter smiled brightly from his seat, and Sophia mirrored his smile. They were both genuinely happy.

Returning to her seat, each of them carried a child in their arms. They couldn’t help but experience a sense of pride only parents felt.

"Your dad and I are both first-time parents, and we kind of became parents unexpectedly. Let’s help each other grow together as a family moving forward," Sophia whispered to Ashton and Xan.

The children exchanged glances before smiling. "It’s our first time becoming children to others too."

"What’s the most important principle as children?" Dexter asked with raised brows.

"We can’t make Mom angry, we have to obey Mom, and we need to tell Mom that she’s the prettiest every day," Ashton and Xan recited in smiles.

Dexter held onto Sophia’s hand with a smile. "The one family rule we have is this-what my wife says, goes." Sophia tilted her chin and laughed proudly. "Good one!"

She could only hope for their family to continue living happily.

The principal, Wallace Graham, was looking at a school report on his computer in the principal’s office. He screenshotted the report and sent it to someone.

Wiping his sweat away, he carefully typed, "This is Ashton Black’s school report. Although he has reeled in his abilities, it’s evident that he’s a genius."

The other person replied, "Very well. Keep observing and nurturing him slowly. Get him to leave Hurma and let Melovia’s top university scout him."

They wanted to get Ashton out of the country.

It was evident that the other regional branches of Genome Society had their eyes on Ashton now.