“They didn’t just chase the score,” Marianne told a teacher.

“They wanted something that might help people.”

I remembered how Cordelia had talked about Penelope’s placement as if it were a property she had purchased.

Watching Chloe and Sophie made the contrast unbearable.

At a nearby table, I found a printed schedule for the tournament.

The event had several safeguards: blind scoring, independent adjudicators, sealed challenge materials, and oversight by a university ethics committee.

Cordelia’s assertion that she could buy an outcome was either an astonishing misunderstanding or evidence that someone had promised her more influence than the rules allowed.