Nathaniel Nathan looked up. Vera Xavier patted the small bag on her shoulder. "I’m loaded now! I can treat you to anything you want to eat!"

Nathaniel Nathan knew her so-called "fortune" was just the money he’d given her last night. He looked at her radiant, beaming face, feeling both exasperated and amused. At the same time, the last bit of his annoyance vanished completely.

He said flatly, "Impressive."

Vera Xavier giggled and leaned a little closer to him.

Shirley Forrest stood a short distance away, watching them interact. She crossed her arms, and her gaze deepened.

Vera Xavier had said she wanted to treat Nathaniel Nathan to a grand meal, but she still had an exam in the afternoon, so the two of them found a decent-looking restaurant by the roadside and had a simple lunch.

Before entering the exam hall, Vera Xavier took out his wallet and handed it to him. "Here, it’s yours."

Nathaniel Nathan glanced at her. Her face was slightly flushed as she turned and walked away.

After she went into the exam hall, Spencer Caldwell sidled up to Nathaniel Nathan and said, "That little girl is so unlucky to have caught your eye."

Nathaniel Nathan didn’t even look at him, simply turning to leave.

Spencer Caldwell scurried after him again. "I finally get why you waited so long to return to the unit. You wanted to stay with your little girl until she finished her college entrance exams, didn’t you?"

Nathaniel Nathan completely ignored him. He took out the wallet and opened it. She had taken all the money, leaving only a photo of herself tucked into a compartment.

It wasn’t a candid shot, but a formal ID photo, probably an extra print from when she had photos taken for her exam admission ticket.

’Vera has no sincerity at all,’ Nathaniel thought, ’fobbing me off with an ID photo!’

He glanced at the ID photo with a hint of disdain, but upon a second look, he started to feel smug. ’My wife is gorgeous. She looks this good even in an ID photo.’

He decided that after her exams were over, he would take her to get some proper photos taken.

Spencer Caldwell was craning his neck the whole time, trying to see what was in his hands, but all he could make out was a photo and an empty wallet.

Spencer Caldwell said with some contempt, "It’s just an empty wallet. And here I thought it was some kind of treasure!"

Nathaniel Nathan finally shot him a look. "You see an empty wallet. I see something else entirely."

"What is it, then?" Spencer Caldwell asked instinctively.

Nathaniel Nathan said in a steady tone, "The full measure of my wife’s love."

With that, he walked away. Spencer, however, felt as if he’d been struck by lightning and fried to a crisp. He absolutely couldn’t believe Nathaniel Nathan would say something like that!

It took him a long moment to figure it out: Nathaniel had given all the money in the wallet to Vera, and by accepting it, she was agreeing to let him provide for her. In this day and age, when a man and a woman reached this stage, it was as good as making their relationship official.

So, he had just been subtly scorned by Nathaniel Nathan—scorned for not having a wife!

He slapped himself on the head and cursed, ’Damn it, is having a wife such a big deal? I’ll go find one myself another day!’

News of Cara Preston and Elise Langdon cheating in the exam hall quickly spread throughout Crestfall. In truth, while cheating was common in those days, this was the first time anyone had their exam qualifications revoked for such a serious offense.

Combined with the previous incident where Cara Preston had been held at a police station, and her own claims of having a heart condition, people immediately started mocking her:

"She has a heart condition and still dares to cheat? She’s got some nerve!"

"She got caught cheating and didn’t have a heart attack from the teacher getting angry? Looks like her heart is pretty tough after all!"