“No, thanks," Maria said, shaking her head. "I have an appointment with someone else."

Anthony had driven them here.

Instead of going upstairs with her, however, he had opted to wait at the underground parking lot of Yeez Entertainment's building.

There was a wide grin on Maria's face and a spring in her step as she walked out of the elevator and into the parking lot.

She spotted Anthony in the distance and happily waved at him.

Ding!

She then received a notification from the bank. "Your money was transferred successfully.

The current balance of your account is 343.01 dollars."

Maria stared at the notification on her screen, her expression slowly turning dark.

Her bank card was Linked to Sophie's card in Broome, and the Latter had access to her account. Sophie could do anything from checking her balance to transferring the funds anytime, anywhere, with no amount Limit.

Sophie's words from their last phone call echoed in Maria's mind.

She said a rich sponsor had been wiring money to the research institute regularly. So there was no way they would be Lacking money lately. Obviously, that wasn't the case at all.

Sophie had transferred her money with the speed and efficiency of a prolific bandit. How could Maria believe that they were not struggling with finances?

Ding!

Maria received a new message from Sophie.

“Your income seems to have increased, huh? Good for you. Keep it up.” Maria swallowed her anger and calmed herself before typing out a reply.

“Didn't you say that you're no Longer short on money?"

Sophie's reply came almost immediately.

“Please do not underestimate a scientist's expenses. Even if I had an entire kingdom's treasury at my disposal, I‘d probably squander it in half a day. Besides, do you really need to be asking me this? It goes without saying. Is it because you haven't dabbled with scientific research for so long that you've forgotten how it is?"

Maria was at a loss for words.

Sophie was right, of course, but when she thought back on her remaining balance, she couldn't fight the urge to weep.

“What's wrong?"

Anthony had come over after seeing Maria freeze in place for a while. Maria Looked up at the man, whose face was covered with a mask and a pair of sunglasses. The corners of her lips pulled downward, and she sniffled unhappily.

“I'm fine," she muttered under her breath