The Inescapable Celibate Heir Chapter 99: The Suddenly Appearing Fish

Eric patted Elise on the shoulder, trying to comfort her. "Hey, don't sweat it. Let's just consider today our bad luck. This afternoon at the nursing home, let's do our best and maybe we can win the hearts of the elderly. Even if you don't come out on top, I'll ask my uncle to help clear your disciplinary action."

Elise shook her head, looking pained. "No, Eric. If you ask your uncle, it might get back to my dad, and I'll still get in trouble. I don't want to drag you into this. I already feel bad enough for making everyone help me today."

The dance club members, seeing their worried faces, burst into hearty laughter.

"Hold up." A cool voice cut through the laughter. 

Ethan strode over, with Nick trailing behind, carrying two buckets. Elise watched Ethan nervously.

Nick set the buckets down heavily, water splashing out. Inside the buckets were two fish and three fish, respectively.

Nick, bent over and panting, said, "Ethan dragged me to a spot further away, saying there were more fish there. We caught some, but we barely made it back before the game ended. I'm exhausted! And he didn't even carry the buckets himself, just bossed me around." 

He shot a resentful look at Ethan, but Ethan's icy stare made him back off.

Ethan stood in front of Victoria, looking at her with a cold, proud expression. Victoria smiled helplessly, winked at him, and discreetly gave him a thumbs up. 

She hadn't expected Ella to cheat at fishing, nor had she anticipated Ethan's clever move of disappearing and then returning with five fish at the last moment. This could be the key to their comeback!

Ethan's lips curled up slightly at the praise, and he stood beside her.

"Final ten-second countdown, ten, nine, eight..."

"Wait! I have more fish!" A high-pitched female voice called out. Jasmine ran over with a net bag. 

Ella looked at her in surprise, then quickly put on a delighted expression. "Jasmine, you're amazing! With all these fish, we're sure to win!"

As Jagger finished the countdown, Jasmine dropped the net bag in front of him, panting. "I made it in time, right? My fish should count."

Jagger replied, "You're within the time limit, but why are your fish in a net bag?"

Jasmine awkwardly touched her hair. The fish were actually bought online and had just been delivered. She hadn't had time to transfer them to a bucket. 

But she couldn't say that, so she blushed and said, "My bucket broke, so I had to use the net bag."

Jagger was about to count her fish when Victoria stepped in, lifting the net bag and inspecting it. 

"These fish look different from the ones we caught. Ours are slimmer. Why are all your fish so plump and the same size?" She stared sharply at Jasmine.

Jasmine frowned and retorted unhappily, "Fishing is about luck. I just happened to catch nice ones."

Walter added with a smirk, "Just because your fish are ugly doesn't mean you can't handle others catching better ones. I think you're just being unreasonable and don't want to admit defeat."

Ignoring their comments, Victoria pulled a tag from the bottom of the net bag and held it up to Dennis. "What do you make of this?"

Dennis read aloud, "SunnyFresh Grocers: Fresh Bass, 4 lbs, Total: $28.76."

Mira laughed, "Who buys fish from the grocery store and tries to pass them off as their own catch? Faking it just to win a game, how shameless!"

Jasmine, her deception exposed, turned pale and reached for the tag. Victoria quickly pulled it back. 

"Trying to destroy the evidence? This is proof of your cheating, and I won't let you tear it up." 

Jasmine lunged again, desperate to destroy the evidence. 

But Ethan stepped in front of Victoria, blocking Jasmine with a raised hand and a cold, disdainful look. "Back off."

Jasmine, intimidated by his icy gaze, hiccuped and calmed down, her face flushing with embarrassment at her earlier behavior.

Dennis' outstretched hand paused in mid-air; he had also wanted to stop Jasmine but was a step too late. 

He cleared his throat and said in a calm tone, "Jasmine's use of store-bought fish is a violation. All points for the dance club's fish are nullified."

Lily protested, "No way! Jasmine's actions were her own. We shouldn't all be penalized for her mistake. This punishment is too harsh."

Mira muttered, "When they accused us of cheating earlier, they wanted to disqualify us. Now they don't want to accept the same treatment?" 

Victoria watched Dennis, curious about his decision.

Dennis, considering Lily's plea, relented. "It is a bit severe. How about this: we'll deduct the number of fish Jasmine bought from your total. If Victoria hadn't discovered the store-bought fish, they would have been added to your score. So deducting the equivalent points is the fairest solution."

Lily, though unhappy, had no choice but to agree. 

Eric had no objections either, as their snooker club had won anyway. 

In the end, Elise scored 26 points, Walter 17, with Elise taking a significant lead. They packed up and boarded the bus to the nursing home.

On the way, Lily sternly scolded Jasmine for her foolishness. If she was going to cheat, she should have been more careful and not left any loopholes.

Jasmine, eyes red, apologized softly with her head down. Ella held her hand in comfort.

Lily, after a few moments of speechless silence, reminded them, "Alright, let's forget about the fishing incident. But this afternoon at the nursing home, we need to leverage our girls' charm to win over the elderly." 

"If we score high in the final satisfaction ratings, we still have a chance to turn things around."