Chapter 53

Charlotte reacted fast.

Elena had thrown the juice without warning, but Charlotte had already started backing away before she could even finish her insult.

Most of it missed.

Only a few orange-red splashes landed across her arm.

Charlotte stared at the stains, then immediately looked around at the crowd of students watching them.

Several people already had their phones out.

Her expression changed.

There was no way she was going to stand here and risk having a video of herself getting drenched in juice spread all over campus.

Even if she managed to destroy Elena later, she would never live down something that humiliating once it made its way online.

Charlotte shot Elena one last furious glare before storming off with her friends, cursing under her breath.

Elena watched her retreating figure for a moment.

Then, without a word, she went to find a mop and came back to clean the juice off the hallway floor.

“That was incredible!”

A few younger students passing by gave her enthusiastic thumbs-ups. They had obviously witnessed the entire confrontation.

“Hey, do you have an account somewhere?” one of the guys asked. “I want to follow you.”

Elena blinked.

“I do... but I don’t post videos of myself or anything. It’s mostly makeup and beauty-product stuff.”

“Why not?” a girl asked. “That’s such a waste. If you posted dance videos, with your looks and your skills, you’d blow up.”

Elena blinked again.

“Thanks. I just think it sounds like a lot of trouble.”

The truth was, the original Elena had considered doing exactly that.

Adrian hadn’t liked the idea.

There were too many strange people online, he had said.

He had also worried that people might take her videos and use them in ways she wouldn’t be comfortable with.

So the idea had eventually gone nowhere.

After the students left, Elena returned the mop and got ready to leave.

Her classes for the day were finished.

She exited through a side door of the academic building and followed one of the campus paths toward the underground parking garage.

As one of the country’s most prestigious universities, Westbridge had facilities far beyond those of an ordinary campus.

The garage beneath the plaza between the main academic buildings and the library stretched across three underground levels.

Automated barriers controlled vehicle access, while pedestrian entrances used facial recognition.

Inside, the space was wide and brightly lit.

Warm LED strips ran along tracks across the ceiling, and the pale-gray epoxy floor was polished enough to reflect the lights above.

Elena passed through the pedestrian entrance and headed down to B2.

Her assigned space was near the far end of the east section.

It was slightly out of the way, but the spaces there were wider and less crowded, making it easier to get in and out.

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Elena followed the pedestrian lane deeper into the garage.

When she reached the corner leading into the east section, her steps slowed.

About sixty feet ahead, a dark-blue Porsche Panamera Turbo was parked near the elevators.

Two people were standing beside it.

Victoria Sterling.

And Adrian Cole.

They appeared to be discussing something.

Victoria stood beside the Porsche with one hand resting on the roof, looking up at Adrian as she spoke.

Adrian’s eyes were lowered slightly, his brows drawn together as though he were considering some troublesome problem.

Elena had absolutely no desire to get involved with either of them again.

Unfortunately, her parking space was farther inside.

To reach it, she would have to walk directly past them.

She could take the long way around through the west section, but that would mean making a ridiculous detour.

Elena kept walking.

She hadn’t done anything wrong.

Why should she be the one avoiding them?

Victoria noticed someone approaching first.

The instant she recognized Elena, something complicated flashed through her eyes.

Contempt.

Scrutiny.

And the subtle superiority of someone who believed she knew a secret the other person desperately wanted hidden.

But Victoria’s smile didn’t change.

If anything, it became even gentler.

“Elena?”

She spoke first, her tone politely distant.

“What a coincidence.”

Victoria was three years younger than Elena. She had started university at sixteen, which meant the age gap between them was larger than most people would have guessed.

Interestingly, Adrian was only a few months younger than Elena, yet Victoria had always treated him as an equal.

Elena didn’t stop.

As she passed them, she merely tilted her head slightly in Victoria’s direction in acknowledgment.

She couldn’t even be bothered to smile.

Then she continued toward her parking space.

She never looked at Adrian once.

Adrian stood beside the Porsche, his expression darkening.

An inexplicable irritation rose from somewhere deep in his chest.

“Elena.”

His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried clearly through the spacious underground garage.

“I thought you said we were done.”

Elena stopped.

Adrian narrowed his eyes slightly.

His tone remained calm, with just a faint edge of mockery.

“So why did you follow me down here?”

He sounded completely certain.

As though there could be no other explanation for her presence.

Of course.

Elena still couldn’t let him go.

He had doubted it for a while, but seeing her here now only confirmed what he already knew.

She was still the same as before.

She had simply gotten better at pretending otherwise.

Elena: “?”

She looked at the absolute confidence on his face and immediately felt her appetite disappear.

Her gaze shifted a few degrees, briefly passing over Victoria beside him.

Adrian caught it at once.

“Victoria and I are just friends.”

The explanation came quickly.

His voice was still cool, but his words were noticeably faster.

“Besides, you and I have already broken up. My personal life has nothing to do with you.”

Elena: “...Why are you explaining yourself so fast? I didn’t even say anything.”

Adrian choked on his next breath.

In the past, whenever Elena had seen or heard about him spending time with another female student, she would make a scene.

Eventually, he would have to buy her something to calm her down.

He had always found it irritating.

After all, he had never actually crossed any lines with another woman.

“Then what are you doing here?”

Adrian gave a short, mocking laugh.

He knew Elena too well.

She knew his class schedule.

She also knew that he often parked in this area.

There was no way she had shown up here at exactly this time by accident.

Obviously, she had come here hoping to “run into” him.

Elena stared at him.

“This is a parking garage.”

She paused.

“I’m here to get my car.”

“Really?”

The disbelief in Adrian’s voice was undisguised.

“Your car?”

During Elena’s first year, she had enrolled in a nearby driving school with several classmates because they had offered a cheap group discount.

But after getting her license, she’d rarely had a chance to drive.

She hadn’t been able to afford a decent car of her own.

And once she started dating Adrian, she had naturally spent most of her time riding in his Porsche.

Adrian looked at her.

“You have a car?”

He had bought Elena plenty of things over the years—jewelry, clothes, cosmetics.

But she had never asked him for a car.

After all, cheap cars had never interested her.

Adrian knew how much she enjoyed the feeling of riding around in something expensive.

A trace of mockery crossed his eyes.

He watched Elena’s face, waiting for the embarrassment to appear.

Instead—

Elena simply walked away.

Adrian stared after her.

For a moment, it felt as though he had thrown a punch into empty air.

The irritation in his chest only grew.

Forget it.

Elena had obviously been upset by seeing him here with Victoria.

In reality, there was nothing romantic about it.

He and Victoria had simply arranged to attend a financial mathematics seminar together.

But someone like Elena, whose mind revolved around romance and jealousy, would obviously misunderstand.

Adrian finally looked away and turned to Victoria with an apologetic expression.

“Sorry. Elena can be a little...”

He trailed off.

Victoria was still watching the direction Elena had gone.

Something thoughtful flickered in her eyes.

“It’s fine.”

Adrian opened the car door.

“Let’s go.”

“Wait.”

Victoria turned toward him.

“I want to see what Elena’s driving.”

Adrian paused.

“She probably doesn’t—”

He stopped himself.

Victoria really was too kind.

She was actually willing to give such an obvious lie the benefit of the doubt.

Adrian glanced toward the direction Elena had disappeared.

She doesn’t even have a car.