"These must be your ssmates?” the manager said, finally catching his breath. He beamed at Juniper, speaking cautiously. "I''m so sorry, I was held up. This was all a misunderstanding. I hope you won''t hold it against us."


    "Get over here and apologize to Ms. Payne!" the manager snapped, yanking the staff member who had been about to throw them out. "These are our honored guests! Are you blind?"


    "So you''re the VIPs," the staff member stammered, finally understanding. He wanted to p himself. "Ms. Payne, I''m so sorry, truly sorry."


    "All of you, clear out. Don''t block the entrance."


    "Yes, sir." The security guards, realizing the gravity of the situation, scattered faster than anyone.


    The staff member was still reeling, staring in disbelief at the huge crowd of students. No one had told him that the special guests Mr. Schwartz himself had ordered them to take care of were a bunch of college kids. Who were these people? Was this some kind of mistake?


    VIPs? Hearing that word, the color drained from Ynda''s and Ferdinand''s faces, their eyes wide with shock. Juniper hadn''t been lying? They really had tickets, and were being weed as special guests? How was that possible?


    Meanwhile, thements on Ferdinand''s live stream took a sharp U-turn.


    "Hahaha, I told you! There''s no way Juniper would do something so tacky."


    "You could tell from her performance during orientation that she''s got ss. She has connections, and her brother is a famous actor. Getting some tickets is probably no big deal for her."


    "This is hrious! Ferdinand started this stream to humiliate Juniper, right? Talk about it backfiring!"


    “I swear, Ferdinand is pathetic. He makes it so obvious he has a problem with her. A grown man being that petty and trying to pull cheap tricks? Gross!"


    "He had two tickets and acted like he was king of the world. Juniper got sixty VIP seats and didn''t make a big deal out of it at all."


    "Okay, I''m officially a fan of Juniper now!"


    Seeing the Stream and the school forums flooded withments mocking him, Ferdinand was so furious he could grind his teeth to dust. He immediately ended the live stream.


    He''d wanted to make fool out of Juniper, but instead, he''d just made her look even better. Now everyone knew that Juniper had the


    connections to get WKL tickets-not


    just any tickets, but fro


    seats.


    VIP


    "Ahem," one of theputer science students said, deliberately coughing in


    Ferdinand and Ynda''s direction. More followed suit.


    “So, it was just our escort who was runningte!" one called out, making sure they heard.


    "Exactly! Front-row VIPs, guests of honor. Who needs tickets?" another added. Our Juniper is the best. She е


    took care of everything for us


    without a word Now that''s what I


    call real power!"


    "I just hope we don''t block the view for anyone behind us in the front row! Hahaha!”


    The taunts made Ferdinand and Ynda''s faces darken. The smug smiles were long gone.


    "Let''s go inside," Juniper said quietly, not wanting to make a scene at the entrance. She nced up at her ssmates.


    “Right, Juniper!” they all answered in unison, obediently following her.


    "Lead the way," Juniper said to the manager.


    “Of course,” he replied, wiping cold sweat from his brow. As he led them forward, he added, "Please watch your step, Ms. Payne."


    He kept sneaking nces at Juniper as they walked. Damn! No wonder Mr. Schwartz had his eye on her. Her aura was terrifyingly powerful.