The two discussed food: the twelve top dishes that feature shrimp, techniques to roast pork to retain its juiciness, and secret family recipes for meat sauce. Scarlett went back to school satisfied.


    The academic transcripts for the junior year students were publicly disyed on every board in the hallways. The teachers also announced the annual schrship winners.


    Nobody was surprised to see that Scarlett was on the list again. To her delight, she found that she would receive around 6k in schrships alone. She took another nce at the notice board and then went upstairs to the ssroom.


    Bell waste. She walked with light steps into the ssroom and took the seat next to Scarlett. Scarlett was listening to Professor Suvorov talking passionately about the new policies toward Russia proposed by President Trump and suddenly interrupted in a low voice, “Have you heard of the list of winners of the Sandler Schrships?”


    “Nope. Who is on the list?”


    Bell looked at Scarlett with a knowing look in her eyes. Scarlett pointed to herself and asked, “Wait… what? Me?”


    Bell nodded. Although she felt a little jealous in heart, Bell had to admit that she was not as good at Russian as Scarlett was, who had won the first prize in the department for three consecutive years. Scarlett spun the pencil in her hand and asked doubtfully, “Isn’t the Sandler Schrship only awarded to graduates and doctors? Howe undergraduate students have been shortlisted this year?


    “Somebody told me that our university was selected this year. To award undergraduate students schrships too, that is.” Bell told her everything she knew. Scarlett was surprised.


    “You’re not messing with me, are you?” Scarlett gave Bell a suspicious nce.


    Bell rolled her eyes and said, “If you don’t believe me, just wait for the official announcements yourself!”


    The next day, the official website of the school announced the added four Sandler schrships for four undergraduate students. The list aroused a heated discussion all over the campus. In the past, the attention for this schrship was limited since there was only a small number of graduates and doctoral students. But the situation was different this time. There are over 6, 000 students in U. I. Why was it these four who had been selected?


    Everyone knew that the most impressive part of the Sandler Schrship was not the massive amount of money that came with it. Rather, it was the letter of rmendation– to enter the Sandler Inc. and T. B. S. Empire. This was enough to make you stand out in the fierce job market, and that’s why the Sandler Schrship had only been awarded to graduates and doctors in the past. They wanted elite students with higher degrees.


    Among the four students, Scarlett drew the most attention. The school website was emzoned with photos of their student identification cards. Even with her hair slicked back and no make-up on her face, Scarlett was still beautiful. That photo was taken at the beginning of her first year, she recalled.


    Everyone was full of questions about why it was that Scarlett had been selected for the prestigious schrship. She didn’t feel like staying in school because of all the pairs of eyes on her. She decided to just go to ss and then return home, not hanging out in the corridors. For several days, the heated discussion about her blew up on Twitter, and #ScarlettMorrisUI was trending for a couple of days.


    At the same time, rumors of Scarlett’s “indecent” part-time jobs had run rife. The school was split: some defended her, while others only tore her down more. There were videos of Scarlett floating all over the inte: from talent shows,petitions, and even movie clips.


    In one of the videos from freshman year, Scarlett was wearing the sexy rosy-colored dress and was performing the ssic French chanson La Vie En Rose. She had won the championship that year. Her gorgeous appearance and charming voice captured the hearts of the judges at that time and made her something of an inte sensation. Now, everybody at school knew about her past.


    Scarlett turned off her phone and wandered through the streets. It was supposed to be a cause for celebration that she had managed to get the Sandler Schrship, but now everything was out of her control. She stood outside the 7-11, eating a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, considering whether or not she should give up the schrship to ease the situation. But it was arge amount of money, and Scarlett was reluctant to give it up.


    Scarlett wanted to ask Skyler if he could stay with her for a while. But as soon as she turned on her phone, Chuck called.


    “Where are you?” ssic Chuck.


    Scarlett took another bite of her ice cream, “On the street.”


    “Get yourself ready ande to the airport.”


    “What for? To pick you up?”Published by N?v''elD/rama.Org.


    Chuck said calmly, “Aren’t you in the eye of the storm right now? I’m going to Hong Kong for a few days, and I would be grateful if you coulde with me. Believe me, your mates at school will quickly forget about the whole Sandler Schrship nonsense. If you disappear for a while, they’ll just forget who you are.”


    “I know, I want a break from it all. I don’t have enough money to travel right now, though.”


    Chuck snorted and said, “You don’t need to worry about the money. Pack your stuff and get here. I’ll see you at the airport in an hour.


    Scarlett decided to believe only half of what Chuck had told her on the phone. In case this was all just some borate prank, she did not pack up any clothes but only took her daily bag and got on the shuttle bus to the airport. Chuck was drinking coffee and ying some games on his phone in the V. I. P. room at the airport. When his bodyguard brought Scarlett in, he was astonished to find that she didn’t have any luggage on her.


    “Just because I said you don’t have to worry about the money doesn’t mean you can take…nothing!” Even in his wildest dreams, Chuck didn’t think that Scarlett would show up at the airport for a trip without carrying any clothes.