Chapter 40 Shermaine's heart started to race uncontrollably . She blinked a few times but stayed silent . Joshua's fingertip lightly brushed against her chin . " Where does it 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 , glanced back . The two in the backseat were pressed closely together . The stark contrast between Shermaine's school uniform and Joshua's tailored suit , and between her innocent yet alluring aura and his elegant yet . commanding presence , only made the chemistry between them even more undeniable , Bradley automatically shipped the two of them . Joshua helped Shermaine settle back into the seat . Shermaine felt a bit hot and rolled down the window . The lingering warmth of his touch 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 , so it was no surprise that her biological brother , Ross , was striking . Unlike Joshua , who was reserved and commanding , Ross was refined and gentle . When he saw Shermaine on the 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 , That's not the only benefit . Mr. York has the looks , the body , and the strength . Ms. Jean , please , just stop playing games and go for this pure - hearted , hard to get man already ! Ross thought , Joshua's just another pretty face . Then he asked , " Did they give you a hard time tonight ? " Shermaine chuckled softly . " Ross , when have you ever seen them get the upper hand over 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 you lately " He couldn't stand how some people blindly followed the crowd and trashed his sister . He'd seen the hateful post about her on Basterel University's forum , and it had kept him up all night , seething with anger . Shermaine comforted him , The situation will change soon . Besides , Grandma was amazing tonight " " So they did try to give you trouble tonight , " Ross said . He wasn't surprised . Ruth was obsessed with Wendelyn and completely 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 ahead . " 1/5 2/5 13:54 Sun 1 Jun 1 . 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 slap to those people once they found out the truth " Don't bother with anyone delete the post ( 1 ) be useful later 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 exhausting enough , 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 minutes later , 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 relativ put in that a gfurt if they wanted ! | Cs . Their performa the 18:55 Sun 1 Jun ▷ G. Chapter 40 While Shermaine was teaching , she typed with one hand on the keyboard . She was testing the compatibility 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 a small 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 the same time . And before they knew it , more and more people had joined the livestream . The whole session lasted 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 class ? I find it so much easier to understand the problems when you explain them . High school senior here , please stream more lessons ! ] However , since they weren't in her class , Shermaine didn't respond and 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 classmates , 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 and come 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 yawned lazily . " How come you're not swimming today ? " Joshua , dressed in a black tracksuit , looked more relaxed than when he wore formal clothes . " I only swim on Mondays , Wednesdays , and Fridays . The rest of the time , I climb , bax , or jog 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 got back 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 class . One of Shermaine's classmates , looking completely confused , asked , " Leslie , what are you doing here ? You're not even in this class " Meanwhile , he thought , " What could he possibly want so early in the morning ? " Leslie was something of a legend at their school . He was a straight - Astudent and had won first place in the physics competition during his sophomore He was handsome , athletic , and a top student - basically the dream guy for the girls at their school . Every Valentine's Day , his desk would be buried under a mountain of chocolates and love letters . At that moment , a few early arriving girls , clutching their books and clearly fascinated by him , asked with bright smiles, " Leslie , can we WhatsApp TM Leslie politely refused . " Sorry , I don't use WhatsApp much . " The girls had expected that , knowing Leslie wouldn't just add anyone on WhatsApp . They sat back down , disappointed . d you on 3/5 Chapter 40 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 classroom , 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 think , ' Shermaine isn't all that great - aside from being pretty , she isn't as impressive as Wendelyn in every other way " It's pure luck that she has become 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 school . of her . " Though my family isn't as prestigious as the Jean or York families , with generations of scholars , it's no less impressive than the Jean family . Shermaine 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 notes compiled for you , covering everything from freshman to senior year . Here you are . " And here's a practice test . Work through it , and I'll come 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 stunned . Summer and the others were equally shocked and thought , " Honestly , we are 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 not expecting 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 preconceived notions , Sharmaine wanted to tell him that she did well in school and didn'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 as people make them out to be online- they're actually quite good . " Shermaine's classmates couldn't believe their ears and thought , ' Seriously ? Bad grades ? She's a total genius ! " slie's expression darkened . He assumed that Shermaine was avoiding him because of her engagement . So he continued , " Talk is cheap . Without action , you won't make any progress . Trust me , with my help , getting into a top - tier university will be a breeze . Besides , I'm only doing this because your mother asked me to . Don't feel any pressure . I'm not interested in you " Shermaine's lips twitched as she thought , What a speech . I'll forgive him this time since he doesn't know the full story , but why would I feel pressured ? I'm not interested in him either . Then she replied , " Leslie , if I ever need help , I can hire a tutor . Or Joshua can teach me . " Joshua teaching ber ? What a joke . He's so busy , how could he possibly take the time to help her ? Leslie thought , his face turning sour It was the first time he'd offered to tutor someone , and most people would jump at the chance . Yet , Shermaine rejected him again and again , " Fine . I'm leaving the 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 become the target of jealousy among many girls at the school . But Shermaine's classmates just found Leslie's behavior baffling . Shermaine had already said her grades were good , but Leslie just refused to believe her and ended up embarrassing himself . 4/5 1355 Sun , 1 Junca AD Comment Send gift Discover our latest featured short drama reel. Watch now and enjoy the story!