Free Web NovelChapter 21: Chapter 21: 5 Million in Hand
At the same time, a parkour video went viral on a small scale online, managing to snag a spot at the bottom of the trending list.
[Came here from the trending list. That girl looks so badass and cool.]
[@Poster above, you commented so fast. I’m betting you didn’t even finish the video (lol, just kidding).]
[Holy shit, I finished the video. This isn’t just ’cool,’ this is freaking insane!]
But then, some people started jumping in with doubts.
[This video has to be fake. Catching a person that fast, and then pulling off a loop run? Are they taking us for idiots?]
[Yeah, only two people in the entire world can pull off a loop run, and they’re both international masters. If this video spreads abroad, won’t we be a total laughingstock?]
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After that day of parkour, Sasha had shown the video to her friends in the community. They were all blown away and wanted to add the girl in the video as a friend.
However, Sasha had never spoken a single word to Chloe Sinclair, and Chloe had no idea who she was.
Her friends were a little disappointed to hear that, but they dropped the idea.
That evening, she posted the video on Weibo. At first, the comment section was calm, but then a few trolls showed up, insisting the video was fake.
Sasha couldn’t take it anymore and posted a clarification on Weibo:
Sasha: [I filmed the previous video myself on April 11th. It’s not fake, and the girl is super pretty, by the way!]
Shortly after she posted, a wave of fans came to repost, comment, and like it, but plenty of trolls joined the fray as well. Sasha didn’t even bother reading their comments, simply reporting and permanently banning them. frёeωebɳovel.com
The parkour community was small, so although the video had its brief moment in the spotlight, it was quickly pushed down by other trending topics. Before long, the hype died down completely.
—
Chloe Sinclair’s past few days had been quite full.
She got up at six every morning to exercise, started doing practice problems as soon as she got to school, began her system studies at ten, took the car home at six in the evening, and continued studying at night.
The atmosphere in Class 7 was much better than Chloe had expected. The students’ grades weren’t bad; they were just a little below the cutoff for top-tier universities, but the learning environment was excellent.
Because Chloe always entered the system to study at ten in the morning, it looked to others like she was spacing out. As a result, Mr. Stern had called her in for a private talk a few times.
"Mr. Stern, I really am studying hard."
Chloe explained, a little exasperated.
’She couldn’t exactly tell her homeroom teacher that she had a system she could use for studying.’
"I know your academic foundation is a bit weak, but the college entrance exams are coming up fast. With your current grades, you’ll have a hard time even getting into a vocational college. I’m hoping you’ll make one last push in this final stretch. The midterms are in two weeks, and I hope to see some improvement."
In truth, Mr. Stern didn’t hold out much hope. He knew this particular student came from a wealthy family. Even if she didn’t try, she would always be taken care of.
"Mr. Stern, I’ll definitely work hard."
This was the third time Chloe had promised Mr. Stern that she would work hard.
And so, in his office, Mr. Stern looked up at Chloe, who was making her promise with such a dead-serious expression it almost seemed real.
’If he hadn’t seen her spacing out at her desk every day, he might have actually believed her.’
He didn’t keep Chloe in his office for long, sending her back as soon as the bell rang for class.
As soon as Chloe got back to the classroom, the class president told her someone had been looking for her.
Her first thought was that Nina Sinclair had come looking for her.
But as she headed back to her seat, she saw a figure in red storming toward her.
When she took a closer look, she saw it was Summer Beckett.
She hadn’t seen Summer in a while. His once golden-blond hair was now dyed black, and she almost didn’t recognize him.
"What are you doing here?" Chloe asked.
"’What am I doing here?’" Summer’s voice shot up, his almond-shaped eyes flying wide. "You’re asking *me* what I’m doing here? Let me ask you—what’s this about you transferring classes the one week I take off?"
Chloe froze. She’d been so busy lately that she had completely forgotten about Summer.
"Sorry, I’ve been really busy and forgot to tell you."
Chloe’s voice was so calm that it left Summer’s fury with no outlet. His anger deflated as if doused by a bucket of cold water, and like a sad little puppy seeking comfort, he said, "I’m transferring classes, too."
Chloe disagreed. "The teaching in Class 1 is really good."
"Do you really think I can keep up with the pace of the teachers in Class 1?"
When he returned to school today, he saw that not only was Chloe’s seat empty, but her entire desk had been cleared out. It was only after asking around that he found out she had moved to Class 7 a week ago.
He tried his best to pay attention during Physics, but the lecture just made his head spin.
Seeing Chloe’s silence, he couldn’t help but vent. "I heard what happened with Cyrus Rhodes. He was just asking for it. It’s a good thing you transferred out, anyway. Mr. Stern is a great teacher. He taught me in our first year, but his application for the Municipal Outstanding Teacher award failed, so he ended up with Class 7."
He had spent a semester under Mr. Stern in his first year. The coursework wasn’t hard then, and with Mr. Stern’s effective teaching methods, his grades managed to stay in the lower-middle range.
But as soon as he was moved to Laura Rhodes’s class, his grades plummeted and never recovered.
Luckily, while his father was angry, he’d also come from humble beginnings himself, so his expectations for his son’s grades weren’t very high.
He just demanded that his son not embarrass him in public.
"Oh, right. This is the check from Wilder Rhodes. It’s for five million."
Chloe took it, surprised that Wilder Rhodes had been so generous.
’She had a feeling that the five-million-yuan bet was probably just empty words to him.’
Her expression must have been too obvious, because Summer explained, "You were right that night, so I went and tattled to my dad. He then found Wilder Rhodes’s father, and we had the money in less than three days."
Chloe understood.
Summer had once told her that the Rhodes Family’s company wasn’t very large. The only reason they could associate with high-society circles was because they were riding the Beckett Family’s coattails.
Although five million was a significant sum, having a falling out with the Beckett Family would cost them far more than just that.
"So Wilder Rhodes is probably in a pretty bad way, huh?"
"You bet he is." Speaking of Wilder’s fate, Summer’s face lit up, and he began gesturing excitedly. "My dad said Wilder’s father broke one of his legs that very night. He’s still laid up in the hospital."
Chloe raised an eyebrow. "You reap what you sow."
With that, she took out her phone. "What’s your bank account number? I’ll transfer you the money."
They had agreed to split it fifty-fifty, and Chloe didn’t intend to go back on her word.
But Summer waved his hands dismissively. "You earned that five million. I can’t take it. Besides, if it wasn’t for you, I probably would’ve been a goner last week."
’Even when he tried to explain to others how dangerous the situation had been, they could never truly understand what it was like.’
’Only he had truly felt the Grim Reaper’s presence in that single moment.’
And that dream... it still made his blood run cold.
