Chapter 78

In the afternoon, Ruby arrived early at the auditorium with the student council to begin preparations.

The opening ceremony of the Art Festival would begin with her performance. Ruby planned to play a world-famous piece.

Bryan’s Second Life Concerto, Ruby practiced day and night for this performance, hoping to make a big impression at the Art Festival. She knew she wouldn’t win first place in other events, so she didn’t compete in those. However, she was confident she could win the top prize in the piano event.

Argrol University’s Art Festival had invited Seacrity’s upper class and the media. It would also feature an important figure as a mystery guest.

Unbeknownst to others, Ruby, as the student council president, already knew who it was. She had already invited this mystery guest twice. This time, the guest agreed to come because of his relationship with Simon.

The mystery guest was none other than Zion Holmes, a famous young pianist in Clusia.

Ruby had always dreamed of joining his studio. For anyone studying piano in Clusia, joining Zion’s studio was a dream come true. So, the performance at the opening ceremony was vital for Ruby. If she could leave a strong impression on Zion, she might have the chance to join his studio.

Bonnie came along with Yvette and Ryan. She was the physics department’s representative, so she volunteered for the opening ceremony. Even though she wasn’t competing, she still had the opportunity to attend.

Besides, Bonnie always felt that Ruby had some hidden agenda, so she insisted on staying close to Yvette and not giving Ruby any opportunity to take advantage of her. The rumors she had heard weren’t for nothing.

The auditorium was already filled with people, including participants from various departments and volunteers like Bonnie who were there to help.

“Ruby, Yvette and the others are here. Just as Ruby was directing people to move the piano to the center of the stage, she heard her friend saying that Yvette had arrived.

She looked in Yvette’s direction, her eyes filled with malice. Ruby then glanced at Ryan standing beside Yvette in a white shirt and slacks. She was somewhat confused Ryan was well-known at school for being introverted. He never seemed close to anyone. “Why did he come with Yvette? Is he also bewitched by Yvette? Ruby wondered.

In front of everyone, Ruby put on quite a performance, humbling herself as she came down. She had a big, warm smile, completely different from the other day when she was being difficult. “Ms. Zeller, you came! I thought... you wouldn’t? Mr. Lewis, you’re here too.”

Yvette looked down and ignored her. Ryan simply adjusted his glasses, nodded at her, and then looked away. Ruby’s eyes were the sort of thing he’d seen plenty of since he was young-people acting humble, desperate to please, and cautious, all because he was the son of the Lewis family Bonnie was fuming. Ruby had never seemed faker than ever. She was the one who insisted Yvette attend the Art Festival, yet anyone who didn’t know the truth thought it was Yvette’s problem. “Ruby, you Ruby was afraid Bonnie would muplicate her, so she quickly interrupted. “Forget it. Just come. Yvette, you and Bonnie are in the last row.

Hope you don’t mind that. There are too many people, so I nonchalantly told Ryan, “Your seat is the second chair in the front row”

old only give you the last row. Then, she Ryan glanced at Yere, who was quietly fiddling with her phone No, it’s line. I’ll sit in the back with the representative and Yvette.

You can give my seal in somnour else”

Yvette put away her phone and looked up, asking Bonnie. “Where are we sitting?”

The noisy room instantly fell silent. Even though Ruby spoke for a long time, Yvette hadn’t listened at all. Ruby’s face turned ashen. She couldn’t even force a fake smile. Bonnie couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing. To Ruby, that laughter was nothing but pure mockery.

However, she misunderstood Bonnie Bonnie just genuinely thought it was funny, thinking Yvette was impressive. With just one question, Ruby was furious. How did she not notice this talent before? Even Ryan, who was usually so serious, couldn’t help laughing a little.

When she saw Ryan also laughing at her, Ruby’s resentment for Yvette grew, as she was humiliated in front of everyone. Then, she thought about the Art Festival, and Ruby could only slowly suppress her anger. Just wait. I’ll make sure Yvette has hard time then, she thought.

“All right. Mr. Lewis. Do as you wish,” she said, lifting her head proudly and straightening her back before returning to the center of the stage.

The others didn’t dare to say anything. As the student council president, Ruby had considerable power. She often lost her temper with the lower-ranking members, and anyone who had been in the student council for a while knew about her short temper and tried to avoid provoking her, When the three of them sat down, Ryan cautiously sat three seats away from the other two. After all, he wasn’t particularly familiar with them, so sitting together felt inappropriate. They were the only ones in the last row, leaving a large space there.

Everyone had moved to the front, so no one noticed Yevite taking out her black phone. She hacked into a website effortlessly, scanned through ten lines, and logged out in less than a minute without a trace.

At Murphia’s Department of Homeland Security, an officer reported, “Sir, it seems our firewall was just attacked. The attacker was probably a top-tier hacker, but they didn’t succeed. The attack was too brief for us to trace their location.”

Manuel Cruz, the Secretary of Homeland Security, calmly lit a cigar, completely unconcerned. Incidents like this happened all the time. There were always reckless individuals trying to attack the national security system, so he didn’t take it seriously at all Manuel was sure that their national security system was the most secure and toughest in the world, thinking no one could break it. “What’s the fuss? This kind of thing happens all the time, doesn’t it? It’s not like they breached it. Don’t panic next time, okay?”

The young officer who reported the incident felt something was off. The code was messed up for a moment and then returned to normal after a few seconds, but it shouldn’t affect anything. Maybe he misread.

He figured Manuel was right. Their country’s security system was the best in the world. All the top hackers were in Mysonná. He was certain no one could breach the system and steal anything. He must have drank too much last night.

They didn’t take it seriously, but little did they know that in just a few seconds, Yvette had entered the system and got the information she wanted Bonnie was so tired that she fell asleep on Yvette’s shoulder. Eventually, she was woken up by the sound of a piano. She rubbed her eyes, gradually regaining consciousness.

She found herself leaning on Yvette’s shoulder and quickly straightened up. When she checked her watch, she saw that an hour had already passed. Yve, why didn’t you wake me up? Your shoulder must be sore.”

Yvette shook her head. Her eyes were as clear as spring water, but there was a hint of coldness in her expression. “It’s not,”

Only then was Bonnied relieved, and she looked ahead. Ruby was sitting at the piano, sound-checking. The sounds of her piino playing had woken Bonnie up.