bChapter /b40

Shermaine’s heart started to race uncontrobly. She blinked a few times but stayed silent.

Joshua’s fingertip lightly brushed against her chin. “Where bdoes /bit hurt?

Shermaine replied, “Right where you’re holding.”

Joshua froze for a moment, pulling his finger away. Under the light, he noticed a small red mark where he had just touched. “Be careful next time,” he said

“Okay,” Shermaine murmured, lowering her head.

In the front seat, Bradley, curious, nced back. The two in the backseat were pressed closely together.

The stark contrast between Shermaine’s school uniform and Joshua’s tailored suitb, /band between her innocent yet alluring baura /band his elegant yet.manding presence, only made the chemistry between them even more undeniable, Bradley automatically shipped the two of them.

Joshua helped Shermaine settle back into the seatb. /bbShermaine /bfelt a bit hot and rolled down the window. The lingering warmth of bhis /btouch felt like it was burning into her skin.

Luckily, Ross’s call came through, and Shermaine’s attention shifted. She happily started a video call with her brother.

Shermine was stunningly beautiful, bso /bit was bno /bbsurprise /bbthat /bher biological brother, Ross, was striking.

Unlike Joshua, who was reserved andmanding, bRoss /bwas refined and gentle. When he saw Shermaine bon /bthe video call, he smiled warmly and said,

“Sheary.”

“Hey, Ross,” Shermaine replied.

“How did the family dinner go?” Ross asked.

Shermaine smiled. “It was wonderful. Grandma, Uncle Bradon, and his family are great” After a brief pause, she added, “Mr. York came too. It was such

an honor,”

Bradley, overhearing this, couldn’t help but think, bThat’s /bnot the only benefit. Mr. York has the looks, the body, and the strength. Ms. Jean, please, just stop ying games and go for this pure–heartedb, /bhard to get man already!

Ross thought, Joshua’s just another pretty face. Then he asked, “Did they give you a hard time tonightb?/b”

Shermaine chuckled softly. “Ross, when have you ever seen them get the upper bhand /bover me?”

Ross knew his sister was smart and confident. His eyes were filled with affection as he continued, “Is that so? Even though I’m abroad, I’ve been keeping _up with everything about you. You should see what they’ve been saying about youtely”

He couldn’t stand how some people blindly followed the crowd and trashed bhis /bsister. He’d seen the hateful post about her on Basterel University’s forum, and it had kept him up all night, seething with anger.

Shermaineforted him, The situation will change soon. Besides, Grandma was amazing tonight”

“So they did try to give you trouble tonightb,/b” Ross bsaid/b. He wasn’t surprised. Ruth was obsessed with Wendelyn andpletely ignored her biological children. And Wendelyn was eager to marry Joshua, so naturally, she’d make Shermaine’s life difficult.

“Yeah, pretty much.” Shenmaine wasn’t bothered.

Then Ross said, “Put it on speaker. I need to talk to Joshua about something

Shermaine pressed the speaker button, “Go bahead/b.”

13:54 Sun 1 Junolli1./li/ol

hing them off gu

“i restored the post-

moment, it clicked. Of course,

counte, Shermaine could handle it – sha

uld upgrade an Al robot,

ing a deleted

lone. “No wonder the post suddenly disappeared while I was browsing the forum that day. Turns out, you

bar, the pot thought the post would be a more effective p to those people once they found out the truth “Don’t bother with

anyone delete the post (1) be usefulter on.”

As an older Brother, he felt it was his job to support Shermaine, no matter what she decided. He had full confidence that

anged her shoes and quickly didappeared and nd the corner. She had already organized and summar

Levens made individual outlines for each person

u bexhausting /bbenough/b, let alone for a whole group. But Shermaine had plenty of hee time during

yet – she didn ?teven need to study it anymore.

thirty students had entered

(momenti, over ten students joined. About five minutester, thirty students had

The group ther

you to teach||

materials spread across the desi. Holding a piece of s

together might look

tch paper, Sharmaine replied, “Math”

midating, but the actual concepts involved were rtiv

put in that a gfurt if they wanted!

| Cs. Their performa

the

18:55 Sun 1 Jun ? G.

While Shermaine was teaching, she typed with one hand on the keyboard. She was testing thepatibility of now nuclear energy systems with miniaturized sensors.

The data was massive, so she had been running adjustments. However, doing it manually was a hassle, so she was working on ba /bsmall program to run the tests automatically in the background. Time was running out–the ten day deadline was almost here.

The keyboard wasn’t the loud, clunky kind; it had a soft click. The students facing the screen were probably so focused on the lesson that they didn’t hear anything else. Even if they noticed the odd sound, they probably didn’t care it wasn’t as important as paying attention to the lesson..

So, they could never have imagined that the top student who was helping them with their problems was actually multitasking–teaching and developing software at bthe /bsame time.

And before they knew it, more band /bmore people had joined the livestream. The whole sessionsted about an hour, and by the end, the viewership had quietly climbed to several hundred people.

[What school is the streamer from?

[When’s the next ss? I find it so much easier to understand the problems when you exin them.

High school senior here, please stream more lessons!]

However, since they weren’t in her ss, Shermaine didn’t brespond /band ended the livestream. She was tired. Grabbing a fresh set of clothes, she took a

wer, climbed into bed with her hair still damp, and fell asleep the moment she closed her eyes.

One of her ssmates, feeling a little sorry for those viewers, kindly replied: (Sheary will stream lessons whenever she’s free at night. If you want to join, just follow her ande by next time.]

The next day, Sfermaine went out for her morning workout, and just as she stepped out the door, she nearly ran straight into Joshua. She yawnedzily. “Howe you’re not swimming todayb?/b”

Joshua, dressed in a ck tracksuit, looked more rxed than when he wore formal clothes. “I only swim on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The rest of the time, I climb, bax, bor /bjog in the mornings”

“No wonder he’s got such a killer body Shermaine thought. “Well, I’ll get going then.”

“Let’s go together,” said Joshua

Aher her morning workout, Shermaine finally shook off her grogginess. She had breakfast, and since it was the weekend, she bgot /bback to work.

Seniors usually had two days off on weekends. This week, probably because of International Students‘ Day, the school gave them an extra day off. On Monday morning, Shermaine went back to school bright and early.

But today, someone unexpected showed up in their ss.

One of Shermaine’s ssmates, lookingpletely confusedb, /bbasked/b, “Leslie, what are you doing here? You’re not even in this ss” Meanwhile, he thought, “What could he possibly want so early in the morningb?/b”

Leslie bwas /bsomething of a legend at their school. He was a straight–Astudent and had won first bce /bin the physicspetition during his sophomore

He was handsome, athleticb, /bband /bba /btop student–basically the dream guy for the girls at their school. Every Valentine’s bDay/b, bhis /bbdesk /bwould be buried under a mountain of choctes and love letters.

At that moment, ba /bfew early arriving girls, clutching their books and clearly fascinated by him, asked with bright smiles, “Leslie, can we WhatsAppTM

Leslie politely refused. “Sorry, I don’t use WhatsApp much.”

The girls had expected bthat/bb, /bknowing Leslie wouldn’t just add anyone on WhatsApp. They sat back down, disappointed.

d you on

b3/5 /b

Even though not many students had arrived at school yet, news of Leslie’s visit spread like wildfire.

That mousing, Sommer brought Shermaine a homemade breakfast from her family’s chel; a tandwich, juice, and oatmeal.

Having received the message earlies, Shemaine didn’t eat with Joshua. Once she entered the ssroom, she was about to greet Summer when Leste walked over and said. “Shermaine, you’re here.”

Shermaine looked up, surprised to see Leslie, She nodded slightly. “Is there something you need?”

Leslie was upset due to her indifference. He couldn’t help but bthink/bb, /b‘Shermaine isn’t all that great–aside from being pretty, she isn’t as impressive as Wendelyn in every other way

“It’s pure bluck /bthat she has be Joshua’s fiancée. It’s an arranged marriage, so there must be no real chemistry between them. I’m actually quite fond

And we go to the same schoolb. /b

of her.

“Though my family isn’t as prestigious as the Jean or York families, with generations of schrs, it’s no less impressive than the Jean familyb. /bShermaine has a lot of areas to improve, but I can help her grow and get better alongside me.”

Thinking about it, Leslie became more patient. He said, “Mrs. Jean asked me to help you, and I’ve kept that in mind. These are the notespiled for you, covering everything from freshman to senior year. Here you are.

“And here’s a practice test. Work through it, and I’lle to pick it up this afternoon, Once I see where you’re at, I’ll know how to help you better. Also, from now on, let’s meet after school every day for tutoring.”

Shermaine was stunnedb. /bSummer and the others were equally shocked and thought, “Honestlyb, /bbwe /bare the ones who need tutoring!‘

They hadn’t expected Leslie to actually follow through on what Ruth had said about organizing notes and offering to tutor her. Out of politeness, she smiled and said “Thank you for your kindness, but i don’t need them. You can keep them.”

Leslie frowned, clearly bnot /bexpecting her rejection. “Don’t you want to improve your grades so your mother will see you in a better light?”

For tutoring, but she figured Leslie, with his bpreconceived /bnotions,

Sharmaine wanted to tell him that she did well in school band /bdidn’t need his notes or tutor

wouldn’t believe her.

So she said, “Til make sure she sees me differently, but I really don’t need your help. My grades aren’t as bad bas /bpeople make them out to be online— they’re actually quite good.”

Shermaine’s ssmates couldn’t believe their bears /band thought, ‘Seriously? Bad grades? She’s ba /btotal bgenius/bb!/b”

slie’s expression darkenedb. /bHe assumed that Shermaine was avoiding him because of her engagement.

So he continued, “Talk is cheap. Without action, you won’t bmake /bany progress. Trust me, with my help, getting into a top–tier university will be a breeze. bBesides/b, I’m only doing this because your mother asked me to. bDon’t /bfeel any pressure. I’m not interested in you”

Shermaine’s lips twitched bas /bshe thought, What a speech. I’ll forgive him this time since he doesn’t know the full story, but why would I feel pressuredb? /bI’m not interested in him either. Then she breplied/bb, /b“Leslie, if I ever need bhelp/bb, /bI can hire a tutor. Or Joshua can teach me.”

Joshua teaching ber? What a joke. He’s so busy, how could he possibly btake /bthe time to help her? Leslie thought, his face turning sour

It was the first time he’d offered to tutor someone, and most bpeople /bwould jump at the chance. Yet, Shermaine rejected him again and again, “Fine. I’m bleaving /bthe notes here. Take them or leave them–it’s your choice.”

Shermaine thought, “Thanks, but I really don’t need them. Can you just take them back, please?‘

Soon, the news spread that Leslie, the school’s heartthrob, knew Shermaine and offered fo tutor her, and Shermaine lelt like she’d be the target of

jealousy among many girls at the school.

bBut /bShermaine’s ssmates just found Leslie’s behavior baffling. Shermaine had already said her grades were good, but Leslie just refused to believe her and bended /bup embarrassing himself.

1355 Sun, 1 Junca

AD

Comment

Send gift