Chapter 9

“I’ll send you to work, huh?” Liam replied, emphasizing the last word and following her lead.

The pair burst into laughter. When they finished, she stayed silent for a while. Suddenly, she spoke up listlessly, “Liam, I want to continue studying. I do not want to be a lecturer forever.”

She only had a Master’s Degree, and was required to finish her Doctorate in order to get a higher position.

Liam has always been supportive of her choices. “Good idea,” he said, “Which school would you like to go to? Would you like me to contact an academic advisor?”

Vivian shook her head. “I’d better go back to my previous school and continue studying with my lecturer.”

Fueled by her intentions, she called her lecturer the very next day. Her lecturer was overjoyed when she heard about her intentions to continue studying, and immediately asked her to join the university entrance exam in spring the next year. It was now September and enrollment started in October. All of a sudden, she had a lot of preparations to make, so she suddenly felt overwhelmed. She had no choice but to ask Liam for help.

The pair rolled up their sleeves and stormed into battle. At night, while sorting out the documents, he suddenly turned to her. “Viv, let’s double up our efforts and get a baby soon. That way, when you take the entrance exam next year, we can bring our baby along. Consider it prenatal training!” he suggested, looking very solemn.

She was taken aback. She actually agreed that this was a good idea. The pair immediately abandoned the documents and went to the bedroom.

…

The call arrived a week later. She was in the midst of running around to handle matters for her doctorate studies. The call was clearly from an unknown number. Worried that a student from her class might have run into some sort of trouble, she answered it.

“Hello, Miss Carraway.” It was a man’s deep voice, which carried a rare sliver of chill on this summer day.

Vivian’s chest tightened. “Hello, Mr. Levin,” she replied, her voice stiffening involuntarily.

“You remember my voice, Miss Carraway,” Edward Levin mused.

Vivian was not interested in making small talk with him, so she said, “Mr. Levin, when will you hand Noelle’s documents over? University policy states that all applications for termination must be submitted within two weeks of the start of term.”

“I’ve just come from your office, Miss Carraway. Your colleague told me that she didn’t know when you’d be back, so I had to give you a call,” he replied. He paused, then continued his explanation, “I got your number from Noelle.”

According to university regulations, academic advisors must be on duty. However, they would usually be running around due to student matters. The university was not all that stringent, so Vivian would usually slip out to deal with personal matters without applying for leave. “I’m sorry. I’m out right now. How about this? You can leave the documents in my office. Will that be alright?”

“Nope.” His rejection was clear-cut.

Vivian choked.

“I’m leaving on a business trip tomorrow, so I won’t be in Golden South City for the next few days. Will it be possible for you to hurry back? I’ll wait for you at the university,” he said.

His request was a little discourteous, but Vivian did not want to get into a dispute with a student’s relative. Furthermore, she had been unreasonable in the first place. She paused thoughtfully, then replied, “Give me thirty minutes. I’ll come back soon.”

She started her car and rushed back. After precisely thirty minutes, she arrived and parked her car behind the office building. She had just gotten out of the car when a brawny man in a black suit made his way out from a black limousine, propping himself against the car door. He said, “ Mr. Levin is waiting for you.”