Chapter 16 Dem’s First Attempt
“Am I the only one who noticed this? Out of the right of them, the vicios gal is the only one who made it this far without breaking a sweat.”
“Oh, you’re right. Now that you mention it.”
“No wonder she’s been slacking off.”
The group was now focused on sharpening the ends of their gathered branches. They needed to smooth the wood and create a pointed tip that could pierce through the cork stopper.
After some laborious effort, they decided to let Nigel go first.
Carefully, he positioned the branch and pressed it into the cork. It went in slightly but stopped. He pushed harder, but the branch broke with a snap.
Next up was George, but he talled.
Thomas also failed
Chad failed aswell.
“This is impossible! Mr. Hahn, this challenge is way too hard. Are you trying to make sure we fail?” Thomas complained.
Mari smiled mysteriously but said nothing
“alve me the bottle. I’ll try,” Demi said as she extended her hand toward Chad.
Chad hesitated, unsure whether Demi had come up with a new approach. Still, he handed her the wine bottle, curiosity flickering in his eyes as he waited to see what she’d do
“No way. Is the vicious gal actually going to open this herself?”
“She doesn’t even have anything. Is she planning to bite the cork off with her teeth?”
“My popcom’s crady.”
The livestream chat buzzed with spectators eager for the drama to unfold.
Dem took the wine bottle, holding it firmly in one hand. She tapped gently on the bottom of the bottle with her other hand, and there was a crisp pop. The cork shot upward, and with a swift motion, she caught it mid–air before turning to Matt
Matt blanked. The group stared, dumbfounded.
Wait, How was it that easy? What had they been doing all this time?
Ana frowned and lamented, “Demi, If you knew how to open it, why didn’t you say anything earlier? You caused everyone to waste their effort.”
Though her tone was gentle, Demi could still make out the underlying accusation. A group of men had been tolling away unsuccessfully, only for a young woman to solve the problem with ease.
Thus, Ana’s remarks made it seem like Demi had purposely let them make tools of themselves, setting her up as the target of potential resentment.
If Demi left a poor impression at the start of the show, things could spiral further
Instead of responding to Ana, Demi turned to the four male participants with an apologetic expression. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t tired and had no intention of competing for a spot earlier. Besides, this was my first time trying this method to open a bottle. I wasn’t even sure if it would work.”
“That seems impossible. Haven’t you ever opened a bottle of wine before?” Anna muttered loud enough for everyone to hear her clearly.
Demi’s expression tumed solemnes she said coldly, “I grew up without parents and was raised by my grandmother who’s in her sos. She supported the whole family alone. There were times we couldn’t even atford running water. What makes you think I’d be drinking wine?”
Demi wasn’t exaggerating. Her grandmother, Margaret, had spent years collecting scraps to make ends meet. Paying utility bills was a constant struggle. Then were days when even having dean water felt like a hory.
Everyone fell silent. Thomas‘ expression flickered as he looked at Demi. Part of him thought that she was overreacting and that her fone toward Ana was nasty However, he couldn’t ignore the pang of guilt he felt. If it were Ana who had lived such a harsh life, they would have treated her better than how they had treated
Demi.
“the vicious gal really that poo
“If she grew up with no parents and just her grandmother supponing her, I guess it’s possible.”
“Didn’t she have a younger brother too? It an elderly woman had to raise two kids, that would’ve been insanely hard.”
“Honestly, even two working parents struggle to raise one child these days.”
“But don’t you think Demi was being way too harsh to Ana? She sounded so aggressive.”
“Exactly. Ana didn’t say anything wrong. She just asked a simple question, and the vicious gal snapped at her.”
“Even earlier with the necklace, the vicious gal was so confrontational”
“Her personality is just too extreme.
Ana was panicking, worned that the others might realize she was targeting Demi.
After glancing at everyone else, Ana tumed to Demi and said with an apologetic expression, “I’m sorry, Demi. I didn’t know about your situation.” Demi let out a humorless laugh.
