Chapter 88: The Exposed Imposter

"Deputy Director Abraham, I formally suspect that Julian Vance obtained the contents of the exam paper in advance, had someone else complete the answers for him, and then memorized those answers beforehand—which is the only reason he scored so high!" Leo Vance shouted out, his face twisted with jealousy.

A cold glint flashed in Leo’s eyes. Julian was nothing more than a fool. He had always been a bottom-feeder in the department; how dare he suddenly cheat and try to steal first place? Didn’t Julian realize that his sudden, drastic score inflation would inevitably arouse massive suspicion across Capital University?

One of the ironclad rules of Capital University was a strict zero-tolerance policy against exam cheating, and anyone caught cheating was subject to immediate expulsion.

Julian is definitely going to be expelled from the university this time!

Leo curled his lips into a dark, triumphant smirk. Once Julian was expelled in disgrace, he eagerly looked forward to seeing what kind of miserable, pathetic life Julian would manage to lead afterward.

The surrounding students immediately began murmuring amongst themselves, nodding in agreement.

"I also lean toward the idea that Julian cheated. Even if Julian crammed like crazy all summer, he couldn’t possibly jump straight to a near-perfect score like this overnight."

"Ah... it’s over. If Julian really cheated, I’m going to lose my newly minted campus idol so fast."

Julian was simply too striking and handsome. Many of the female students had already begun regarding Julian as their new intellectual idol. And now, their heartthrob was about to be expelled in disgrace.

Leo Vance sneered coldly as he listened to the rising chorus of students questioning Julian’s legitimacy. Julian Vance, you are truly finished this time.

"Deputy Director Abraham," Leo said righteously, his tone dripping with fake concern, "all of us worked ourselves to the bone studying for these exams, yet Julian easily secured first place through foul play. I strongly demand that the university severely punish Julian Vance for academic fraud!"

Having said that, Leo turned his gaze toward Julian, putting on an unctuous, hypocritical mask of brotherly affection.

"Brother... cheating on university exams is a terribly serious offense. If you’re caught, you will undoubtedly be expelled from campus. If you just confess right now and show remorse, maybe the administration will show leniency and spare you from formal expulsion."

Julian curled his lips into a cool, mocking smile. "Leo Vance, aren’t you acting a bit too manipulative here? You just demanded that the school punish me severely, and in the very next breath, you claim you’re doing it entirely for my own good?"

The surrounding students cast sharp, suspicious glances directly at Leo Vance. When pointed out so bluntly, Leo’s performative speech did indeed sound remarkably slick, insincere, and dripping with malicious intent.

Leo made a great show of looking deeply aggrieved and wounded. "Brother... you’ve completely misunderstood my intentions. I just didn’t want to watch you ruin your future by refusing to correct a grave mistake."

Julian let out a dry, scornful laugh. "Leo Vance, you’d better stop calling me your brother. We share no blood ties whatsoever. Besides, I have already officially severed all legal and family ties with the Vance family. I have absolutely nothing to do with you or your household anymore."

The surrounding students froze, their eyes widening in sheer, unadulterated shock.

What did he just say?!

Julian Vance actually severed ties with the wealthy Vance family?!

The Vance family was a prominent, multi-million-doller corporate dynasty. How could Julian be so heartless and willing to give up that kind of immense wealth?

Furthermore, everyone had just witnessed Julian arriving at campus that morning driving a custom, multi-million-dollar Pagani Huayra hypercar. What was going on with that? If Julian had completely cut ties with the Vance family, where on earth did he get the money to drive a luxury hypercar like that?!

"Besides..."

Julian continued smoothly, his voice echoing clearly across the silent amphitheater, "Leo Vance, you are nothing more than a parasitic adopted son of the Vance family. Our true identities were maliciously swapped when we were infants."

"I have already graciously handed over the position of the young master of the Vance family to you. You’d better know when to stop your little games... because who knows? I might just decide to return one day and legally reclaim every single shred of the Vance family assets that rightfully belong to me."

The students in the hall: "!!!"

"Holy crap...! Julian Vance is actually the true, biological eldest son of the Vance family?!"

"Damn it! For the longest time, Leo Vance has been constantly dropping subtle hints and framing the narrative around campus to make everyone believe he was the biological son, while Julian was just a worthless adopted parasite taken in out of charity! I feel like I’ve been utterly played and manipulated by Leo’s fake persona all this time!"

"I didn’t realize it before, but listening to Julian’s words today makes it crystal clear... Leo Vance is literally a living, breathing male version of a manipulative green tea b*tch!"

Once the explosive truth that Leo Vance was merely an adopted interloper was laid bare, the students of Capital University—who were far from stupid—instantly pieced together the entire political landscape.

Leo Vance had been weaponizing his social standing and using them as pawns to attack and slander Julian Vance all along. Leo had conditioned everyone to automatically view Julian as a shameless, ungrateful impostor trying to steal things from the "legitimate" biological heir.

So that was the actual reality behind the scenes!

Leo Vance was the actual imposter all along!

Hearing the sudden reversal of public sentiment and the sharp accusations turning against him, Leo Vance gritted his teeth so hard his jaw ached, his face turning the color of ash.

Siana Vance’s worried gaze fell directly on Leo Vance.

Leo had always been quite sensitive; he was deeply prone to overthinking everything. That was precisely why her parents and she had never revealed to him during his upbringing that he was an adopted child. Meanwhile, Julian possessed a thick skin and had grown up in the countryside without proper guidance, so they had simply designated Julian as the adopted one for convenience’s sake.

Now that Julian had so brazenly exposed the truth in front of everyone, Leo must be suffering a tremendous amount of emotional pain.

At that exact moment, Leo Vance’s fists were clenched so tightly his fingers were turning white.

Damn it!

He wasn’t the legitimate young master of the Vance family by blood, and he couldn’t even begin to imagine how many people in this hall were now looking at him with strange, mocking eyes.

No... wait.

Julian Vance was deliberately trying to stir up a chaotic distraction; Julian wanted everyone to completely forget about his academic cheating scandal!

He absolutely could not let Julian succeed in changing the subject.

"Brother, you shouldn’t try to change the subject by bringing up family matters," Leo Vance shouted out loudly, forcing a righteous expression. "Everyone in this hall is currently questioning whether you cheated on your exams. With your usual academic level, there is simply no physical way you could have scored this high! You should just be honest and confess to everyone."

-------

Across the room, Tom had also received word that Julian Vance had unexpectedly won first place.

Tom’s face turned profoundly dark and grim. Sure enough, things were spinning completely out of control, and Julian Vance seemed to be shining brighter and brighter by the day.

Julian and he were supposed to be in the exact same miserable boat. How could Julian manage to jump ship and run off to live a wonderful, successful life while he rotted?!

Suddenly, Victoria Sterling’s breathtakingly gorgeous face flashed vividly in Tom’s mind. That woman was mind-blowingly stunning. Yet, she had been acting so intimately affectionate with Julian Vance.

Tom gritted his teeth in pure jealousy and hatred.

Julian Vance absolutely could not be allowed to live such a good life; he had to find a way to get Julian permanently expelled from the university. Without a formal degree from Capital University, Julian would find it virtually impossible to land any decent corporate job in the future. At that point, Julian would have no choice but to crawl back and continue living in the dark, miserable sewers right alongside him.

Just accusing Julian of cheating wasn’t enough to destroy him completely. He also wanted to spread the toxic rumor that Julian was being kept as a kept toy by a wealthy sugar mommy!

Tom pulled out his smartphone and quickly tapped out a message to a contact overseas:

[Post those hidden-camera videos and edited photos onto the Capital University student forum right now.]