Under the Heiress' Facade

Gino glanced at his dwindling PayPal balance. Double digits stared back, a stark reminder of his impulsiveness. He then tapped out a quick WhatsApp message to Gideon: "Gideon, lend me a million dollars." Across town, Gideon was caught in the throes of a workday. He received Gino's message with furrowed brows.

"What on earth does the kid need a million for?" he muttered, immediately dialing Gino's number.

Gino hastily explained the wager on the school forum.

Gideon's voice was cold. "How utterly childish."

He ended the call and turned to his secretary. "Transfer two million dollars from my personal account to Gino."

"Alright, Mr. Everett. What should I note on the transaction record?" his secretary asked.

"Bet."

The secretary was taken aback. Was Mr. Everett, a staunch opponent of gambling, now placing a bet? Wasn't he the one who always preached about the perils of gambling?

...

Gino had just been hung up on. He was fuming and pondered who else he could hit up for cash. Suddenly, a notification blinked on his screen: "200 million dollars has been transferred to your account." "Huh? Didn't Gideon say this was childish? Why's he sending money?" Mumbling to himself, Gino turned around and dumped two million dollars into the forum bet on Hera acing her test.

"Jefferson, Gino just bet two million dollars on his sister doing well," an underling reported to Jefferson.

Jefferson checked the forum, only to find Gino had outbid him. No way was he letting someone steal his spotlight.

He upped his own bets, placing 1.5 million each on Hera turning in a blank test and on her randomly guessing answers. One of those had to be right; he couldn't lose. And it would definitely piss off Gino. Seeing Jefferson's counter-bet, Gino immediately dialed Gideon again.

"Gideon, two million isn't enough. I need another two."

Gideon hung up, then called his secretary. "Transfer another two million to Gino."

"Alright. As for the transaction record..."

"Bet."

The secretary hesitated. "Mr. Everett, what's the bet? Could it be... a scam?"

"Stop babbling. Just do it."

Ten minutes later, Gideon called again.

"Five million dollars to Gino. For the bet."

The secretary stared at Gideon with disbelief.

"Mr. Everett, are you in a gambling ring? Mr. Everett..."

"Just do it."

"But your account doesn't have five million right now..."

"How much is left?" Gideon asked.

"Just a million dollars."

Gideon was utterly stunned. How had he become so broke so fast?

...

Gino received the five million dollars Gideon had transferred and went all in on the bet.

He then fired off a WhatsApp message to Hera: "Ace that examination or you'll be letting me down big time!"

Hera was fresh out of the exam hall and was heading straight to the lab to experiment with some herbs when Gino's message popped up.

Hera stared at the message with confusion.

Kyson and Josh gathered the completed exam papers and rushed them to the faculty building.

Fifty students had taken the pre-university exam, and the teachers from the prestigious school delegation committee worked diligently to grade them during the two-hour lunch break.

When the results were posted on the committee's internal network, it caused a wave of excitement and chatter among the representatives.