Chapter 66
Shermaine couldn’t help but think, ‘My mother must have liked this woman very much, entrusting her with taking care of the kids and even bringen to work: Curious, she looked up the woman’s personal information.
The woman’s name was Madeline Guston. She was born on January 23, 1974, and used to live at Unit 3003, Apartment 5, 125th Street, Sanderson Grave Sheraton District, Basterel.
However, there was something strange. Despite working closely with Ruth, Madeline only had a middle school education. On top of that, she looked pretty ordinary, nothing special at all.
‘Interesting,‘ Shermaine thought. She wanted to meet this woman, so she jotted down the address and decided to visit the next day.
Meanwhile, at Riverswood Villa, Joshua rubbed his forehead, lips pressed tightly together, a bit exasperated as he pulled the soaked, malfunctioning
robot vacuum out of the water.
The robot vacuum, King Tiki, had been acting up nonstop ever since Shermaine upgraded it. But today, when Joshua returned home, he found it had ended up in the fish pond. He had no idea how long it had been there or if it could even be salvaged. It was beyond frustrating.
Joshua had originally planned to ask Roy to take a look and see if it could be repaired, but then he remembered Shermaine was the one who upgraded it. So he thought maybe he should wait until she came back and let her handle it.
Just then, a car pulled up outside. Logan, Owen’s butler, walked over, holding something in his hands, and greeted Joshua. “Mr. York.”
“Logan, what brings you here?” Joshua asked.
Logan handed over a beautifully packaged box. “Your grandfather asked me to deliver the dessert and remind you to pass it on to Ms. Shue.”
Joshua paused for a moment before taking the box. “How’s Grandpa doing?”
Logan was filled with excitement as he said eagerly, “The prescription from Ms. Shue has been effective. Mr. York’s health has improved a lot recently.”
“Have you had Dr. Newman check on him?”
“No, I thought about calling Dr. Newman, but after Mr. York stopped using his prescriptions, Dr. Newman seemed upset and refused to come back to treat
him.”
“Then find another traditional medicine doctor.”
“We’re already on it,” replied Logan. The new doctor might not be as famous as Darius, but he was still quite well–known in Basterel. “And as for the
dessert…”
“I’ll take it over later.”
Logan smiled again. “Mr. York said once you’ve delivered it, be sure to send him a photo.”
“Got it,” Joshua replied. He sighed inwardly, thinking, ‘Grandpa is far too concerned about my relationship with Shermaine. Earlier, Shermaine stayed at my place for a few days, but when her grandmother returned from the suburbs, she went back to the Jean residence to keep her company.
Ever since Granddad found out, he’s been bombarding me with messages on WhatsApp, urging me to spend less time on work and
with Shermaine.
me bonding
‘I didn’t get the chance to do it, and he’s already starting to intervene himself. Fine, I’ll go over now. Might as well bring the broken vacuum and see if Shermaine can fix it.‘
So, after a long, busy day with no rest, Joshua drove out again, heading toward the Jean residence.
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Chapter 66
Shermaine hadn’t expected Joshua to show up.
Led by the housekeeper, Joshua entered Shermaine’s room, where the gifts Ross had brought back were scattered across the floor and Ben Sherma didn’t feel the least bit embarrassed, maybe because they had lived under the same roof before.
Joshua had been here once before. Just like last time, the room was sparsely furnished far from what one’d expect of a typical girl’s space. Noticing the scattered items, he raised an eyebrow. “Your brother’s back?”
As expected of someone with a sharp mind, he had figured it out with just a glance.
Shermaine gave a soft “Hmm” in response. Seeing there was nowhere for him to sit, she moved her office chair over and said, “Sit here. She then noticed Joshua holding a plastic bag, along with a box that seemed to have food in it.
Joshua handed her the dessert first. “Grandpa asked me to bring this over for you.”
“Thank you for delivering it. And tell Grandpa I said thanks,” Shermaine replied, taking the box. She was moved that Joshua, with a packed schedule, had come all this way just to deliver the dessert.
She hadn’t even opened it yet, but the sweet aroma already wafting out of the box was tempting. “What’s that in your hand?” she asked.
Joshua replied, “King Tiki fell into the fish pond.”
“I see,” Shermaine said, thinking that even after the upgrade, the robot vacuum was still pretty dumb. She then added, “Just leave it there, I’ll deal with it later.” Right now, dessert was her priority.
Joshua settled into the office chair and placed the robot vacuum on the floor, looking quite comfortable and relaxed.
Shermaine, sitting on the carpet, eagerly opened the box. Then a smile tugged at her lips–it was her favorite dessert.
She’d eaten a bit too much earlier tonight, but there was always room for dessert. Worst–case scenario, she’d do some yoga later to work it off.
From where Joshua was seated, Shermaine appeared petite, her delicate frame draped in a school uniform. There was an effortless, captivating charm about her, laced with a touch of innocence. Her long hair cascaded around her shoulders, and despite her slender build, she had quite a curvy figure.
Shermaine scooped up a bite of the soft, sweet tiramisu and popped it into her mouth.
Ever since their last meal together, Joshua had developed a strange fondness for watching her eat–it was oddly appetizing:
At that moment, she was thoroughly enjoying herself. She licked her lips with her soft, pink tongue, savoring the sweetness before taking another bite.
Joshua’s eyes darkened with desire, and his Adam’s apple bobbed slightly. He looked down at his shoes and loosened his collar, thinking, ‘I really shouldn’t be staring–it’s not proper.‘
“This dessert’s really good. Where did Mr. York buy it?” asked Shermaine.
“I don’t know,” replied Joshua.
Shermaine decided to ask Owen herself when she got the chance. Just then, her computer beeped with an alert. Shermaine stood up and woke up the screen of her laptop, and her expression turned cold
Joshua swiveled his chair around, glanced at the glowing screen thoughtfully, and asked, “Someone’s hacking your computer?”
Shermaine’s face was impassive. “Just some idiot.”
Joshua had a pretty good guess of who that idiot was.
Shermaine’s fingers flew over the black keyboard. The rhythmic tapping of the keys was almost hypnotic, and for a moment, Joshua found himself
mesmerized as he watched.
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Chapter 66
Meanwhile, on the other end of the screen, Roy was typing away: [Miss, I mean no harm. I’m just really interested in you. Please don’t ignore me. But before he could send it, his screen flickered a few times and then went completely black,
‘Wow, she really is something else. She nuked my computer without even breaking a sweat,‘ he thought. ‘Argh, what a shame. I didn’t even get to send my message.‘
Once she finished, Shermaine closed the lid of her laptop and was about to continue with her dessert when Joshua suddenly said, “You’re the new energy expert, right?”
He had made this guess based on that phone call. Before he even mentioned the project, Shermaine had known what it was about. He had invested in a lot of projects, including multiple research initiatives at Basterel University, but somehow, Shermaine had pinpointed that the breakthrough came from the new energy project.
Joshua also noticed that when the computer had been turned on, a program was being written on the screen. That reminded him of the Ol system Sheldon had mentioned.
It all made sense now. It was hard to believe that the expert Sheldon had praised so highly was actually a 19–year–old girl.
Shermaine was truly remarkable. Her programming skills were so advanced that even Roy, the third–ranked hacker in the world, couldn’t do anything to her. On top of that, she seemed to be talented in medicine, too.
Joshua couldn’t help but wonder how Roy would react when he knew that the hacker he was so interested in was actually Shermaine. After all, Roy had a pretty deep bias against her.
Shermaine, instinctively looking up, met Joshua’s gaze. She was silent for a few seconds before she casually admitted, “Yeah. Dealing with smart men is such a pain.” She had let it slip, but Joshua had managed to piece it together.
“Thanks for the compliment,” Joshua said with a slight smirk. Noticing a bit of cream at the corner of her mouth, he instinctively wiped it away before adding, “There was cream on your lips.”
Shermaine stared at him speechlessly, thinking, ‘Couldn’t you just tell me instead of wiping it off? I’m perfectly capable of doing that myself.
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