Turning Of the Tide by Diana Sander

The next year, after hellish revision, Harper's college entrance examination results finally reached Edward's expectations. Harper barely scraped by, finally leaving high school behind him.

Cyril, however, was still struggling. His total score in the monthly exam last month was only 400 points.

Compared to before, he had increased by 100 points, so relatively speaking, he had improved significantly.

However, it was still far from the expectation set by Frank. There was still a lot of room for improvement, and Frank did not relax his discipline of Cyril.

After checking the scores, things had now changed for Harper. He typed messages into the "Freedom" group chat to ask for gifts, [Jasper! Jasper! Calling Jasper!] At this moment, Jasper was in Ruby's studio. The curtains in the stuwere closed, and no one could look in from outside. The entire stuwas filled with an atmosphere of love.

Ruby was leaning forward, working on her design draft, while Jasper was hugging her from behind. His chin rested on her shoulder, and his gaze followed the pencil in her hand. A deep voice from her shoulder entered her eardrums. "The sketchbook in the drawer is very beautiful." Upon hearing this, Ruby stopped drawing and smiled. Her voice was soft, with no reproach in her voice. She knew that Jasper could unlock anything, so a locked drawer was easy for him to open. "When did you open it?" "The day | was locked in here. | loved it." Jasper answered.

Jasper was referring to the sketchbook that Ruby kept in the locked drawer. It was filled with drawings of him.

Swere of him smoking, swere of him working, and swere of him jogging. His favorite drawing was the one where he was hugging Ruby from behind while she sketched, exactly like what they were doing now.

Jasper said the last three words very softly. He leaned close to Ruby's ear, and his lips unintentionally brushed past the tip of her ear. In an instant, the tip of her ear turned red, and her palm becnumb. Ruby knew that Jasper could be very seductive sometimes, just like this moment. Ruby put her pen down and turned around. She raised her hands, wrapping them around his neck, and twining her arms together. Jasper bent down cooperatively, holding her slender waist with one hand and placing the other on the table.

Ruby pretended to scold him. "Didn't Natalie tell you that you can't touch other people's things without asking first?" Jasper lowered his eyes to look at Ruby. Without a word, he covered her delicate lips with his own. She had wanted to continue teasing him, but her words were swallowed. Ruby had not been surprised by the kiss.

More than a year had passed since they had started dating on 20 May of the previous year, and she knew that when Jasper didn't want to explain something, he would cover it up with direct actions, such as kissing.

The kiss went on. Ruby raised her head and accepted his love. The kiss felt like it lasted for almost a century, both of them moving from the bar counter to the sofa. Just as their clothes were about to slip off, Jasper's phone rang. He pressed it in frustration, but the phone continued to ring. The ringtone was annoying.

Ruby snapped out of her daze and patted Jasper's shoulder with a red face. Jasper was upset but he still did not want to answer the call. He buried his head in her shoulder aggrievedly. This was his favorite action.

Jasper felt very safe lying against her neck. It felt as if he had the entire world, and all his fatigue would dissipate, leaving only joy and peace of mind.

Ruby raised her hand and gently stroked his hair with a smile. "It's ringing again. Check who's calling. What if it's Trevon looking for you?" A muffled voice sounded from her neck. Jasper did not sit up but climbed off Ruby and lay beside her. Jasper hugged her and picked up the phone with one hand. He realized that the missed calls on the screen were all from Harper. If Harper were here, Jasper would have killed him.

Jasper was not in a hurry to respond after seeing the missed call notifications on his phone screen. Harper was most likely asking for a gift. Jasper casually picked up the cushion which had been thrown on the ground and placed it under Ruby's head to make her more comfortable and carefully helped her tidy up her clothes. Ruby's face was red, making Jasper's heart race. He wanted to continue, but he restrained himself since this wasn't the most ideal place.

Seeing that Jasper had no intention of replying, Ruby reached out and pushed his chest. "Reply and find out why Harper is looking for you." "He's most likely asking for a gift. Helpopen it, and you can reply." Jasper cherished every second they were together and couldn't be bothered to reply to messages. Jasper felt that there was nothing more satisfying than hugging Ruby.

Ruby picked up Jasper's phone and entered his password with familiarity. She opened the group chat, and sure enough, Harper was asking for a gift. "Harper said that he wants the latest limited edition balance bike. | think he wants to buy a balance bike and bring it to university so he doesn't have to walk." Ruby said.

"Okay, you decide," Jasper answered.

"You... Didn't you promise Harper? Are you going to agree or not?" Ruby asked.

"Whatever you say," Jasper said.

Ruby was speechless. She never knew that Jasper had this other side to him. He was especially clingy. For example, Jasper was now refusing to do anything but stick to her and hug her.

It was hard to believe that a boy who usually looked as if he didn't care about anything would have such a cute and clingy side.

Seeing that Ruby did not say anything, Jasper looked up from her neck and leaned his cheek against hers to read the message. "Say yes. It's up to your uncle to decide if he gets to bring it to school." Jasper had only agreed to buy it for Harper. However, it was up to Edward to decide if Harper could bring it to show off. Jasper just had to keep the promise he had made.

Ruby understood and smiled. "You're really sly." Jasper stared at her with a meaningful smile as if he was looking at a prey. Ruby was replying to a message, and he was busy kissing her neck.

Jasper's kisses tickled Ruby, so she shrunk her neck and subconsciously pinched Jasper to ask him to stop. "Stop fooling around. I'm replying to a message." Jasper said naturally, "You do that." Jasper felt these were two separate matters.

Ruby was speechless.

‘Forget it.' Ruby thought, intending to let Jasper do what he liked. Ruby tried her best to ignore the wetness on her neck and replied, [Okay. Which one do you like?] In the group chat, Harper was so overjoyed that he did not even consider the issue of his father allowing him to bring it to school. Harper replied excitedly, [Jasper, you're my idol!] Meanwhile, Cyril was unhappy. Cyril's results were still far from the points he needed to get a gift. Cyril had originally planned to work harder and maybe get the gconsole with his scores from the final exam.

However, because Harper had made a huge improvement in the college entrance examination, Frank now felt that the score he had set for Cyril as a goal was a little too low.

Now, Frank had set the total score for the final term and the college entrance examination at 1200 points. Cyril felt it was a big joke since he had difficulty getting 800 points, let alone 1200 points.

However, Frank had said, "Harper can get 1250 points from 750 points. So do you only have one cell in your brain or left brain atrophy?" Cyril was depressed. However, even after bargaining with Frank for half an hour, Frank had merely said, "If you get proof of your left brain atrophy, I'll reduce your total score to 800." Cyril was speechless.

Now that Cyril read the messages in the group chat and saw that Harper was about to receive his gift, he was furious. Cyril secretly used his sister's phone to type a reply, [Why did you score 1250 points for no reason?] Cyril felt that Harper was always making things hard for him. When Harper was grounded, Cyril had been grounded too. When Harper scored 1250, he had to score 1200 points. 'Why didn't they askto get a lower score when Harper wasn't scoring well?" Cyril thought.

Cyril was annoyed.

After reading the message, Ruby chuckled. Jasper sensed her excitement and raised his head curiously. He looked over at the message and chuckled. Jasper guessed, "I guess Uncle has also raised his goal to 1200 points so Cyril must be angry." "I think so. From Cyril's messages, | can tell that he wants to beat Harper up. Harper did well this time." Ruby said.

Jasper hugged Ruby and pressed himself against her. "He could do it in the first place. He just didn't want to study." He said.

"Cyril can do it too, but he's too lazy to study," Ruby answered.

There were still arguments in the group chat as Harper scolded Cyril for being crazy. Ruby and Jasper quietly lay down and watched the quarrel unfold in the group chat. It was pretty entertaining.

Harper retorted, [I was fucking forced into a corner, okay? If | didn't score 1250, | would have to repeat the year again.] Cyril replied, [It would have been fine if you scored 1100. Why did you answer so many questions?] Harper responded, [Are you hormonal?] Harper's father had set the cutoff score. If Harper had scored 1100, he'd have to repeat the year again.

Olivia made a guess, [Is there a possibility that my uncle also set a goal of 1200 and above for Cyril?] Liam replied, [Haha! I'm dying of laughter. The two of you are really like brothers. Amazing. Not even soldiers can be so organized.] Nona's phone was with her brother while she was quietly doing her work and listening to her brother's cursing.

Cyril scolded Harper until there was nothing left for him to say.

Harper was overjoyed. He was in a particularly good mood today. Not only did his score satisfy his father's request, but he would also receive a gift from Jasper. Harper said smugly, [That's my strength. | was keeping a low profile back then when | scored 750.] Cyril retorted, [Yeah right. A low profile? | suspect that you've injected growth hormones into your brain.] Harper replied, [You're the one who's getting growth hormones. I'm the normal one.] The two people on the sofa were engrossed in watching the quarrel unfold. Ruby was in charge of scrolling the phone when her phone that was on the worktable began to flash. The phone kept ringing. There were indeed many clueless people at night. "Helptake my phone," Ruby said.

Seeing that Jasper was unwilling to get up, Ruby pushed him again. There was a hint of coquettishness in her gentleness. "Hurry and go." Hearing this, Jasper reluctantly sat up and put on his shoes. He picked up the phone and saw that it was Hackett.

"Hackett." Jasper coughed.

Ruby was afraid that the two boys would continue to fight, so she used Jasper's phone to reply, [Harper, watch what you're saying.] This sentence instantly extinguished the anger of the two boys in the group.

Although Jasper did not say much when he was with them, he was still very intimidating. As long as he set the group rules, everyone would abide by them.

Yet, Jasper had always kept his word. He would do whatever he said and would not go back on his promises to the younger ones. Moreover, he would be fair and would not treat anyone unfairly.

The call was already connected. Jasper pressed the answer button and Ruby suddenly felt playful and pressed the loudspeaker button. Hackett's voice cfrom the other end of the line. "Ruby, are you done with work? Do you wantto pick you up? I'm nearby. It's very convenient." Ruby did not reply immediately. Instead, she looked at Jasper, who was standing by the sofa and holding his breath. "I see. Alright then." On the other end, Hackett was very happy when he heard his daughter agree. "Alright, I'll be right over. Sit down and rest for a while. I'll be there soon." They looked at each other. Jasper could see the provocation in her eyes. He smiled helplessly and could not help but bend down to pinch her cheek. It was a little punishment, but he barely used any force.

After the call ended, Jasper pecked the corner of her lips as punishment. He had no intention of being locked in the stuagain. "Ruby Blackwell. You did that on purpose." Ruby raised her head and smiled smugly as if to agree.

Jasper caressed her hair lovingly. He really could not do anything to her. To avoid bumping into Hackett, he chose to leave. Before they parted, they kissed for a long time.

"I'm leaving," Jasper said.

Ruby blushed and nodded. After being punished with a kiss, she didn't dare to provoke him anymore and obediently replied in a low voice, "Okay." Seeing that Ruby was quiet, he smiled and turned to walk quickly to the parking lot. He started the car and turned the steering wheel to leave.

Ruby was left alone to sort out her emotions. She kept fanning herself with her hands in an attempt to cool herself down.

Not long after Jasper left, Hackett's car arrived at the parking lot. The bodyguard couldn't help but admire Jasper's ability to tthings well.

Since Ruby would agree to Hackett picking her up from tto time, Hackett's paranoia dissipated. In addition, Jasper never went to the studuring the day, so even if Hackett call of a sudden, he did not encounter anyone.

Hackett felt his daughter could still be by his side for a long time, and his nervous heart was put at ease.