bChapter /bb71 /b

King Tiki’s glowing blue eyes darted between the two, who pressed close together. Then, bouncing around excitedly, he chanted, “Kiss! Kissl”

Shermaine thought to herself, ‘Honestly, I’m starting to regret upgrading this thing!

Joshua felt amused.

After King Tiki spoke, the atmosphere became indescribably awkward. Still, Shermaine lived by one golden rule: if anyone was sweating, it sure wasn’t

her.

She had no idea if Joshua was squirming, but she sure wasn’t.

Shermaine deadpanned, “Shut up.”

Upon receiving themand, King Tiki fell silent.

Shermaine stepped back, putting some space between them, while Joshua remainedposed, as if nothing had happened.

“I’ll go change,” Shermaine said.

Joshua simply replied, “Mm.”

When Shermaine came out after changing, Joshua was already gone. He had taken King Tiki with him, leaving a note on the table: I have to leave for an urgent matter.

Shermaine raised an eyebrow slightly. ‘Just as well he’s gone,‘ she thought.

Seated in the chair, Shermaine was lost in thought for a moment before picking up the dessert on the table and taking a bite.

Shermaine was only briefly curious about Madeline at firstb, /bwanting to learn more about Ruth’s past. She never expected to find out that Madeline had

died in a car ident.

Of course, she could ask Janice about the past, but after sharing only the bare essentialsb, /bJanice refused to say another word about Ruth. Ruth must have been such ba /bdrama queen over the years that Janice couldn’t even stand to mention her name anymore.

Recalling the details of her conversation with Freya earlier that day/Shermaine couldn’t help but notice how unnaturally calm Freya had been when Madeline’s death was brought up–there was no grief at all, only a guarded wariness toward her.

That was why, after leaving, Shermaine couldn’t shake the feeling that the car ident was far more suspicious than it appeared.

The car ident must be recorded in the police database. Shermaine set down her dessert, her fingers dancing across the keyboard.

essing data…

ess sessful.

Undetected, Shermaine infiltrated the police department’s security systemb–/bslipping in silently, stealing the data, and vanishing without ba /btrace.

Shermaine pulled up the case file, only to find the records pitifully scant–barely any information about the ident. But there was one crucial lead: a mere ten–second clip of surveince footage from the scene.

The surveince footage, captured on a rainy night, was badly blurred by the rain and re, making bit /bvirtually unusable.

Through the blurry footage, she could faintly make out Madeline walking into the middle of the road with an umbre. For some bunknown /bbreason/b, Madeline paused there for a moment–and in that split second, a car suddenly sped out of nowhere, mming into her and sending bher /bflying several yards away.

bChapter /b71

bThe /bsurveince bfootage /bbdidn’t /bbcapture /bthe license teb, /bbbut /bafter the bcrash/b, the driver stuck his head out bagain /band cast a bsuspicious /bnce in bMadeline’s /bdirection,

b‘/bbWay /btoo dark–bcan’t /bmake out who bit /bis,‘ Shermaine thought.

b‘/bbBut /bthat doesn’t matter. Now that I’ve got the footage, clearing it up won’t be a problemib, /bShermaine thought confidently.

Just thenb, /bba /bsharp knock at the door interrupted her.

Shermaine got up to answer the door.

It bwas /bJanice bat /bthe door.

Janice peered inside. “Has Joshua left already?” she asked.

b“/bYeah,” Shermaine replied.

Janice muttered, “Left so soon? Could’ve stayed a bit longer.”

Shermaine of course heard that.

‘Looks like Grandma is just as invested in our rtionship as Mr. York, Shermaine thought, rubbing her temples. ‘All this meddling from the elders is really starting to get on my nerves.‘

Shermaine wondered, ‘If Joshua and I break up, will those two just lose it on the spot?‘

Meanwhile, Wendelyn sat at the bar, heavily made–up and drowning her sorrows in alcohol.

Dressed like this in the dim, noisy bar, she was a far cry from her usual self–making her nearly unrecognizable, just as she’d nned.

It had been ages since Wendelyn dressed up like this and hit the bar, but she’d finally reached her breaking point. Shermaine’s constant provocations were driving her insane–she desperately needed to vent.

As she downed one drink after another, the frustration inside her only grew stronger. Suddenly, she mmed her ss to the floor.

Wendelyn, her eyes bloodshot and teeth gritted, screamed hysterically, “Shermaine! You fucking bitch!”

Little did she know, this outburst had already caught the attention of a man watching from the shadows.

Sitting in the shadows, the man swirled his ss. Turning to the woman beside him, he said, “Go invite that woman over here.b” /b

After that woman swayed away with serpentine grace, the other women in the bar began to stir. This was Kingston Wright, the second heir bof /bbthe /bck River Company–rumor had it he was extremely generous. A night with him could mean serious benefits.

But wait, isn’t the ck River Company in the middle of picking an heir? Shouldn’t he be busy fighting for his inheritance instead of hanging out bin /bbars?‘ they thought.

Just as the other women were about to strut over and show off their charms, date brought another woman over to him–she looked quite

familiar.

Wendelyn scowled, her voice dripping with irritation. “What do you want?”

Kingston poured her a drink with a charming smile. “Have a seatb, /bMs. Jean. Rather than drowning your sorrows alone, how babout /bI bkeep /bbyoupany/bb? /bLet’s have ba /blittle chat.”

bAt /bhis words, Wendelyn’s face paled again.

Shermaine stayed up extremelyte that night–she was swamped, juggling hacking missions while working bto /benhance bthe /bsurveince bfootage/b. bAt /bbthis /brate, she’d be burning the midnight oil for days toe.

20

That morning. Shermaine dragged herself to school, yawning a few times before slumping over her desk. The moment she closed her eyes, she was out like a light, instantly catching up on lost sleep.

Byte morning, Summer finally managed to wake her and dragged her off to the cafeteria for lunch.

Suddenly, a student’s scream pierced the air.

Shermaine turned toward the scream and saw a girl copse on the floor, foaming at the mouth. The surrounding students stood frozen in shock. Without hesitation, she dropped her fork and rushed over.

AD