The entire area seemed to fall silent.
For a moment, everyone looked confused and stunned. Then, almost in unison, their eyes shifted to the earrings hanging from Elena’s ears before snapping toward Adrian, whose face had suddenly gone pale.
Then there was his friend, standing there with his mouth hanging open as if someone had just grabbed him by the throat.
Seven figures?
Those earrings?
They looked like nothing more than a slightly brighter, more distinctive pair of diamond studs. How could they possibly be worth that much?
A strange buzzing filled Adrian’s head.
He knew Graff, of course. The name alone was synonymous with the highest tier of luxury jewelry.
Then he suddenly remembered seeing Elena wearing those same earrings that morning.
At the time, he had been too angry to pay much attention.
Now—
He tried to remember whether he had ever seen her wear them before, only to realize he genuinely couldn’t.
Because Adrian had never cared about things like that.
And close to seven figures?
How was that possible?
Where could Elena possibly have gotten jewelry like this?
No.
There was no way she could afford it.
Even if she really had left with some wealthy classmate last night, even if she had somehow managed to make him fall for her in such a short amount of time—
There was no way she could have received a gift like this so quickly.
This was jewelry worth well over a million dollars.
A flood of questions and increasingly wild speculation overwhelmed Adrian.
He stared at Elena’s earrings for several seconds before turning toward the bespectacled student.
“…You’re pretty good at making things up.”
Adrian’s voice was cold.
“You and Elena cooked this up, didn’t you? What did she give you?”
The student stared at him in utter confusion.
“What?”
The freshman at the next table rolled her eyes.
“Oh my God. He’s completely living in his own world. If he doesn’t want to believe something, then apparently it must be fake.”
Adrian turned coldly toward her.
She raised an eyebrow.
“What? You want to settle this physically? I’m in the Karate program. If you want a fight, I’m always available.”
Adrian fell silent.
“…”
He had never intended to fight anyone.
He was simply in an awful mood.
Elena was also distracted by the earrings.
More than a million dollars?
These little earrings?
She had deliberately chosen a smaller pair at the time. She had never bothered to ask about their origin or price, and she certainly hadn’t expected them to be this outrageously valuable.
Then again, she had known they were expensive.
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She just hadn’t imagined they could be this expensive.
Figures. A gift from the richest family in the city.
Even something casually given away was nothing ordinary.
After a long moment, the students around them finally recovered from the shock.
The dining hall erupted into an even louder wave of discussion.
“My God… is that actually real? Million-dollar earrings?”
“How much are they really worth?”
“No idea!”
“But with a face like hers, I guess it’s not that surprising…”
“Maybe she’s rich herself?”
Adrian stood there, feeling every stare and whispered comment like a slap to the face.
His face went from pale to red, then gradually turned ashen.
He wanted to question Elena.
He wanted her to explain where the earrings had come from and whether they were really worth that much.
But when he opened his mouth, his throat felt painfully dry.
Under the countless eyes around him, the humiliation only grew worse.
In the end, he could do nothing but leave in frustration.
Elena was still thinking about the earrings and had no interest in him.
She stood up, politely turned down two students who approached her for her contact information, returned her tray to the collection area, and left the dining hall.
Outside, the sky had completely darkened.
Westbridge was always lively at night.
Students jogged around the track, while groups of two or three walked beneath the streetlights with books tucked under their arms.
Elena walked slowly along the tree-lined path by herself when her phone suddenly vibrated in her pocket.
A message appeared in the middle of the screen.
Richard:Do you have class tonight?
Elena’s heart immediately started pounding.
She stared at the message for several seconds.
After opening the chat, she hovered her thumb over the input field, hesitated for another moment, then quickly typed.
Elena:Nope. OwO
The moment she sent it, she regretted it.
Was that little emoticon too childish?
Did it make her seem insufficiently composed?
And had she replied too quickly?
Or had she actually taken too long?
Her phone vibrated again.
Richard:Come to the west gate.
Elena tightened her grip around her phone.
Her heartbeat was so fast it felt as though someone were pounding against her chest.
She tried to make her steps look casual, but without realizing it, she gradually quickened her pace.
The west gate was one of the busiest exits on campus.
Even at this hour, plenty of students were waiting for rides, picking up food deliveries, or meeting friends to go out for a late-night meal.
When Elena reached the gate, she stopped beneath a ginkgo tree and pulled her thin jacket tighter around herself.
She lifted herself slightly onto her toes and looked toward the road.
She had no idea what kind of car Richard would arrive in.
It didn’t take long.
A wave of surprised exclamations rose from the surrounding students as a long, low black sedan pulled up along the road.
The iconic Spirit of Ecstasy stood at the front, while the grille was shaped in the distinctive style of a classical temple. Under the streetlights, its dark metallic finish gave off a cold, understated gleam.
The car came to a silent stop beside the ginkgo-lined road directly opposite the university entrance, looking less like a vehicle and more like a private palace on wheels.
“What kind of car is that?”
“Holy crap. Eighth-generation Phantom—and it’s a Bespoke build. Look at those wheels. They’re not standard. Those wheels were specially made for this car.”
“That matte black isn’t even one of Rolls-Royce’s standard colors. It must be a custom finish.”
“…That thing has to be insanely expensive, right?”
“The base price is around a million dollars, but that’s obviously a private build. Look at the thickness of the B-pillar. Bulletproof glass, armored doors, reinforced underbody…”
He whistled.
“That thing has to be worth at least five and a half million dollars.”
The whispers grew louder.
Several people’s attention shifted toward Elena.
She was already walking toward the car.
Before even more students could pull out their phones to take pictures, Elena quickly slipped into the back seat and closed the door behind her.
The atmosphere inside the car was quiet and cool, carrying a faint scent of oak and leather.
The soundproof windows shut out the noise from outside almost completely.
For a moment, all Elena could hear was her own breathing—and the overwhelming presence of the man sitting beside her.
Richard was already there.
He was still wearing the blue-toned shirt from earlier that day, but his tie had been loosened and hung casually around his neck.
The top two buttons were undone, revealing a small stretch of skin from his throat to his collarbone.
His suit jacket had been removed and draped over the leather seat on the other side.
His sleeves were rolled up twice, exposing strong, muscular forearms lined with clean, powerful definition.
The rear cabin was spacious enough for a grown man to sit comfortably with his legs crossed.
And yet—
Elena somehow felt like she couldn’t quite breathe.
The man was simply too large.
Or perhaps it was the sheer contrast between his broad frame and powerful musculature that made his presence so overwhelming.
At well over six feet tall, even sitting down, his shoulders were still noticeably higher than hers.
His broad, solid shoulders seemed to take up almost the entire space beside her. His long legs were casually crossed, one knee barely a few inches from hers.
She could even feel the warmth radiating from his body.
There was a faint sandalwood note mixed with the slightest trace of tobacco.
Not the kind of smell that clung deeply to his clothes or skin.
It was more like the lingering trace of a cigar someone had handed him at an important function—something he had held between his fingers out of courtesy without actually smoking it.
He might not even have lit it.
“…Mr. Sterling.”
Elena’s voice came out soft and sweet.
“Good evening.”
Richard had been looking at her from the moment she got in.
At her greeting, he simply gave a calm nod.
“Good evening.”
Silence settled over the car again.
Elena had been about to say something to ease the awkward atmosphere when, without warning—
The man beside her suddenly leaned toward her.
His broad chest filled her entire field of vision in an instant.
That faint woody scent rushed closer, enveloping her completely.