Chapter 201
Although Joshua and Shermaine kept their marriage quiet, their close friends were in the know. For example, Roy and Henry were among those who knew. The two insisted on coming over for drinks with Joshua. In high spirits, he welcomed them warmly. But as soon as Roy suggested a barbecue, more friends ended up joining in, all from their circle, plus Joshua’s cousins.
Shermaine winced at the dwindling stock of fine wine in the cellar–so many bottles already gone, yet they kept drinking. As for her brother–constantly away on business and currently overseas–he had initially objected to her registering the marriage with Joshua. But after a private talk with Joshua, all his objections vanished. She wondered what Joshua could have said to prompt such an abrupt change of heart.
She then invited Danielle and Lily to join them. But Danielle couldn’t make it tonight–she was tied up in the OR, performing a brain tumor removal surgery.
Lily came straight over after work. At the moment, the two of them were chatting away. Shermaine asked, “Any tricky issues at the company lately?”
“Not really,” Lily replied. “It’s just that our products are flying off the shelves right now, but our production can’t keep up, so we keep running out of stock. I’m planning to expand the factory and add more production lines.”
Shermaine reminded her, “Product efficacy comes first. Make sure you keep a close eye on quality.”
“I will,” Lily replied. Unlike those shady cosmetics companies that only cared about profits and ignored product quality, Lily was perfectly content with how far her company had come. She believed that true success came from staying grounded and moving forward step by step.
They hadn’t been chatting long when Lily’s phone rang. Seeing the caller ID, her eyes lit up with a smile–she looked completely smitten.
“Boyfriend?” Shermaine asked.
Lily smiled and said, “Not quite a boyfriend yet–just a suitor.” She was actually pretty satisfied with him; both his family background and looks met her standards. Then she gestured that she needed to take the call.
Shermaine nodded. “Go ahead,” she said, then pulled out her phone and scrolled through some forums and short-video apps.
Scrolling through the app, her feed was flooded with SAT news. Now that the SAT was over, everyone’s attention naturally turned to the results. The SAT results won’t be available until the 20th or 21st. While browsing, Shermaine noticed someone had started an online poll ranking this year’s top arts and science SAT scorers from Basterel’s major high schools. Jason was leading by a landslide, with Shermaine trailing far behind in second place.
Shermaine glanced at it and lost interest. ‘What a meaningless poll,’ she thought. ‘Jason and his mom went viral recently–no wonder he’s miles ahead in the votes.’
A few minutes later, Lily returned with her phone, giving Shermaine an apologetic smile. “Shermaine, I think I’ll have to head out early.”
“So, did he just ask you out?” Shermaine teased.
“Yeah,” Lily nodded, a shy smile on her lips.
Shermaine nodded. “Alright, go ahead. Stay safe.”
“Got it,” Lily replied.
After Lily left, Roy and the others also prepared to call it a night. Before leaving, they gave Shermaine ingratiating grins and said, “Happy newlywed days, Shermaine! We won’t bother you lovebirds anymore–we’ll get out of your hair now,” they added with knowing smirks as they slipped away. They were considerate enough to tidy up thoroughly before leaving. But those knowing chuckles of theirs were downright baffling.
Joshua escorted the guests out. When he returned, Shermaine was no longer in the living room–she had gone upstairs. He’d had quite a few drinks tonight, but getting drunk was out of the question–with his legendary tolerance, he could drink anyone under the table. Now, the only thing left was to move Shermaine’s belongings into his room. After all, there was no way they’d still be sleeping apart now that they were married.
Stepping out of the bathroom, Shermaine froze–her room had been completely emptied out, not a single thing left. She stood there, dazed for a few seconds before the realization hit her.
She thought to herself, ‘Now that we’re officially married, there’s really no reason to keep separate rooms anymore. I guess from now on, I’ll be sharing both a room and a bed with Joshua.’
At this thought, Shermaine pressed her lips. ‘Having to share a bed with him every night… he is going to drive me absolutely nuts,’ she thought.
Before Shermaine realized it, Joshua had slipped into the room unnoticed. Before she could react, he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. In that deep, velvety voice of his, he murmured right next to her ear, “Shermaine, you smell good.”