Chapter 86: Chapter 86: Cathan’s First Person in Rocket Launching Is Not Joanna Sherman

Levin Sawyer had been thinking that if Sophia Shaw didn’t do something, he would take matters into his own hands.

Now that he heard she was going to make a move, he naturally stepped aside.

"Alright."

After hanging up, Sophia Shaw didn’t rush to make a move. She continued to watch the livestream.

Yvonne Sherman sat at her computer. A smile graced her lips as she watched the skincare products sell like hotcakes.

Chad Jennings could hardly believe his eyes.

This was insane!

He had never seen such a shopping frenzy before!

A few hours on the livestream had nearly equaled an entire month’s worth of sales!

Chad Jennings and Yvonne Sherman exchanged excited glances.

Using Joanna’s reputation had clearly been the right move.

Chad Jennings quickly ordered a restock.

"There isn’t much stock left in the warehouse," a staff member said.

"Then place another order!"

"How big of an order?"

"Order everything they’ve got!"

The staff member’s jaw dropped.

The skincare market was insanely competitive; what company didn’t have a massive surplus of inventory?

"The factory says they have thirty tons of face masks alone."

"And for the other skincare products combined, it’s at least two hundred tons."

Their products were all high-end, and the cost price wasn’t cheap.

"Two hundred tons... that’ll cost a hundred million to acquire."

"Buy it all!"

With business booming like this, what was a hundred million?

They’d make it back in no time, right?

"Tell the factory to start producing at maximum capacity, effective immediately!"

"Run two shifts! Don’t stop for a single minute!"

Chad Jennings felt that relying on just one factory wasn’t enough.

"Go contact other factories! Sign contracts with every single one that can produce for us!"

He used to hear that a single livestream could outsell an entire supermarket, but he never believed it.

Now he did!

He was a total believer!

Livestreaming was such an easy way to make money. They had to milk it for all it was worth!

Back on the stream, Yvonne Sherman was still boasting about Joanna Sherman.

The unsuspecting audience was incredibly envious that Yvonne Sherman had such an outstanding daughter, wishing they could raise a child like her themselves.

People flooded the chat, asking for her parenting secrets.

Yvonne Sherman said shamelessly, "Of course, the first step is to cultivate independence and self-reliance. I’ve always led by example, never depending on anyone. No matter how hard life got, I never asked for a handout. I relied entirely on myself to overcome any obstacle."

Everyone knew Yvonne Sherman had raised Joanna Sherman alone for a time, so upon hearing her words, they flooded the chat with admiration.

They showered her with virtual gifts.

They praised her: "With such an intelligent and strong mother, it’s no wonder she raised such a capable daughter."

’Never asked for a handout?’

’Overcame every obstacle herself?’

Yvonne Sherman’s words were so shameless that, despite her best efforts to stomach them, Sophia Shaw felt utterly disgusted.

’What about all those years she spent leeching off her own mother?’

’What an absolute joke!’

Sophia Shaw only wished she had the evidence to crush those two scumbags in one fell swoop!

Yvonne Sherman quickly changed the subject, answering questions about Joanna Sherman while continuing her sales pitch.

"’How often do you see her?’ ’She’s just too busy. Rockets are all she thinks about, day in and day out. Even when I visit, she doesn’t have time for me.’"

"’That’s just how she is—a perfectionist, always has to be the best. If she weren’t that driven, how could she have possibly built a rocket all by herself?’"

"’When will she get married? Who knows. It seems to me that her greatest love is rockets. She knows every single component like the back of her hand. Her talent is undeniable, of course. I’m just worried she’s so capable that no one will be good enough for her.’"

Yvonne Sherman’s tone was casual, but she was praising Joanna Sherman to the high heavens.

Sophia Shaw’s long fingers finally swiped across her screen. She typed, "This mother is exaggerating a bit, isn’t she? As far as I know, Joanna Sherman’s rocket-building skills aren’t that impressive."

At first, the comment didn’t attract much attention.

It was quickly lost in the flood of incoming messages.

A moment later, however, more comments like it began to flood the screen.

It became impossible to ignore.

"Who is this? Just a case of sour grapes. If you’re so great, go raise a daughter like Joanna Sherman yourself. What’s the point of being jealous of others?"

Yvonne Sherman said, displeased, "I hope certain people with ill intentions can fix their attitude. Maybe you should take a good, long look at yourselves and ask why you’re not making money. Is it because you’re not working hard enough?"

"My daughter became the first private individual to launch a rocket through her own abilities. That is a publicly acknowledged fact."

The audience was completely on Yvonne Sherman’s side.

"’Scum like that has no place in a high-class stream like this. Kick them out!’"

"’Mods should ban them.’"

Yvonne Sherman put on an aloof expression, as if she couldn’t be bothered to argue with such insignificant people. "My conscience is clear. I’m not afraid of negative comments. But I would advise this ’friend’ to focus on their own life and stop spreading lies to hurt others."

Watching Yvonne Sherman shamelessly tell others not to "spread lies to hurt people," Sophia Shaw let out a deeply sarcastic laugh.

’Spreading lies to hurt people... Isn’t that exactly what Yvonne Sherman herself does?’

’Villains are always the best at playing the victim and taking the moral high ground.’

’By putting others on the defensive, they create the space they need to continue their own immoral, harmful behavior.’

"’So who’s the real liar here?’"

Sophia Shaw used a program to post her comment, instantly flooding the entire screen with her words.

Yvonne Sherman was furious. She raised two fingers high. "I, Yvonne Sherman, swear to the heavens that I have never deceived anyone! If I have told a single lie, may I be struck by lightning!"

"’Being struck by lightning isn’t enough,’ Chad Jennings whispered. ’You need something harsher.’"

They weren’t idiots. No one believed in oaths about being struck by lightning anymore.

Yvonne Sherman thought he had a point. "If I have deceived any of you, then from this day forward, for every livestream I do, I will have the word ’LIAR’ plastered on my face!"

She looked the very picture of righteousness.

Her voice rang with conviction!

She had elevated shamelessness to an art form!

Her declaration drew a wave of thunderous applause from the viewers.

Sophia Shaw didn’t want to waste any more time on words. She simply posted a link.

"’See for yourselves.’"

Yvonne Sherman, unaware she was dealing with Sophia Shaw, fumed as she clicked the link. ’Let’s see what this lunatic is trying to pull!’

The moment she clicked, an audio clip played: "Hello, Clover. I’ve finished the basic draft of the rocket design. Could you help me refine it?"

Beneath the audio player were two images.

One was a simple schematic. The other was the same drawing, but covered in dense red-pen markups.

The simple one was labeled: Joanna Sherman.

The complex one was labeled: Clover’s Revisions.

"Huh?"

The chat room exploded.

"This... Joanna Sherman hired outside help?"

"’Clover sounds like a foreigner’s name, right? She went on and on about building a rocket for Cathan, by Cathans, but it turns out she needed foreign help just to finish the blueprints?’"

"’Cathans don’t lie to Cathans,’ huh? When they do, there’s no limit to how low they’ll go!"

"’Covered in her own crap, and she has the nerve to lecture others?’"

But some people didn’t believe it and defended Joanna Sherman.

"’These screenshots are obviously fake! Someone’s just jealous of Joanna Sherman and trying to smear her with these forged documents!’" 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"’These trolls have no shame! If they keep this up, Ms. Sherman should call the police!’"

Yvonne Sherman, for her part, naturally assumed it was all fake.

She said aloud, "If my Joanna were really that incompetent, she would have just stayed abroad. Getting a job at any old rocket center overseas would be a hundred times easier than starting her own company, and she’d earn more, too."

"’Joanna is a child with ideals. Ever since she chose her major in college, she has been determined to establish a private Cathan rocket company and, through her own efforts, build the very first rocket for a Cathan private enterprise.’"

"’How can you smear such an idealistic young woman without your conscience bothering you?’"

Just as her words faded, several more screenshots appeared in the chat.

They were all emails from Joanna Sherman to Clover.

"’We really can’t continue with the rocket without you.’"

"’Professor Clover, is it because the consulting fee is too low? If that’s the case, I can offer more. Just tell me what amount would be appropriate?’"

And if that wasn’t enough, the video that followed was the final nail in Joanna Sherman’s coffin.

In the video, Joanna Sherman was pacing back and forth, anxiously clutching her phone. A moment later, her face lit up with joy as she spoke into it. "Professor Clover, hello. I’m so sorry, I had no choice but to use certain... methods to find your number. I truly hope you’ll continue to help me."

"’You helped me build this rocket, step by step. Can you really bear to see this project come to nothing? Let’s meet up and talk properly, okay? I know you’re in the city. I’m in Aethelgard. You can come to me, or I can go to you. It’s your call.’"

"’This is fake too! Don’t watch it!’ someone commented."

Beside her, Chad Jennings slammed his hand on the table. "This person is despicable! Faking something like this... Call the police, now!"

Yvonne Sherman was not a magnanimous person by nature. She had only been holding back to maintain her tolerant persona for the audience.

Now, she picked up her phone and said, "I’ve been patient over and over, but if you insist on smearing my daughter, then don’t blame me for taking legal action."

"’But I’m in Aethelgard right now, and I can see Joanna Sherman in person! She’s on the phone!’ someone posted."

They immediately posted a video.

The scene it showed was nearly identical to the previous video.

As soon as they heard Joanna Sherman was in Aethelgard, viewers started contacting their friends in the area.

When Joanna Sherman finished her call and looked up, she saw a number of people standing around, watching her from a distance.

They were giving her strange looks.

Joanna Sherman froze for a second.

She gripped her phone a little tighter.

She pulled up her face mask and prepared to leave.

"Miss Sherman," a reporter approached her. "So it’s true! You are looking for Clover!"

He then turned to his camera and said, "This is 100% confirmed! Miss Joanna Sherman is looking for Clover! The whistleblower wasn’t lying! Stellaron’s rocket wasn’t a solo project by Joanna Sherman—she had outside help!"

He had been the closest to her, and since Joanna Sherman had been somewhat agitated, he’d managed to get it all on camera.

The others all corroborated his story.

’It’s over!’

Back in the livestream studio, Yvonne Sherman’s heart dropped, and her mind went completely blank.

She stared at Joanna Sherman through the screen, who still looked completely bewildered.

"Quick, call Joanna!"

Yvonne Sherman frantically shoved Chad Jennings, on the verge of a complete breakdown.

’How could this be so coincidental?’

’How could this be happening?’

Chad Jennings was also stunned by the sudden turn of events. It wasn’t until Yvonne Sherman’s reminder that he finally called Joanna Sherman to tell her what was going on.