Reborn with My Genius Husband-Chapter 87: A Certain Jealous Person

Holly Winslow tensed up, her eyes widening as she stared at Mortimer Quincy. "..."

’What is this jerk, Mortimer Quincy, trying to do!’

Because of their "cousin" relationship, Paul Powell and the others didn’t take it seriously. Paul perched on the edge of a desk and teased, "Mortimer, if you’ve got the guts, wear a matching outfit with your actual girlfriend. Don’t use your cousin as a cover-up." He finished with a wink and a suggestive grin.

Chase Hawkins and the others laughed along. Chase chimed in, "Mortimer, when are you going to introduce us to your girlfriend? We’ll treat her to dinner."

Pantheon and Zeke Zane: "..."

’These morons!’

’Mortimer literally said they were matching couple’s outfits!’

’Aren’t those two words powerful enough?’

Having survived the close call, Holly Winslow was speechless. "..."

Mortimer gave a slight shrug and slumped lazily into his seat. "Holly, they said they want to treat you to dinner."

Holly Winslow: "..."

She shot him a subtle glare. ’Tone it down.’

Zeke Zane and Pantheon: "..."

Seeing that Mortimer was unwilling to bring out his girlfriend, Paul Powell scoffed. "Lame, Mortimer. Hey, cousin, I’ll treat you to dinner."

Pantheon: "..."

He gave Paul Powell an exasperated shove. "Hurry up and get out of here. I’ve got homework to do."

’He’s so annoying to look at.’

Once everyone had dispersed, Mortimer propped his head up with one hand and knocked on Holly’s desk. "Holly, let me check your homework."

The corners of his eyes crinkled upwards; he was obviously delighted.

Holly stuck her tongue out at him. ’So childish, Mortimer!’

Then, she handed him her homework from every subject to check over and pulled out a blank math test to work on.

The two of them didn’t speak for about half an hour. After closing her last physics assignment, Mortimer turned his head to look at Holly.

’Like a well-behaved little schoolgirl.’

Just then, Pantheon brought a bag of apples over to Mortimer. "My grandma grew these. For you and your cousin."

"Thanks."

Mortimer bent down to stuff the bag into Holly’s desk drawer, but she quickly grabbed his wrist. "Be careful! You’ll crush my cupcakes," she said anxiously. "My dad bought them for me."

Seeing her carefully retrieve a bag of cupcakes, Mortimer let out a low chuckle and deliberately teased her, "Let me have one."

Holly knew he didn’t like sweets like these and was definitely just teasing her. She puffed out her cheeks, guarding her food. "No way."

...

The evening reading session was for studying the vocabulary for Unit 3 in advance. Eileen Webb had something to do today, so last week she’d asked Mortimer to lead the class for her.

As soon as the bell rang, Mortimer walked up to the podium with his English book. "Take out your English books," he said in a low voice. "Turn to the vocabulary list for Unit 3."

Many of the students hadn’t noticed what he was wearing before, but now the entire class saw it.

A cute, pink cat head.

Under the bright lights, the pink cat head was even more conspicuous. Paired with his currently cold expression, it created a very jarring image.

Holly half-hid her face with her English book, unable to suppress a giggle.

Mortimer glanced in her direction and gave her a meaningful arch of his eyebrow before beginning to teach the English lesson with a perfectly straight face.

A few minutes later, Gabe Chaucer came in. He froze for a moment when he saw Mortimer’s shirt, but quickly looked away.

He scanned the students, raising a hand to signal them to stop. Then he said sternly, "You all sound half-dead. There’s no energy at all. Open your mouths and shout! If you keep sounding so listless, you can all do your reading standing up."

He then looked at Mortimer and gestured for him to continue.

Mortimer: "Previous."

The whole class roared back: "PREVIOUS, PREVIOUS, PREVIOUS."

Gabe Chaucer watched them with a satisfied expression.

Hearing the noise, the homeroom teacher in the classroom next door said to their own students, "Listen to the Rocket Class, and then listen to yourselves! You’re all half-dead! And you have the nerve to complain to me about bugs? You think the Rocket Class doesn’t have bugs?"

"Grades aren’t everything, but you have to put in the effort, students!"

The entire class: "..."

Soon, that entire class also started reading at the top of their lungs.

In the Rocket Class

About ten minutes later, Mortimer stopped leading the recitation. His gaze fell on Holly, and with a perfectly straight face, he called on her. "Holly Winslow, stand up and read."

Holly Winslow: "..."

’That jerk Mortimer was definitely doing this on purpose.’

She dawdled as she got to her feet, and the pink cat head on her shirt—identical to Mortimer’s—was exposed for the whole class to see. It naturally caught Gabe Chaucer’s attention, but the thought of them being couple’s outfits didn’t even cross his mind. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

’They must be matching sibling shirts.’

Holly began to read the English vocabulary as usual. "Aspect..."

Seeing his girl’s head sinking lower and lower, the smile in Mortimer’s eyes deepened until he finally couldn’t hold back a low chuckle, which he quickly suppressed.

After Holly sat down, Mortimer called on two more students in a transparent attempt to cover his tracks. A moment later, he returned to his seat just as the bell for self-study rang.

Gabe Chaucer clapped his hands. "It’s evening self-study. No more talking. Hurry up and get your homework done. Finish your other subjects first and save the language arts homework for last. I’ll collect it tomorrow at noon."

He’d been a student once himself, so he knew the deal: most students wouldn’t do their homework over the holiday break.

After a few brief remarks, he let them start their work. He walked from the front of the classroom to the back, patrolling the aisles a few times.

Finally, he stopped beside Mortimer’s desk, bent down, and asked amiably, "How have your studies been lately?"

Mortimer nodded. "They’re fine."

Gabe Chaucer placed the sign-up sheet for the sports meet on his desk. "Glad to hear it. For the sports meet in April, could you organize the roster when you have time? There’s no rush, just turn it in by Friday."

’Ahem. If he tried to organize it, the students wouldn’t give him the time of day.’

Mortimer, who had just been roped into it: "..."

"Alright."

After Gabe Chaucer left, Holly tilted her head and asked, looking a little excited, "Are we having a sports meet?"

The timing of the sports meet varied from school to school, but Jarton High’s was always in April.

Mortimer looked at her. "You’re not participating."

The last 800-meter race had nearly killed Holly, and she didn’t want to participate either. But she felt like he was looking down on her. "Why not? I earned points for our class in the last race."

Mortimer raised an eyebrow and leaned close to her ear. "You want to ’bleed for the cause’ to earn points?"

’Her period.’

Holly Winslow: "..."

Flushing with anger and embarrassment, she muttered, "Go ’desire’ a wall."

Mortimer leaned in shamelessly. "I’d rather desire you."

Holly: "..."

Mortimer handed the sports meet roster to Zeke Zane and Pantheon, signaling for them to each sign up for an event.

Zeke Zane and Pantheon: "..."

’Well, they owed him one for the apples.’

’Might as well sign up.’

After the two of them signed up, they passed the sheet down the row. By the end of the first self-study period, the list came back to him. The boys’ 3000-meter and long jump events were still empty, so he simply filled in some names himself.

The girls’ section was completely empty, but he paid it no mind. He took the list and headed to the office to give it to Gabe Chaucer.

Not long after he left the office, someone came looking for Holly.

It was Shane Lester, dressed in his school uniform.

Holly was a bit surprised. She hadn’t run into him at all these past several days. "Shane... Lester, what’s up?"

Shane Lester handed her a bag, looking a little shy. "My grandma made some fried dough twists and asked me to bring you some."

Holly had eaten Grandma Lester’s cooking many times before. She took the bag. "Thank you. Wait here a second." She carried the bag into the classroom and came back out a moment later holding something else.

She handed it to Shane Lester with a smile. "These cupcakes are pretty good."

Shane Lester waved his hands. "No, it’s fine. You have them, Holly."

"I still have..."

Holly was startled by Mortimer, who had appeared beside her at some point. His eyes were fixed on Shane Lester with a displeased look.

’He looked like he was catching a cheating spouse in the act.’

She: "..."

She turned back to Shane Lester and continued, "I have more. My dad bought too many, and they’ll just go bad if I leave them."

Shane Lester glanced at Mortimer, took the cupcakes, said thanks, and left.

Before Holly could explain things to a certain jealous person, that same jealous person spoke up, his tone dripping with acid. "’Dad bought too many,’ huh? I didn’t see you offering me any."

...