A Second Chance At Forever novel (Eleanor and Bernard) novel Chapter 1522

Damian's pride was as fragile as a house of cards in a gust of wind, teetering on the edge of collapse. Apologizing to that dummy was akin to admitting his own stupidity—something he was loath to do. However, the prospect of winning permanent jurisdiction was too tantalizing to pass up. "Sorry—" he mumbled begrudgingly.

Elwood, blinked in confusion, peeking through the gaps between his fingers at Damian's retreating form. "Dude, you feeling okay? You sound like you've been possessed or something."

Damian rolled his eyes in exasperation and moved on to face Bernard. "There, I apologized. Where's the challenge?"

Bernard, sipping his coffee with a grace that bordered on arrogance, set down his cup and stood. "Follow me to the study," he commanded.

Damian trailed behind, wondering if his father had a heart at all. Bernard had already seated himself at the desk, chin held high, expecting Damian to fetch his own chair.

Biting back his annoyance, Damian rolled up his pristine sleeves and, with Herculean effort, dragged a chair to the desk. It felt like an eternity before he was finally seated.

It was only then that Bernard booted up the laptop, pulled up a series of puzzles, and swiveled the screen toward Damian. "Six puzzles—math, computer science, astronomy, anti-gravity, philosophy, AI. One of each."

Damian felt like a kindergarten kid being picked on by a bully. "I don't even know what anti-gravity is..."

Bernard couldn't care less. "Thought you were a genius. How come you don't know what anti-gravity is?"

Cornered and irate, Damian clamped his mouth shut, while Bernard taunted him with a tilt of his head. "One hour. If you can't solve them, you better concede defeat."

Damian's young face scrunched up with determination. For the sake of his pride, he decided to go all in against his old man.

He reached for the laptop, lifted his chin, and stared intently at the puzzles on the screen.

Bernard had set the program so that solving one puzzle would unlock the next. Stuck on the first, Damian's frustration grew.

Bernard, his gaze buried in a book, sensed Damian's turmoil and smirked. "Can't solve it? Just give up."

But surrender was not in Damian's vocabulary. He furrowed his brow, searching for formulas, and tried to crack the code. Genius as he was, even hastily learned knowledge was quickly applied.

Yet, these were brainteasers of global renown. No matter how many times Damian tried, he couldn't find the solution.

Feeling the sting of defeat for the first time, Damian peeked over the computer at Bernard, who seemed to be leisurely enjoying himself. "Weren't we supposed to be competing? How come you're not doing anything?"

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