There were several blisters on Joan’s feet after walking for hours on end throughout the past few days. Many a time, she wanted to rest by the roadside, but Gabriella’s arrogant face would appear in her mind. It was as though she was standing right before her and mocking her. “Hah! You look rather pathetic, Joan Watts!”
Every time she thought of that, she inwardly cheered herself on—hang in there! She searched for Larry at every single place they had ever visited together without missing a single detail, retracing their steps in the past.
The city was enormous, and she weaved through this big city like a headless chicken. At times, when she was truly at the end of her will, she went to the plaza with a water screen and sat on the stone bench while guzzling a bottle of mineral water to quench her thirst.
The huge screen often played news of the current happenings in Marsingfill, smalls disputes, conflict of interests, or trivial matters in the local community. That day, it was a traffic accident.
Joan’s hand shook, and she almost dropped the bottle of mineral water in her hand. Her mind was flooded with blood-red images as though the old truck was right in front of her, plowing toward her ruthlessly.
She knew that she shouldn’t think of Larry at that moment, but fear abruptly seized her. She was struck with terror that such a thing would happen to him, even more so at the thought that perhaps the reason she couldn’t contact him in the past few days was that… tragedy had already befallen him.
Her legs went weak, and she almost fell to her knees. As gusts of cold wind swept past her from behind, her heart instantly went chilly. Then, she gulped uneasily. No, I must find him even if he’s at the ends of the world! I must grab hold of him and question him on his reason for avoiding me and refusing to see me. Also, I want to ask him about the misunderstanding Nancy and Caspian have against me.
As she inhaled deeply, Larry’s voice when they argued echoed in her ears. You don’t need to sound so self-righteous! Haven’t you been yearning to return to Dustin Silverman long ago and even take Leslie with you? Let me tell you, that’s never going to happen!
At that time, his face was flushed bright red. He was so worked up that if Dustin had appeared before him in the next second, he would have ripped him to shreds. All of a sudden, Joan thought, Larry would certainly have sought Dustin out after our argument. Considering his temperament, he would have gotten into a heated row with him. However, Dustin has been interacting with me as though nothing had happened, never once bringing Larry up as though they never knew each other.
“Maybe Dustin can tell me something,” she muttered. In the next instance, she sent Dustin a message, asking whether she could meet him.
Dustin had always answered her messages within seconds, and this time was no exception. He replied: Sure. I’m at the college, so why don’t you come over? His reply made it feel as though one could see his familiar smiling face through the screen.
As soon as Joan stepped foot into Nirhaven College, she was stopped by a venerated lecturer at the guardhouse. The moment the lecturer caught sight of her, he hastily slid the window open and shouted her name. He initially came over to the guardhouse to hang out with the guards since he was bored, but he had never thought that he would bump into the legendary “transfer student.”
Rumor had it that she was the wife of a president of a large corporation. She already had a child at such a young age, yet she still wanted to go back to college to study. Coincidentally, she was a student in his class. For some reason, she had taken a leave of absence for several days in a row, and the reason was indicated arrogantly as “none.” If there’s no reason, why on earth are you taking a leave of absence? However, nothing could be done since she had connections. Other students attended Nirhaven College to expand their knowledge, while she was here just to kill time.
“Hah! She’s acting high and mighty just because her husband has money, no?” That was the comment he heard most about her among the other female students.
After listening to such comments time and again, he naturally formed a negative impression of her. Unexpectedly, fate arranged an unintentional meeting between them that day. All at once, he quickly slid open the window and hollered at Joan who was rushing into the college, “Hey, you there! Hold on a moment!”
