Chapter 55
Shermaine transferred another three million dollars to Jay’s account. Of the remaining 1.5 million dollars, she decided to invest 750 thousand dollars in Lity’s cosmetics company and keep the other 750 thousand dollars.
After all, she needed to prepare a gift for Joshua in return, and it had to be something that matched the value of the car he gave her.
Shermaine wasn’t one to take advantage of others. Even though she and Joshua were meant to marry each other, that car was far too extravagant. No matter how close they were, she preferred to keep things balanced and fair.
Before her lecture, Shermaine logged into the International Tech Forum, planning to take on another SSS–level task. She was surprised to find her inbox flooded with messages. ‘What’s going on now?’ she wondered.
She first checked the system notifications. Completing the 555–level task had instantly boosted her points to the platinum level. The system had broadcast her achievement across the forum, which explained the sudden influx of messages from strangers.
Ignoring those messages, she spotted a message from Jaden on her friend list. She clicked on it right away, read it, and quickly replied: [I’ve received the money.]
Jaden instantly responded: [You’re finally online!]
Shermaine felt a little bit uncomfortable with his over–the–top enthusiasm and replied: [Yeah.]
[Um, could you give me your number?] Jaden asked, his fingers flying across the keyboard.
Shermaine shared her number without hesitation.
Jaden immediately took a screenshot and sent another message: [Are you in the country? Our professor really wants to meet you and asked if you have time to visit Basterel University.]
Shermaine did have time, but for now, she wasn’t particularly inclined to visit Basterel University, where she had an infamous reputation. She wondered if the students would keep spreading dirt on her after tonight and decided to check the forum later.
[Not at the moment,] Shermaine replied.
Jaden was a bit disappointed. [Well, when you do have time, please make sure to visit us at Basterel University. And don’t forget to contact me when you come.]
Shermaine smiled, thinking, ‘I will go eventually–as a freshman.’ Then she responded: [Alright.]
Even though Shermaine already held several degrees from Ivy League universities abroad, she didn’t have any from prestigious domestic institutions.
She hadn’t planned on pursuing further education in another field, but since Ruth wanted to humiliate her through comparisons, she decided to go along with it. Instead of throwing her degrees in Ruth’s face, she’d take this chance to let Ruth see the cold, hard truth.
Shermaine then took on another SSS–level task, with a reward of 2.25 million dollars–750 thousand less than her previous one. It was quite challenging and might take more time to complete than the new energy project, since it involved building a massive Ol system.
After accepting the task and receiving the infrastructure details, Shermaine logged off without hesitation.
Dolcie’s fans were in an uproar once again.
[What’s the deal with Boa Hanks? Just ten minutes after Dolcie took on this task, she picked up the same one. She’s clearly doing this on purpose!]
[Yeah, what’s her problem? Is she trying to compete with Dolcie or what?]
[Sure, we mocked her, but we apologized, didn’t we? Does she really have to keep going after Dolcie like this?]
While the fans raged, neutral observers figured the legendary Boa only accepted the task because of the hefty reward, not to compete with Dolcie.
On the other end of the phone, Dolcie knew Boa had taken on the same task right after her. She tried to dig into Boa’s profile, only to find it completely blank and encrypted. No matter what tricks she used, she couldn’t crack it.
Dolcie had been active in the International Tech Forum for years and had competed against numerous big names in the industry. But Boa was the only one who made her feel powerless.
Boa had completed the entire project in just ten days, while Dolcie had planned to finish it in a whole month.
Dolcie was determined to finish the task before Boa this time and claim the 2.25 million reward. It wasn’t about the money–it was about putting Boa, whom she considered an infuriating person, in her place.
Shermaine noticed that many more people had joined her live stream lecture this time–over two thousand were online in no time.
Shermaine didn’t care how many people were listening. She was simply doing this to help her classmates and had no intention of becoming some kind of academic livestream celebrity.
By the time the lecture ended, it was almost midnight. After taking a shower and lying in bed, Shermaine felt like something was missing. After thinking for a moment, she realized–it was the warm milk Joshua used to bring her.
She hadn’t stayed at his place for long, but she’d already grown fond of the warm milk he prepared. She wondered where he bought it–it tasted amazing. And the best part was that drinking it noticeably improved her sleep quality.
Lying in bed, she picked up her phone and opened the Basterel University forum. She narrowed her eyes with a smile as she saw the latest update. Just as she had expected, the person had spread more dirt about her, accusing her of cheating on exams.
‘How gutsy,’ she thought. ‘The lesson they got last time clearly wasn’t severe enough, or they wouldn’t dare help Wendelyn smear me again. Think I wouldn’t know it was you just because you’re using someone else’s account? Tomorrow, you’ll regret this.’