As she listened to Gavin and the others on the video call, Natalie rolled her eyes secretly.

She thought, “These idiots still can’t see what Josie’s really up to, can they? Honestly, she hadn’t expected Josie to have the nerve to not crawl back to David’s team.”

Natalie scoffed to herself, “Did Sean just feed her a few lines and now she really thinks she can go up against us? Once a country bumpkin, always a country bumpkin. So short-sighted. She has no clue where medical research is headed in the next few years. What’s the point of picking some dead-end major? She might not even be able to stay in Aloville, let alone get into a national research center. Does she really think she’ll just go back to her village and play doctor after graduation? That is fine with me. At least now, there is no one left to challenge me. Still, Josie has made me take a huge loss this time. No way is she getting out of this. I have prepared a big present for Josie. I am just waiting for the perfect moment to deliver it!”

Natalie glanced at the faces on the video call. She said, “Aiden, guys, don’t be upset. This whole mess started because of me, so whatever happens, I’ll take the blame. I just didn’t expect Josie to be so impulsive. Honestly, I’d already decided that if she came back, I’d just go along with whatever she wanted. I would no longer argue with her…”

“You don’t have to go out of your way to accommodate her,” Aiden said, his brows furrowed. He continued, “Honestly, it’s probably for the best if she doesn’t come back. We’ve already apologized. Let’s just drop it and never bring it up again. Gavin, Vincent, you two shouldn’t think we’re wronging her. No matter what her reasons were, things turned out exactly the way she wanted. She has no right to stir up any more trouble for the team!”

The video call ended soon after, and Aiden tossed his phone aside in frustration. Originally, he’d been thinking about trying to get everyone to talk Josie into coming back. It was not that he really wanted her back. He just didn’t want to lose the bet. He knew the one arguing with him online was Sean. He could lose to anyone, but never to Sean. But now, it looked like he had no choice but to cough up the money and swallow his pride.

Aiden hurled another glass across the room. He thought, Josie, you really do have a backbone. “Let’s see just how far that gets you, and how serious Sean is about you!”

Chapter 89

Josie returned to her dorm. Claire wasn’t around today, so she had the place to herself. After washing up, she climbed into bed and picked up her phone.

There was a new comment under her post from Sean’s alternate account: [Respect, Josie. You have a bright future ahead of you.]

‘Oh man, this person is actually showing their gentle side right now!’ Josie thought.

Josie fell asleep hugging her phone.

That night, she dreamed once again about her previous life, including all the despair, the helplessness, and the cold, uncaring looks on everyone’s faces. In the end, depression made life unbearable for her, and she ended up slamming herself into a wall.

Josie jolted awake, clutching her head and gulping in deep breaths. The sunlight pouring through the window was almost blinding. She lifted her hand to block it, then slowly parted her fingers, letting the light filter in. Eventually, a smile broke across her face. She knew that she was no longer the helpless, bullied pushover from before. She wasn’t going to bend over backwards for anyone ever again, or beg for anyone’s approval. From then on, she’d live with her head held high, true to herself.

Josie got up to wash up. Before she could even finish, her phone rang. It was Allison, sounding a little too excited.

“There’s some drama going down. Are you coming back to campus today?” Allison asked.

“What kind of drama?” Josie gave her head a light tap.

Allison’s voice rose with excitement. “Actually, this drama has something to do with you. After you said that you wouldn’t be going back to David’s team yesterday, the comments section turned into a battlefield. People were arguing like crazy. Get this. A bunch of people were making bets about it. Early this morning, the Department of Student Affairs caught quite a few students who’d placed bets.”

“Seriously?” Josie was a bit surprised. “It was just some online drama. How did it end up getting the staff from the Department of Student Affairs involved?”