Inside Jasmine's eyes, I looked disheveled and terrified. I lost. I had never felt this scared in my life. It was as if I was about to lose something. My fingers dug deep into my palms. The pain was the only thing that held me together.Jasmine, who had been gone for more than two weeks, suddenly appeared at the conference Jesselton College placed much emphasis on. Needless to say, she came prepared.Her makeup, her elegant gestures, her confidence, and her mocking grin… All of them were trying to make me feel bad. She did this on purpose.Ever since she told us she'd leave Jinovy, she had been waiting for the day to avenge herself for the humiliation and rejection she had received from Colin and me. She was trying to prove to Colin that turning her away was his biggest mistake.Everyone knelt before the power of money, be it Colin or me. And Jasmine was certainly wealthy enough to toy us around.No wonder Colin, who had only been working for a year at Jesselton College, was appoi
I only had one thing in mind—to walk straight up and confront Jasmine. But as soon as I lifted my leg, Colin seized my wrist. I turned around, confused, only to see Colin suppressing his dissatisfaction and shaking his head.Professor King also appeared behind me from nowhere. Then, he mumbled sternly, "I don't know what got into you today, missy, but you will calm down and not ruin this conference of ours. We can speak afterward."His words were the cold shower I needed. It washed away the fury in my eyes. I then noticed that my unbecoming behavior had already turned the heads of many individuals around me. He was right. Jasmine and I had a personal feud, but that didn't mean I could let it ruin the college's plan.I grabbed Colin's hands for a moment and let go. Then, I left. I didn't return to my original seat, however. I found a seat behind Colin. Professor King glimpsed at me. He seemed to disapprove of what I had done, but he said nothing.Colin hosted the conference calmly a
"Oh?" Professor King raised his brows. "Since it's a fair, open, and equitable collaboration, any project-related concerns can be discussed and codified in the agreement. But if this is your personal request, Ms. Taylor, it might be subject to internal deliberation."But please speak your mind. We'll let you know our decision as soon as possible," he uttered courteously. The smile on his face was slowly disappearing. Those close to him knew that he was not happy at all.The King family was famous in Jinovy. Their influence and wealth far exceeded those of the Taylor family, who fled to the North to avoid the scandal. And in this important meeting, Jasmine, a nobody from the Taylor family, wanted to raise a personal request.This was not only a disrespect toward Jesselton College but also irreverence toward Professor King and his family. It was only normal that he was mad. However, he sat in his seat patiently, waiting for Jasmine to elaborate on her request. Colin remained silent. H
I dug my fingers into my palm. The pain was the thread holding my rationality together, preventing me from screaming at Jasmine. Professor King gazed at her for a few seconds and chuckled. "Who am I to turn it down if this can guarantee the smooth operation of the project?"You know what? I shall bring this up to the college and let them decide." He gave a tactful answer. Deferring the problem to the college extricated himself from the difficult situation. The college would give Jasmine the final answer, not him.Jasmine nodded contentedly and smiled. Her eyes glimmered as she shook hands with Professor King while expressing her wish for a successful partnership. As her entourage escorted her to the door, she turned around and looked at Colin and me with a grin.There was so much behind the grin, most of which was mockery and confidence that she would obtain what she was after.What gave her the confidence? Like a protective girlfriend, I stood in front of Colin and returned her my
Colin said, "She's nothing but a conniving woman. There's nothing to fear."Professor King pointed at me. "You should wise up. Use your brain to think. Otherwise, it might get rusty."I blushed in embarrassment. Then, I asked gingerly, "What do we do, then? We can't let her win."Colin might be seduced if he had to work with a cunning woman like her for two years. While Colin knew to refuse her, who could say that Jasmine wouldn't pull any tricks to set him up? No one could put their guard up 24/7 for two years."The workload of this project is more than twice the workload of Dreamlight. There are a lot of details to take care of, and Colin might not be able to handle it alone.""Therefore?" I asked eagerly. Professor King was giving a cryptic statement. I wanted to pull his sleeves to ask him to hurry up, but he dodged preemptively. Then, he flicked his sleeves to rub my failed attempt on my face.It's not like my hands were dirty! This old geezer sure knew how to rile me up. He
Colin had long limbs. When he broke into broad strides, I had to jog to catch up to him. My legs were getting more and more sore. When we arrived at a quiet woody area, I lashed out, "Why are you walking so fast? Can't wait to work with her already?"Colin was stunned, and amusement quickly appeared in his eyes. Scrunching his nose, he sniffed. "Do I smell jealousy here?""Jealousy? You're a good-looking man, and women can't help but gather around you. Don't you know you have a girlfriend? Why are you practicing chastity, then? You can easily get all the women you want!"As soon as I finished my sentence, my face blushed in embarrassment. How possessive was I to go all passive-aggressive on him? But I soon found out that there was nothing wrong with being possessive. It was normal for a girlfriend to want her boyfriend to herself.Expressing her desire to own her boyfriend from time to time could let her boyfriend know how much she desired him. It might even make him feel more secu
My face puckered up. Colin, on the other hand, grinned instead of helping me. "I already noticed they were here. But what's wrong with a couple making out? Everyone does that."I was rendered speechless. Watching his shameless, haughty, I-know-I'm-right expression made me weak in the limbs. Colin was a lecturer. Shouldn't he set up a good example? Where was his decorum as an educator? I decided to ignore him.I turned around and wanted to leave, but he yanked me from the back. "Are you going back on foot or what? The car's over there."Oops. I must have gone the wrong way out of frustration. I swerved and headed in the opposite direction, but Colin continued to snigger. His grin widened as if he had won the lottery.Was it that enjoyable to be caught red-handed in public? Or did he have a special penchant for doing it in public? He might not care about morals, but I did.Pissed, I turned back to the direction I was originally pursuing, throwing a tantrum. "I'd like to walk back ho
In this vast world, there was no one I could talk to at the moment. Growing up wasn't as wonderful as I had imagined.My friends were all occupied with their lives. Hearing from them was already a once-in-a-blue-moon occasion. Gone were the days when they defied their parents' reproach just to keep a friend company. Bored, I took Blue Monster with me to the guest bedroom and lay on the bed, feeling frustrated and anguished. Among all of my good friends, half of them had had a disastrous relationship. Love was indeed a conundrum.As I moped, I accidentally fell asleep. When the soreness of my arms roused me, it was already nearly 1:00 pm. My stomach growled loudly. With a sigh, I put on slippers and shuffled to the kitchen to cook the only thing I was good at—instant noodles. Then, I ate it at the dining table.As I slurped on my noodles, I checked my phone for unread messages and saw that Jasmine updated her social media.She posted an old photo. In it was the silhouette of a man