Joli lowered his eyes to mask his emotion, but his fists clenched tighter beneath his sleeves. After what felt like ages, he finally relaxed his grip as if he had run out of energy and decided to give in.

“Thank you, Dr. Xander. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me over the years,” he said.

“Of course! What else would I do for my best student? Don’t you think you deserve special treatment?” Sophie replied.

He didn’t respond. After all, he wasn’t good with words, and most of his classmates and teachers saw him as a quiet and reserved person.

“Alright, you can leave now. Take your time with the thesis, and you don’t have to finish it by this month. Manage your time as you see fit, but I trust you won’t let me down.”

Joli turned and left.

Sophie sat down and slowly sipped her coffee.

Yasmine approached her with a grin. “Aunt Sophie, you’ve really had a way of getting him to listen.”

Miranda and the others couldn’t apply for a lab, and Joli refused to withdraw his application. As a result, they needed to come up with an alternative solution.

Madison was so upset that she skipped dinner, which was unusual for someone who loved food. “This is ridiculous! It’s so unfair. Aren’t the faculty going to do anything about this?”

Sebastian replied, “The faculty always favors those who achieve good academic results. Besides, Joli's followed all the proper procedures for his lab access application, so what can they do about it? What grounds do they have to intervene?”

She sighed and rested her chin on her chubby hands. “How are we supposed to continue our research without a lab?”

He replied, “There are a lot of unoccupied labs, but those labs don’t have the CPRT measurement device.”

If they could get the device, any lab would work.

Madison asked casually, “Is that device expensive?”

Miranda was taken aback by the question.

After a brief pause, Sebastian replied sarcastically, “Well, that’s certainly a… good question.”

He immediately pulled out his phone and did a quick search. “The best CPRT measurement device on the market is the Everysto model from Dulcora. It also has a microscope but costs 1.26 million dollars.”

“1.26 million…” Madison thought momentarily before suggesting, “Why don’t we just buy one?”

Sebastian was perplexed and questioned the unexpected idea. In contrast, Miranda was surprised and thought it was a brilliant suggestion.

Seeing his confused stare, Madison asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Uh… did I not explain it clearly enough? Fine, I’ll repeat it. This device costs 1.26 million dollars, not 126 dollars. Got it?”

She nodded. “Yes, and you don’t have to repeat that.”

“So, do you still think… we can afford it?” Sebastian asked.

“Not we, but me. Don’t worry, I’ve got this.” Madison smiled and patted her chest.

He wondered if she had misspoken or if something was wrong with his hearing. “Where are you getting all that money?” He thought she was bragging.

“I don’t have it,” she admitted.

Sebastian’s expression clearly said, “I knew you were joking.”

“But my dad does,” Madison continued.

He was flabbergasted.

She pulled out her phone and dialed a number. “Hey, Dad!”

“Sweetie! You’re finally calling your old man. I’m so touched, I could cry.”

Madison said, “Dad, I need to talk to you about something.”

“Sure, what’s up?”

She said, “Well… I’m short on cash lately. Could you send me some?”

“How much do you need?”

“About a million.” Madison still had 500 thousand dollars in pocket money, which would be more than enough when combined with the money her father transferred to her later.