LOGINAfter keeping Vito company for most of the afternoon, Evelyn finally left when it was nearly evening.
Twenty minutes later.
The car rolled to a stop along the tree-lined drive of The Drake Residence.
Her bodyguard opened the umbrella, helped her out of the car, and made sure she was fully under its cover.
Evelyn lifted her eyes and saw the familiar Maybach parked not far ahead. It had been back for some time already. A thin layer of snow had gathered on the roof.
Liam came out from the yard.
He took the umbrella from the bodyguard and held it for Evelyn as they walked into the house together.
While they walked, the butler lowered his voice and reminded her, “Sir is in a terrible mood. He’s been sitting in the living room for hours. Once you go in, head straight upstairs and rest. Don’t try to talk to him.”
“Will he hit me when he’s angry?”
“No.” Liam shook his head. &
Evelyn sneezed twice in a row.Someone was probably talking about her behind her back.The elevator descended slowly.Nicholas instinctively rubbed her slightly cold hand. When he turned to look at her, he took off his coat, spread it open, and draped it over her shoulders, pulling the collar tighter to wrap her up properly.You still need to wear an extra layer when you go out. No cutting back on jackets.Okay. Evelyn nodded.Nicholas was much taller than her. When he lowered his gaze, all he saw was her obedient little nod, so well behaved it made his chest tighten. The more compliant she looked, the more certain he became that she had been wronged badly, and the feeling in his heart was hard to describe.The elevator reached level B2.He held her as they walked out, led her to the Maybach, opened the passenger door for her, bent down to fasten her seat belt, then closed the door and walked around to the driver’s seat.The car sped away from the New York University board building.T
She lifted her head and first saw his clean sharp jawline, then his well defined face. His fingers were warm and firm as he held her by the shoulder through her clothes. Evelyn could clearly feel the strength in his knuckles.Every board member in the room stood up and greeted him politely.Fabian was no exception.Sensing that the situation had turned, Fabian stopped looking at Quiana and stood up with a forced smile. “Mr. Drake knows this student?”“Evelyn. My wife.”The room fell into instant silence.For a long moment, there was not a sound, until faint murmurs slowly spread.The board members who had felt Evelyn looked familiar finally remembered. They had seen Mrs. Drake from afar at Mr. and Mrs. Craig’s anniversary banquet last month.Back then, she had been elegantly dressed in a refined gown.She had been holding Nicholas’s arm. He was tall and broad, shielding h
Evelyn turned back toward the campus.From a distance, she could already see Bonnie gathered with the class monitor and several others. As she got closer, their voices carried over.“There is no way Evelyn can deliver all those graduation gowns by herself.”“Bonnie, if you do not actually have something important, we are not going to keep running around the whole campus with you. We will take the remaining gowns over together.”“Exactly. And Evelyn is not in great health. If she has to walk back and forth too many times and faints, that would be trouble.”Bonnie was just about to say something else when she caught sight of Evelyn walking toward them. Her eyes widened in shock.“Why are you here?”She had already bribed the owner of the gown rental shop. She told him, “When someone from the psychology department comes to return the gowns, lock her in the storage room.”
Near noon.Evelyn left the office and headed to Zhicheng Building, just like the class rep had said. Everyone had to gather there within two hours to return their graduation gowns.When she arrived, the class rep had already collected almost everything. A huge pile of gowns was stacked on the stone edge of a flowerbed.Evelyn folded hers neatly and placed it on top.Just then, Bonnie ran over from nearby. “Class rep, I need to talk to you about something.”“I still have to return all these gowns…”“Find someone else.” Bonnie turned her head to look Evelyn up and down. “She stood in the center for the graduation photo. It’s only fair she does something for the whole class now, right?”“You can’t take all the benefits and do nothing. Isn’t that right, Student Yu?”“But Evelyn doesn’t have the strength to carry that many gowns,”
The lineup was set.Taking the graduation photos took no more than a few clicks of the shutter.The moment the photographer lowered his camera, Bonnie shoved past the people in front of her and strode down the steps. As she left, she turned back and shot Evelyn a vicious glare. “I’ll remember this!”Evelyn said nothing.She only tilted her head at her in a slightly dazed, innocent way, as if she did not understand what Bonnie meant at all.“You’re free to move around now. Please gather again in front of Zhicheng Building in two hours to return your gowns in full.”“If any caps or stoles are lost, they will need to be compensated at full price.”The class representative called out to everyone.Bonnie glanced at the person speaking and then at the rented gown on her own body with disdain. The people in this class were truly poor. They could not even afford to buy a graduation gown a
The next day.Evelyn tied her hair into a neat bun and changed into the light blue puff sleeve dress Liam had prepared for her.Gloria knocked and entered the master bedroom, glancing toward the brightly lit walk in closet. “Ma’am, I’ve placed your shoes on the carpet. Breakfast is ready. Mr. Drake is already in the dining room.”“Alright. I’ll be down after I finish changing.”The weather was perfect today.Bright sunshine, an average temperature of twenty four degrees.Evelyn slipped on a pair of flat white leather shoes, slung a small cloud shaped crossbody bag over her shoulder, dabbed on some moisturizer in front of the mirror, then went downstairs.In the dining room, she pulled out a chair and sat across from Nicholas.She picked up her fork and lowered her head to eat strawberry jam pancakes. The man opposite her placed a fried egg into her bowl of noodles. “How long will







