Chapter 765 - 761: Still Missing the Final Person

Owen Griffin’s face flushed red, then turned thunderous as Helen White walked away.

His fists clenched. He couldn’t believe that his confident invitation had only ended up giving Ethan Sterling an assist.

"Heh..."

He let out a sudden, cold laugh. ’Fine. Since those two are together now, I’ll just settle the score with them both at once.’

"So what exactly happened?"

In the cafeteria, Ethan Sterling looked at Helen White excitedly and asked, "It was Owen Griffin, right? It was him, wasn’t it?"

Helen White smiled and rolled her eyes, nodding. "Yeah. I’ve never met anyone so obnoxious."

She told the group what had happened outside the cafeteria, causing Renee Reid to frown. "He tried to get one over on you and ended up losing out instead. That Owen Griffin is ridiculous."

Helen White explained, "But it wasn’t just because he was annoying. I was already seriously considering it. I just didn’t expect him to give me the final push to make up my mind."

Renee Reid offered a friendly warning, "But Owen Griffin is the type to hold a grudge. He’s been resentful ever since Ethan Sterling embarrassed him that one time, and he’s been going against Ethan at every turn. You’re definitely on his radar now. He’ll probably start pestering you relentlessly, like some creepy ghoul."

Helen White pursed her lips, unfazed. "Whatever," she said with disdain. "I’ll just have to teach him a lesson in the arena."

"Ethan!" Helen White suddenly turned to him with a serious expression. "We can’t lose, you hear me? If we do, we’ll be a laughingstock to that Owen Griffin!"

"There’s no way we’ll lose!" Ethan Sterling’s eyes widened as he made a promise. "I can’t guarantee anything else, but when it comes to games, I could beat him with one hand tied behind my back."

That was the kind of confidence Helen White wanted to see. She felt reassured.

"So, what’s the team’s status right now? Is the roster full?"

"Not yet. We’re still short one person." Ethan Sterling smiled sheepishly, then introduced Holly and Helen White to each other.

"She’s our Support, and you’re the marksman. You two will be partners in the duo lane."

In this game, the marksman and Support work as one. The marksman is the team’s core damage dealer, and while the Support helps the entire team, their primary job is to protect the marksman and create opportunities for them to deal damage safely.

"Holly? I think I’ve been matched with you before!" The name sounded familiar to Helen White; she had a faint memory of it.

Holly smiled at that. "I play a ton of matches for my stream every day, so I probably don’t remember."

"Your ranks are pretty close, so it’s not surprising you’ve been matched before."

Helen White looked at Ethan Sterling again. "So there’s one official member left. Do you have any candidates?"

"Not yet." A troubled look crossed Ethan’s face. "It would be easy to find someone if we lowered our standards. There are plenty of people in the Esports Club. But I don’t want to compromise. I think every member of a team is important. At the very least, their mechanical skill and game sense need to be on the same level, or at least not too far apart."

The others nodded, clearly agreeing with Ethan’s point of view.

"Then let’s just take our time. Better to be selective than to settle for less. If we can’t make the Spring Split, we’ll aim for the Summer Split. That’ll give us a few months to build synergy, and then we can make a stunning debut!"

Helen White wasn’t in a hurry, and Holly was even less so.

It was a good chance for her to work on her own mentality, and besides, she would still get paid every month even if they didn’t compete in the Spring Split. It made no difference to her.

"Okay! I’ll definitely find the perfect person for our team!"

*

That evening, Jasmine Sterling finished her work for the day early, put on her overcoat, and walked with her bag to the teahouse on the corner.

Finn Vance was already waiting for her. He stood up quickly when he saw her arrive. "I didn’t get a private room. I remember you like sitting by the window."

Jasmine smiled and nodded, taking off her coat before sitting down gracefully.

"I ordered a pot of chamomile tea. It won’t keep you up tonight."

Finn Vance gently placed a cup of tea in front of Jasmine and smiled at her. "Jasmine, there’s something very important I want to talk to you about today."

"Finn, between us, I think..."

"Jasmine, please let me finish first, okay?" Finn Vance cut her off. Or perhaps, it was more that he knew what she was about to say and didn’t want her to voice it.

Jasmine pressed her lips together but ultimately nodded. "Alright. You go first."

Finn Vance let out a slow breath before he began to speak. "I know that the situation with Felix caused you a lot of trouble and distress. The reason we had to give up was entirely because of his opposition."

"I’ve taken everything you said to me before to heart. I know you had a point, and I never intended to pester you relentlessly. You know I’m not that kind of person."

"It’s just... you can’t really control your feelings. They’re a subconscious reaction, born from instinct and the heart. I can’t control it, and I... I don’t want to control it."

At this, a relieved smile spread across Finn Vance’s face. "The good news is, Felix doesn’t oppose us anymore. Jasmine, I’m sincerely asking you to give us another chance."

At first, Jasmine thought Finn was just expressing his feelings for her as he had before, but her eyes widened in surprise when she heard his last sentence.

"He doesn’t oppose it anymore?"

Jasmine was filled with doubt. Felix’s previous reactions had been extremely volatile, as if he were vehemently against the idea of his father remarrying.

Jasmine didn’t believe a child like that would suddenly stop protesting. It was too out of character.

"Why did he suddenly stop?" Jasmine asked bluntly.

Finn Vance didn’t hide anything. Although the whole process was a bit embarrassing to admit, he told Jasmine everything.

The reason was that Felix had recently gotten a girlfriend he really liked. Finn decided to give his son a taste of his own medicine, to make him understand the helplessness he had felt. But he didn’t just object to his son’s relationship. He also cut off his son’s cards and even put his position at the company on unpaid leave, cornering him emotionally and financially from every possible angle.

It was a taste of his own medicine, but even more thorough.

"I just wanted him to understand a simple principle: once your freedom is taken away, you lose everything. It’s a terrible feeling to not be in control of your own life."

Jasmine was silent for a few seconds after hearing Finn’s words, then slowly shook her head. "Finn, ’Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.’ And besides, he’s your own son."

"Besides, the result you got through these means wasn’t given sincerely. I think you know that better than I do."

"Jasmine, I don’t care if he’s genuinely supportive. As long as he stops opposing us with those extreme actions like before, that’s enough. He’s grown up; he has his own life to live. I want to pursue the life I want, too. We can just stay out of each other’s way."

Finn Vance promised urgently, "Jasmine, I can guarantee you, he won’t do anything to hurt you ever again."