All set?
Hearing Evan Lin's words, Tyler Tan's expression suddenly grew especially complicated.
He had always harbored feelings for Annie Shu that went beyond friendship. He'd hoped to pursue her openly, but for various reasons, the distance between them only grew.
Now, Tyler could only sneak a few glances at Annie from afar each day. He couldn't even muster the shamelessness to talk to her, and hearing Evan's words now left him feeling conflicted.
"Better not. She already hates me enough as it is."
Tyler shook his head, hesitating but still intending to refuse.
Evan didn't care about Tyler's opinion at all.
"You're all talk and no guts. Weren't you acting like a love guru before, bragging about your pickup skills? But look at you now—where's all that shameless persistence you promised?"
Ming Zhao looked at Tyler with open disdain.
"That's not fair," Tyler protested. "My experience works, but you have to pick the right moment, you know?" Faced with Ming's scorn, Tyler couldn't help but defend himself.
Eric Wang and Evan Lin stood nearby, watching the two of them bicker noisily. The whole scene felt lively.
Many girls passed by the dorm entrance, most glancing over at Ming Zhao and Tyler Tan as they argued, but their eyes quickly shifted to Evan Lin standing nearby.
Some girls hesitated, wanting to ask for Evan's contact info, but he politely declined each time, leaving them disappointed.
Not long after,
"She's not in the dorm."
Sophie Ge walked out from the girls' dorm, frowning and looking hesitant. "Her roommate says Aaron Han has been looking for Annie these past few days, trying to discuss something with her."
"Annie's been looking troubled lately, still considering whatever it is. But today, Aaron apparently threatened to kill himself if she didn't leave campus with him, so she finally went with him."
"No idea where they went, but they haven't come back yet."
Sophie paused, glanced at Tyler, who looked gloomy but forced a smile. "I told you, just let it go."
"They're doing fine now. I'm not exactly a saint, but I can't just go and steal someone else's girlfriend, right?"
Tyler started to turn away, but Ming Zhao grabbed his collar. "Hey, why are you calling it stealing someone's girlfriend?"
"Annie Shu and Aaron Han aren't even officially a couple, right? She never admitted it. You should at least go and check for yourself."
After Ming finished, he looked at Evan and Eric.
"Makes sense. They just eat and study together a lot—it doesn't necessarily mean they're dating," Eric nodded.
"I'll make a call."
Evan was direct. He took out his phone and called Tanya Zhan.
"Yeah, could you check on someone for me? Her name's Annie Shu. I want to know where she is right now."
"Got it. I'll have someone pull her photo and sweep the storefront surveillance around the campus right away."
In an elegantly decorated café, Tanya Zhan, tall and striking in a formal dress, suddenly stood up.
Across from her sat a handsome man in a white suit.
The man was an overseas returnee from a wealthy family. He and Tanya Zhan had once been classmates and friends, but despite pursuing her, he'd never gotten anywhere.
This time, he'd hoped to spend more time with Tanya and maybe take things further. After all, everyone in Jiangsu-Zhejiang knew that since the Zhan family befriended Master Lin from Seacrest, their influence had skyrocketed.
Their wealth and status had soared. Rumor also had it the Zhans were closely connected to Angel Epoch Corporation, the rising star company making waves between Jiangsu-Zhejiang and Shanghai.
He'd gone all out for this date—even hired a top-level pianist, a Grade 10 maestro, to play for them. But even when the beautiful music ended, he'd never seen Tanya look as excited as she did now.
In that moment, he felt utterly crushed.
"Who was that on the phone?"
He waited for Tanya to finish her call and then asked.
"Sorry, Maran, something came up that I need to handle."
Tanya smiled at him, offering no explanation about who was on the other end. "Next time, it's my treat."
"Thanks for the coffee and the music."
"But I still have something to say to you..." Maran started,
But Tanya didn't even bother listening to what Maran had to say. She hurried off, already pulling out her phone to contact someone as she left.
"She just left?"
Leaning back in his chair, Maran narrowed his eyes at Tanya's departing figure, idly toying with a glass in his hand, his gaze icy.
"Interesting. Very interesting. This is the first time someone from the Ancient-Martial Ma Clan has been stood up by a woman."
Once Tanya had left the café and disappeared down the street, Maran's fingers tightened slightly. The glass in his hand instantly shattered into countless shards.
"I actually wanted to tell you, our Ancient-Martial Ma Clan could easily replace Master Lin from Seacrest."
"Master Lin from Seacrest is nothing special. Your Zhan family could always switch to supporting us instead."
Maran spoke coolly, with a hint of bitterness in his tone. "Honestly, I'm only giving your family this chance because of you, Tanya."
"But now, I guess my kindness was wasted on someone who doesn't appreciate it."
Maran's brow arched, his face icy. Thinking about Tanya's excitement as she left only made him angrier.
Tanya had never shown that much joy when she was with him. Maran considered himself handsome, from a powerful family, far above ordinary people.
Yet he still couldn't win Tanya's favor?
"You'd better hope the person on the other end of that call isn't a man. Otherwise, I won't mind making sure he never gets the chance to call you again."
"You're someone I've chosen. How could I let anyone else touch you?"
Maran sneered, stood up, and as he passed the piano, tapped a single key with his finger.
A thunderous crash echoed through the room.
Dust rose in the air.
The solid piano shattered on the spot.
Such power from a single finger—terrifying beyond belief.