Chapter 3

I was completely taken aback by Silas' accusation. The truth was, I had once given him the same type of crystal a long time ago.

At that time, he had failed to establish his business for the first time, so he locked himself up in his rented apartment without eating or drinking anything for three days.

Having performed a dreamwalk on Silas' dream, I searched high and low across the city and spent every last penny I had to find him a fortune-shifting crystal.

He once told me that the crystal was the only beacon of light in his dark life. How was it a fraudulent trinket now?

As I gripped the crystal tightly, I was about to refute Silas when a delighted voice cut in.

"Ms. Vale, is that you?"

I looked up to see a young man in a sharp suit, gazing at me excitedly.

"It really is you, Ms. Vale! I saw you on the cover of the International Association of Dreamwalkers' yearbook!"

The young man quickly approached me and extended a hand in a friendly manner, completely disregarding Silas and Maisie, who wore dark expressions.

"I'm Liam Granger, and I used to be a finance major here. Recently, a dream has been bugging me for quite some time. May I ask you to—"

"Mr. Granger, you mustn't get fooled by that woman!" Maisie interjected shrilly as she moved to stand between Liam and me while pretending to look concerned.

"Ms. Cassiopeia Vale here doesn't have a good reputation in our field, you see. In the past, she almost cost Sile an important opportunity to make it big! Mr. Granger, you mustn't let her fool you!"

Upon noticing that more alumni were gathering around us, Maisie continued fanning the flames.

"Think about it, everyone! If Cassiopeia truly were capable, would she sink so low to the point that she'd have to dig through the lawn just for rocks?"

All I felt was immense amusement as I stared at Maisie's expression, which was completely twisted by deep-rooted jealousy and unease.

"Oh, Maisie… You know better than anyone here whether my abilities are real, don't you? After all, you've kept up your dreamwalking act all these years thanks to my notebook.

"Haven't your parents ever taught you that you can steal someone else's tricks, but you can never steal their talent?"

"What the hell are you on about?"

My response instantly triggered Maisie. She pointed at me while shrieking, "Sile, she's slandering me again! I gained my skills through grueling training, and you know that!"

With a stormy expression, Silas shielded Maisie from me before snapping at me, "That's enough, Cassiopeia Vale! May's dreamwalking interpretations are never wrong! You're just dragging her name through the mud like a crazy bitch you are out of pure jealousy toward her achievements!"

"Oh, so I'm the crazy bitch now?" I scoffed at him. "Ms. Caldwell seems very confident in the accuracy of her own interpretations. Besides, you think I'm a scammer, don't you? In that case, why don't we compete with each other, then?"

I turned to look at Liam, who seemed to be deep in thought.

"You want your dream interpreted for you, right, Mr. Granger? Why don't Ms. Caldwell and I perform a dreamwalking session on him, then? Mr. Granger here can judge the results for himself."

The way panic flashed in Maisie's eyes was obvious to me. But soon, she forced herself to stay composed as she refuted me boldly.

"Fine. Let's compete, then. But if you truly were capable, why didn't you predict the fact that Sile would dump you back then?"

"At least I don't need to steal someone else's notebook and boyfriend just to prove my own worth!"

My comeback struck Silas and Maisie like a resounding slap across the face.

Naturally, Silas' temper flared instantly. "Guards, kick this foul-mouthed woman out right now!"

Two security guards approached me immediately to grab me by the arm. I dodged them out of pure instinct.

But as I moved, the dreamwalking compass—also a family heirloom I kept in my pocket—slid out and fell to the ground. The compass needle spun wildly for quite some time. When it finally stopped, it pointed at Silas and Maisie.

Those who dabbled in dreamwalking knew that meant the couple were definitely in big trouble.

All color was drained from Maisie's complexion at that moment. She kicked the compass away all of a sudden.

"Get that stupid hocus-pocus junk away from me!"

Her abrupt kick and her overreaction shocked everyone, to say the least.

"Why did you kick the compass away? Is it because you're starting to panic right now?"

I broke out of the guards' hold and bent down to pick up the compass. My heart sank instantly when I tried to commune with it.

The signals I picked up from the compass were faint and erratic. They weren't as crystal-clear as they were in the past.

Maisie's kick must have damaged it!

"Hey, aren't you going to start dreamwalking any moment now, Cassiopeia? Do it, then!"

Liam, who was clearly enjoying the spectacle, actually started encouraging the onlookers to place bets. Naturally, everyone started getting excited over the competition.

"I bet that Ms. Caldwell will win this competition! She's a famous dreamwalker, after all! I'll bet two million dollars on her!"

"I'll place my bet on Ms. Caldwell too! Even Mr. Kielsburn acknowledges her dreamwalking skills!"

At that moment, a man with a calm, capable demeanor parted through the crowd. He declared loudly, "My boss, Mr. Ashcroft, has stated that he will bet ten million dollars on Ms. Vale's victory on behalf of Ashcroft Group."