The Abandoned Son

The inheritance

"Time for the test is over." Mrs. Gardner spoke up. “Everybody put down your pens. Finlay collects the exam papers.”

Many groaned because they did not finish all the questions in time. Finlay had just finished his last sentence, he breathed a sigh of relief, then smiled smugly and turned his head to look at Demetrius.

Demetrius drooped his eyes at the desk, looking like he just didn't do well on a test.

Because all the questions are multiple-choice, the grading is also quite fast. As soon as the papers are collected, Mrs. Gardner starts grading the papers. When Finlay saw Mrs. Gardner about to take the top sheet of the papers, he said:

"Mrs. Gardner, could you grade my and Demetrius' exam first?"

It was obvious that Finlay wanted Demetrius to be humiliated as quickly as possible.

Mrs. Gardner glanced at Finlay for a few seconds, then nodded as well and selected Finlay and Demetrius's papers from the stack of papers.

Finlay's request was not unreasonable, and it was clear that the whole class was looking forward to the results.

The class held their breaths in anticipation, although most thought Finlay had won.

After a few strokes, Mrs. Gardner put down her pen and cleared her throat.

“Finlay, 97 points.”

Everyone took a deep breath, this time the question was inherently very difficult, 97 points is an unbelievable score. The last sentence is 3 points, so if Finlay got the last sentence wrong, it means he got only one wrong.

Demetrius certainly can't be better than Finlay, then can only wait and see if Demetrius is lower than the last person or not.

And then Mrs. Gardner took Demetrius's exam papers and graded them. The exam consists of 40 questions, of which 30 are of an easy to medium level, and the last 10 questions will raise the difficulty level.

When grading the first 30 questions of Demetrius, Mrs. Gardner was a little surprised, but by the last 10 questions, Mrs. Gardner could not hide her surprise anymore.

Mrs. Gardner then announced:

"Demetrius, zero."

The whole class burst into laughter, there were some sarcastic whistles and scornful glances in Demetrius' direction.

Finlay turned his head to look at Demetrius and raised his eyebrows in satisfaction.

Demetrius remained silent and showed no signs of sadness.

But that all changed when Mrs. Gardner said:

"There’s zero mistakes."

Everyone gasped in surprise. In recent years, no one had ever achieved the maximum score on Mrs. Gardner's exam, but they also never expected that the person to achieve it would be Demetrius.

Demetrius revealed a smile now. He feels very lucky because both times the challenge to Finlay has hit his forte, he doesn't know what will happen, but at least it will make Finlay think carefully when he messes with him in the future.

Demetrius' dream was to be a doctor, and biology was indeed Demetrius's favorite subject. Few could have imagined how persistent a poor country boy could be in a subject he loved, and Demetrius proved it to even the rich kids of the city.

“How can he get the maximum score? It is absurd!”

“Yes, he must have cheated!”

The people thought Demetrius was cheating because they felt like Demetrius had slapped them in the face. Although their scores might not be as good as Finlay's, they were quite confident in their biology knowledge before, and it was difficult for them to accept falling behind Demetrius.

"Quiet! If you don't have proof, you will be disciplined if you slander others!" Mrs. Gardner was quite surprised, but she remained calm.

"Now I'll grade the other students' papers." Mrs. Gardner said as she looked at Finlay, whose face was now completely pale.

"No, it can't be," Finlay muttered.

Finlay turned his head to look at Demetrius, he was about to speak up and tell Demetrius to cheat, but remembering Mrs. Gardner's warning just now, he closed his mouth and glared at Demetrius.

Demetrius raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong? Do you not accept defeat? You don't need to clean until I go to college, just a week is enough."

Everyone turned to Finlay, the pitying gaze they had just given to Demetrius turned to Finlay.

Finlay has been a revered person for so long, how can he accept people pitying him, let alone Demetrius?

He immediately countered: “I will keep my promise. I lose, I accept!"

After that, the whole class fell into silence because everyone still didn't fully accept the truth, until after leaving, no one said a word to each other.

After class, Demetrius glanced at Finlay once and with a smug smile, then he quickly left the classroom.

He told himself, he will take back everything that belongs to him.

Piano and biology are just the beginning.

Demetrius knew very well that the driver wouldn't be able to drive him home alone without Finlay.

Fortunately, he didn't have to wait for Finlay because he already knew the way home from school, the distance wasn't that far and he could walk. He prefers walking to sitting in a car with someone he doesn't like.

After telling the driver that he would be walking home by phone, Demetrius was about to put the phone in his pocket when he received a call from an unknown number.

Demetrius hesitated for a few seconds. He then decides to answer the phone.

The voice of the caller seemed to be a man in his thirties, he asked:

“Excuse me, are you Demetrius Hoffman?”

It took a few seconds for Demetrius to realize he had changed his last name to Hoffman, “That's right. Who are you?"

“My name is Maxwell Duncan and I am the representative of Fabian Hoffman's law firm, he is your grandfather. Do you know the terms of your inheritance?”

Demetrius shook his head involuntarily even though the person couldn't see, "No, I don't know, I've never met him."

“In about an hour, the inheritance announcement will take place. Do you need me to send someone to pick you up?"