Chapter 248


    X strode toward Sophia deliberately. She said in a sweet voice, “Sophia, what a coincidence! You’re


    here for thepetition too?”


    Sophia turned around with her head lowered. “Yeah.”


    “Good luck then. Richard and I will be watching you from below the stage.” X walked away elegantly.


    Thepetition began. X used her sweet and pleasant voice to host thepetition. “I hereby


    announce that the cash-countingpetition begins now! Contestants, please take your ce and get


    ready with your props!”


    Over a few dozen people participated in the cash-countingpetition. Since the stage could only fit in


    more than ten people at a time, thepetition had to be divided into several batches. The preliminary


    and intermediary rounds were to be conducted in the morning, while the final round was in the


    afternoon.


    All the contestants took out their practice notes and ced them stack by stack on the table before


    getting ready to start thepetition. Sophia opened her backpack and was about to take out her


    practice notes too, but the moment she opened her bag, she froze in shock. She didn’t take out the


    practice notes and simply sat there dumbstruck for a long while.


    Noticing Sophia’s peculiar behavior, X asked her in a ‘concerned’ manner. “Sophia, what’s the matter?


    Thepetition is about to begin. Hurry and take out your practice notes, or else you’ll be disqualified.”


    Sophia kept staring into her own backpack for a long time. Finally, she decided to reach inside her bag,


    then she took out several stacks of notes and ced them on the table.


    The moment she took out those notes, the whole ce became silent. After a few seconds, waves of


    snickering could be hearding from the audience, for the other contestants had taken out fake


    practice notes, while Sophia had taken out stacks of real banknotes!


    The stacks of real cash were very eye-catching among the rest of the stacks of practice notes.


    Sophia felt so embarrassed that she couldn’t bring herself to show her face in front of the audience.


    Because of the incident with Michael’s defamation, she had been out of sorts for the whole day. She


    started reading news when she woke up in the morning, so she mistakenly took the real cash stacks,


    which she used for training at home. She had ced them in her bag and ended up bringing them here.


    She remained calm and unflustered by the situation while waiting for thepetition to begin quietly.


    This caught a group of supervising professors by surprise too. They had never seen someone actually


    use real banknotes as props to participate in thepetition before! However, there were no rules that


    prohibited the usage of real cash, so after a round of discussion, the professors eventually decided that


    Sophia wasn’t going against the rules and thepetition was to be continued as normal.


    X was dazed too before she let out a snicker.


    Thepetition then officially began. In the cash-countingpetition, the contestantspeted


    against each other in terms of their cash-counting techniques, speed and skill. Whoever could count the


    fastest, had the most precise count and looked the best when they counted would get the highest score


    in thepetition.


    Sophia turned her embarrassment into motivation to do her best in thepetition. She counted the


    cash as fast as lightning. All the judge professors nodded at her simultaneously too, impressed by her


    skill andposure.


    After the first round was over, Sophia kept her money properly, then she lowered her head and dashed


    down the stage quickly, feeling really embarrassed.


    She automatically ran toward Michael and sat down beside him with her head still hanging. I


    embarrassed myself again in front of my idol! What an idiot I am!


    Michael patted her on the shoulder and said, “It’s okay. It’s okay. Everything’s okay now. You did really


    well.”


    Sophia hid her face in Michael’s arms, feeling too embarrassed to see anyone.


    Richard, who was not far from them, noticed their intimate interaction. Almost immediately, he could


    guess their rtionship.


    That’s Sophia’s new boyfriend? He was overwhelmed with fury all of a sudden. She’s so promiscuous


    and shameless! She just dated Joel and Stanley before this! And now, she has another new boyfriend?!


    It seems Joel had dumped Sophia!


    Sophia kept hiding her face in Michael’s arms, being too ashamed to see anyone. She finally moved a


    little and slightly showed her face after thepetition was over.


    The result was out and Sophia had gotten the first ce in the preliminary round of thepetition. So,


    she wouldpete with the contestants from other groups in the afternoon for the following intermediary


    round and the finals.


    It was time for lunch when the preliminary round ended. Michael took the initiative to suggest a ce for


    lunch. “Let’s have lunch in the school cafeteria. I haven’te back to Bayside University and have


    lunch here ever since I graduated.”


    Sophia nodded quietly. When both of them stood up and were about to leave, a voice was suddenly


    heard from behind them.


    “Sophia, who’s this? Why don’t you introduce him to us?”


    Sophia, who was holding Michael’s hand, turned around and saw Richard and X.


    X beamed and looked delighted, while Richard just let out a cold snort, looking rather disdainful. To


    him, Sophia was worthless anymore since she was just a useless pawn abandoned by Joel. Yet, for


    some reason, there was a fire of fury raging within him when he saw her holding hands with another


    man.


    Sophia, who didn’t want to talk to them, yanked Michael quietly and signaled him to leave, but to her


    surprise, Richard actually stood in front of them and blocked their way. “Sophia, this is your new


    boyfriend?”


    Before Sophia could say anything, Michael introduced himself first. “Hello, I’m Sophia’s current


    boyfriend.” Or husband, rather. He then added, “We met before in a basketball matchst time.”


    Richard snorted with a rather grim expression on his face. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a


    name card. “Hi, my name is Richard Harper. This is my name card.”


    A gold-ted business card was passed into Michael’s hand. Michael took a nce at the card and


    pretended to be surprised by it. He acted like he was honored to meet Richard. “You’re the Young Master


    of Harper Group? It’s really an honor to meet you.”


    Michael removed his sunsses, revealing his well-maintained, beautiful and young-looking face.


    Richard couldn’t help but praise him when he saw his face clearly. “You look like Taylor Murray very


    much.” He looks exactly like Taylor Murray!


    A faint smile crossed Michael’s face. “I had a slight alteration.”


    Richard understood his meaning. It turns out he had stic surgery. No wonder he looks like Taylor so


    much. Richard studied Michael’s face carefully and he actually couldn’t find the slightest w on it. There


    wasn’t any trace on his face at all that suggested he had undergone a stic surgery before. This made


    Richard feel even more determined to sign Michael as an artist under hispany.


    He suggested frankly, “You have quite the potential to be a superstar. Would you like to get into the


    entertainment business and be an artist?”


    Michael touched his chin and nodded. “Well, actually, I’m kind of interested in bing an artist.”


    Richard smiled. “Well then, perhaps we should have lunch together and discuss the contract in detail.


    The Harper Group is one of thergest shareholders of Glory Entertainment. So, I’m managing some of


    the business in Glory Entertainment. If you agree to sign an agreement with us, we’ll train you and get


    you to debut as soon as possible. I’m sure you know that Glory Entertainment is currently thergest


    celebrity-training agency in Cethos, right?”


    Michael seemed like he was looking forward to it very much. “Alright then.”


    Both of them left happily.


    Sophia waspletely speechless at the back. Her expression darkened, and she didn’t know what to


    say. She noticed for the first time that Michael was a drama king who could put on such a convincing act.


    While X wrapped her arms around Richard’s arm to leave, she turned around and spoke to Sophia,


    who remained standing on the spot motionlessly. “Sophia, why are you standing there? Noting?”


    Sophia followed them reluctantly.


    X took great pleasure in seeing how pathetic Sophia was now. In the end, Sophia couldn’t win against


    her. Without Joel’s care, even if she found herself a handsome new boyfriend, he was about to work for


    theirpany, the Harper Group. That’s really ironic!


    Richard had treated them to lunch on this day. He was so generous that he invited Sophia and Michael


    to have lunch in the most expensive Western restaurant in Bayside University.


    Michael walked while pushing his shabby old bike along with him. Beside him, Sophia looked unhappy in


    her uniform dress.


    On the way, Michael chatted ‘happily’ with Richard. They got along so ‘well’ with each other, as if they


    should have met each other and became ‘friends’ earlier.


    N?velDrama.Org holds ? this.


    Richardmented, “You have such an outstanding appearance. It’ll truly be a waste if you leave your


    talent undiscovered like that. If you agree to sign a contract with us, Glory Entertainment, and be our


    artist, I promise that I’ll make you popr and you shall be the second Taylor Murray.”


    Michael replied, “Yeah. I heard that Taylor’s reputation ispletely ruined now. The market desperately


    needs someone like me to rece him. Not only do I want to rece him, I want to surpass him as well!”


    Richard praised, “You’re very ambitious. I like that!”