Miles's expression was unreadable. After a moment of deliberation, he picked up a microphone and offered a solution.

"Let's leave it to the eight contestants present to vote."

"If you support Caleb not showing his face, vote in favor. If you object, vote against."

A surge of indignation rose in Yara's chest. She grabbed a microphone and said angrily.

"I object! Many of these contestants were eliminated, so they might not want Caleb to win first place."

This gave Wesley a perfect opening. He immediately shot back.

"Ms. Chase, how can you be so cynical? They are just children. How could you think of them that way?"

The parents of the other eight contestants were also noticeably displeased by Yara's words.

Yara realized she had misspoken and quickly tried to explain, looking slightly panicked.

"I never meant it like that. You're deliberately setting a trap for me."

"Parents, please don't let him instigate you. His child is competing against my Caleb, so he's intentionally trying to turn us against each other."

Jade's fingers quietly tightened, a flash of impatience and anger crossing her eyes.

"Ms. Chase, I know you really want your child to win, but you need to be reasonable."

Wesley also angrily accused her, "Throwing a tantrum won't work. You can't just reject every single option so your child gets all the advantages."

"I agree to let a vote decide." This story is hosted at novelceo(.)com.

The other parents asked their children to vote freely, without offering any opinions.

Some children genuinely thought Caleb was smarter, but his refusal to remove his mask gave them pause.

Swayed by the narrative Jade and Wesley had spun, they began to view Caleb as arrogant.

In the end, out of the six voters, three voted against and three voted in favor.

It was a tie once again.

A judge picked up a microphone. "Then let's add one more question as a tie-breaker. Leo and Caleb will buzz in simultaneously. Whoever answers correctly and fastest wins. I will personally draw the question."

Yara thought this was reasonable and dropped her objections.

Wesley was nervous. He had arranged the person managing the questions earlier.

Now that the judge was drawing it personally, Leo definitely wouldn't know the answer. What should they do?

Jade was also worried. Although her son was slightly smarter than average, he had memorized the answers to the previous questions.

Put on the spot, he might not get it right.

And there was a clearly smarter kid right there. Could Leo really win?

She had zero confidence.

The judge looked at Miles, who nodded in approval.

The judge cleared his throat and addressed the two kids on stage.

"Are you ready? I'm drawing the question now." Get faster updates on NovelCEO.

Both children nodded simultaneously. The judge spun the prompt card, and a multiple-choice question appeared on the high-definition screen.

A fountain pen costs $8.50, and a notebook is $3.70 cheaper than the pen.

How much does it cost in total to buy 2 pens and 3 notebooks?

Leo remembered seeing this in the question bank, but he couldn't remember the exact answer. Was it $31 or $25?

Ah, what if he forgot? What should he do?

Caleb started, "The total cost is..."

Suddenly, Caleb's microphone went dead. However, Leo, who was standing right next to him, heard him say $31.40.

The audience heard nothing.

Leo immediately shouted, "$31.40."

Once the answer was out, the whole venue applauded Leo. "Correct!"

"This kid's brain works so fast!"

"Unfair! This is completely unfair! His microphone was cut off."

Yara yelled at the top of her lungs, "My kid also answered $31.40."

By the time she spoke, Caleb's microphone was working again, so the entire audience heard her furious outburst clearly.

The crowd looked at her with disdain, assuming she was just throwing a baseless tantrum.

Macy was the first to snap back, "Lady, how was your mic cut off?"