Chapter 40 The Stationery was Faulty
Mark replied: [I'm Dennis's brother.]
Lily was shocked when she read the message.
Mark struggled to get up from the floor, his hands shaking as he typed: [When did he start taking on apprentices? Why didn't I know about this?]
Could it be that the girl from the Roberts family was Dennis's apprentice?
Mark tentatively asked: [Are you Lily?]
[Yes, I am. Did he mention me?]
Lily was surprised that Dennis's brother knew about her!
Mark was stunned and repeatedly exclaimed, "Oh my God!"
With trembling hands, he called Dennis.
Dennis picked up immediately, his tone indifferent. "What's up?"
Sitting in his study in front of the computer, Dennis rubbed his temples and exited the program screen.
"Dennis, you secretly took Lily as your apprentice, and she pulled off a twelve-hit combo! You never taught me that! Am I not your brother? I feel so unloved!"
Dennis's expression turned serious. "How did you find out about this?"
"I just logged into your account. She was looking for you, and I tricked her into telling me."
Dennis finally saw the messages Lily had sent earlier.
His tone was frosty. "Log out immediately!"
"You still haven't explained why you taught Lily the twelve-hit combo and not me. Do you know she's my competitor?"
"She learned it on her own. Log out!"
Dennis's tone grew more stern.
Mark memorized Lily's ID before reluctantly logging out.
"Dennis, why are you in such a hurry? Is she your new girlfriend? I support you rebelling against the family's arranged marriage and finding true love!"
"Shut up. What did you tell her?"
"I didn't say much, just that I'm your brother."
Dennis hung up the phone.
He logged back into the game and saw Lily was online.
For a moment, he felt a bit flustered.
Just now, he almost thought Lily had figured out who he was.
Dennis stared at Lily's online status for a long time, not making any moves.
Lily found it odd that the account had logged off and then back on without doing anything.
Could it have been hacked?
Who would be so bored as to hack a small account?
Lily sent Dennis a message: [Dr. Gonzalez, someone logged into your game account. Was it hacked?]
Seeing her message, Dennis invited Lily to join his team.
He spoke calmly, "It was someone else logging in earlier."
"It was your brother. He said so himself. I thought your account got hacked."
Dennis's tone remained steady. "No hacking. Just ignore him."
Lily didn't ask further. While they were running a dungeon, she suddenly spoke up, "The captain of Bubble Buddies Team wants to invite me to join their team!"
Dennis frowned instantly. "When was this?"
Was Mark asking for trouble?
"Just now. I saw the Bubble Buddies Team captain, Mark, publicly challenge Austin. I guess it's to provoke him. Quite unexpected."
Dennis checked the game news and indeed saw the pinned message.
His voice was unhurried. "Don't take it seriously."
"Of course, I didn't. The Bubble Buddies Team is really strong. They'll probably join the national team someday."
"You're not bad either!"
Dennis blurted out.
Lily's eyes widened.
He scratched his head awkwardly. "With me here, you'll be the strongest."
His tone had a hint of arrogance.
Lily smiled slightly. "If I get the chance, I want to join the national team and bring glory to the country."
In her past life, she didn't get the chance because Sophie took her spot.
Dennis's tone was calm. "That's easy. We'll talk about it after your exams."
After finishing the dungeon, Lily logged off.
Dennis immediately called Mark, who picked up right away. "Dennis, you finally called. I was dying to know. What's your relationship with Lily?"
"First: You can't tell anyone about this, especially our family."
Mark straightened his back. "Got it. I never betray you."
"Second: Lily doesn't know who I am yet. You can't reveal my identity."
"Got it. With all the gold diggers out there, it's smart to keep your identity under wraps for a genuine relationship. But isn't Lily underage? Dennis, are you into minors now?"
Dennis's tone was impatient. "None of that. Don't ask too many questions and don't do anything unnecessary. Understand?"
Mark shrank back. "Okay, I got it."
Was Dennis really that mad just because he asked a few questions?
After giving all the instructions, Dennis spoke softly, "You want to invite her to join the team?"
"I had that idea, but mostly I wanted to annoy Austin. He's so arrogant without any skills! I heard he doesn't get along with Lily, so I thought I'd take advantage."
"If you want to invite her, wait until her exams are over. Don't do anything now that might affect her."
After hanging up, Mark immediately added Lily as a game friend, wanting to figure out what exactly was going on between her and Dennis.
He had never seen any girl around Dennis. And he'd never seen Dennis treat a girl so well!
A month flew by.
Lily watched the countdown in her classroom turn to zero, and she finally reached this day.
She was ready to correct the mistakes of her past life, starting now.
After school, Lily went straight to the medical office.
Eric waved. "Lily, the exam is tomorrow. Are you nervous?"
"Not nervous, more like excited."
Lily looked at Dennis, who was sitting in a chair wearing a white coat, looking as cold and distant as ever.
But she knew Dennis was a good person.
She met his gaze.
Seeing the anticipation in her eyes, Dennis understood her thoughts.
His voice was calm. "Good luck."
"I will."
Lily smiled. "I'm leaving now. Bye."
She came here just to hear those words of encouragement from him.
After all, besides Dennis, no one else would genuinely cheer for her.
After Lily left, Eric clicked his tongue. "Such a well-behaved and smart apprentice. Makes me want one too."
Dennis said nothing, closing his eyes for a nap.
"Dennis, after her exams, shouldn't you go back? Are you planning to watch over her forever?"
Dennis slowly opened his eyes, his gaze deep and unreadable.
He hadn't thought about that. He just did what he wanted.
The SAT began.
Lily slept well that night and felt great the next day.
But Sophie was weak, coughing, and still looked like she hadn't fully recovered from a cold.
Michael was worried. "Are you okay? How come you haven't gotten better in a month?"
Barry immediately spoke up. "It's because she got caught in the rain and had a severe cold."
Lily heard this but pretended she didn't.
What did it have to do with her?
Sophie tried to smooth things over. "Michael, it's my own fault for not being in good health and catching a cold in the rain. It's my own weakness."
"Sophie, don't think that way. Just do your best. Don't put so much pressure on yourself."
Lily focused on eating her breakfast, ignoring the people around her. She had prepared for this battle for so long.
She wouldn't let anyone or anything affect her mood.
Michael personally drove them to the school for the exam.
It started raining heavily on the way, cooling the air but causing a traffic jam!
Sophie, looking sickly, said, "Lily, good luck on your exam."
Lily turned to look out the window, not responding.
Sophie bit her lip in frustration and glanced at the front seat, but Michael said nothing.
In the past, Michael would have scolded Lily!
Despite all her efforts over the past month, nothing had changed!
When the car arrived at the school, Lily's bag of stationery fell to the ground as she got out.
As she bent down to pick it up, she realized the stationery was faulty, all defective!
Lily panicked for a moment. How could this be?
She looked up at Sophie. No one else could have done this.