Unmasking Mrs. Newton's Secret Identities

Chapter 32

Helen was chewing on her pen when she heard the question. She quickly looked up at Chandler and acknowledged with a hum.

"When is the competition?" Chandler inquired further.

"Next Friday, at One High School," Helen answered honestly.

Her eyes flickered as she remembered Tyrone mentioning Chandler's past participation in the Math Olympiad.

"Didn't you win first place in a Math Olympiad before? Any tips you could share?" she ventured.

Chandler raised an eyebrow slightly.

"That's ancient history. There's nothing I can do to help."

Helen simply responded with an "Oh" and then fell silent again.

The atmosphere between them cooled but was soon relieved as the car arrived at the Newton residence.

Upon stopping, Helen opened the car door and stepped out.

After changing shoes, she found Esmond leisurely enjoying tea in the living room.

"Mr. Newton Senior!" Helen greeted him politely.

Esmond's face lit up with joy at the sight of Helen.

"Helen dear, how are you adjusting to school? Let me know if you need anything, or you can tell those boys too. Don't be too hard on yourself."

"I understand, Mr. Newton Senior. You needn't worry about me."

"You're being too formal with your grandpa," Esmond said with a smile, then glanced at Chandler entering the door.

"Chandler, if Helen needs anything, help her out. She's a lady, after all. Help me take good care of her."

Chandler didn't object, replying impassively, "Understood, Grandpa."

Esmond didn't mind his expression and turned back to Helen.

"Helen, I hear you're entering that regional Math Olympiad competition. Chandler is quite good at math. He could tutor you."

"No need, Mr. Newton Senior. Let's not bother him," Helen immediately declined.

"Ah, what's this about bothering? Chandler, from tonight onward, you'll tutor Helen in math. Make sure she's well-prepared for the exam," Esmond insisted, leaving no room for refusal.

Helen wanted to protest but ultimately held back.

Chandler had always taken Esmond's words as a decree. Thus, he accepted the tutoring arrangement without complaint.

During dinner, Jenson learned about Chandler's new role as Helen's tutor and was visibly upset.

If Chandler helped Helen, her success was almost guaranteed. This meant Jenson had likely lost his bet.

Unwilling to accept this, Jenson pulled Chandler aside after dinner.

"Chandler, please don't tutor Helen."

Chandler's response was calm and unrippled. "It's Grandpa's wish."

Jenson became desperate.

"Come on, Chandler! Just tell Grandpa that Helen doesn't need tutoring. Or just pretend to tutor her. As long as Helen doesn't win, it's fine."

Chandler gave a noncommittal nod. "I'll see what I can do."

Jenson clung to him, pleading pitifully, "Please help me out…"

Just then, Jenson met Helen's gaze as she approached. He quickly regained his composure and pretended nothing happened.

"Well, I should get going. I have things to do..." With that, he hurried off.

Helen was unfazed and headed upstairs, followed shortly by Chandler.

Helen returned to her room and was about to close the door when a large hand prevented it from shutting.

Then, the door was pushed open, and Chandler walked in directly.

"What are you doing here?!" Helen asked.

Chandler, ignoring her question, walked straight to her desk with a businesslike demeanor.

"Grandpa asked me to tutor you," he stated.

Helen quickly refused.

"No need to trouble yourself. Please get out."

However, Chandler showed no intention of leaving and simply pulled up a chair to sit down.

"You know I can't disobey Grandpa, so it seems you'll have to bear with me," he said.

Helen was silent. She wanted to say she didn't need tutoring but thought about Esmond's good intentions.

Then, she decided to let it be.

Chandler began flipping through the problems Helen usually worked on.

Helen's handwriting was beautiful. Her problem-solving steps were clear, making her work a pleasing sight.

"Your approach to solving problems is pretty decent, but you made a mistake on this one." Chandler pointed out a specific issue.

Helen quickly went over to check her workbook.

"Where did I make the mistake?" she inquired.

Chandler pointed to the second problem on the page.

"You used the right method and formula, but in the second step, you mistook the square root of 3 for the square root of 2, which led to all the subsequent errors," he explained.

Helen realized he was correct.

"I kept feeling something was off despite checking several times. So this was the mistake," she noted, correcting it while sitting on a nearby stool.

Helen was focused on her corrections, unaware of how close she and Chandler had become.

After correcting the problem, Chandler highlighted another issue in a different question.

"You didn't solve the second part here because you forgot to draw an auxiliary line. Look, if you add an auxiliary line here and use the principles of trigonometry, you can solve it." He guided her.

Following Chandler's instructions, Helen quickly found the solution.

"You're amazing! That was brilliant," she couldn't help but praise him.

She then flipped to the last problem that had been troubling her.

"Could you help me with this one too?" she requested.

Chandler hummed in acknowledgment and began reviewing the problem.

However, the subtle scent unique to young ladies filled his nostrils, momentarily unsettling him. Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

He quickly regained his composure. He tried to refocus his attention but couldn't help looking at Helen's face.

Every subtle expression and movement of hers was fully captured in his view.