Chapter 213

Sophia? Are you there?

They both turned their heads at the same time.

Sophia Sullivan wasn't there.

Julian Winston spread his hands. "If I hadn't said that, would you two have stopped?"

Ethan Roscente: "..."

Sebastian Evans: "."

"You're adults. Can't you solve problems maturely?"

Sebastian said, "He threw the first punch."

Ethan retorted, "He deserved it!"

"Enough. Both of you, calm down. If you really draw Sophia here, no one will get off easy."

Sebastian pressed his lips together.

Ethan fell silent.

Charlie Lowell tried to mediate. "Let's go to the hospital to get those wounds treated."

"No need," Ethan said coldly, his gaze sweeping over Sebastian. "You won't get her. Give up now."

"Oh?" Sebastian chuckled lightly. "How do you know without trying? I haven't even decided if I'll pursue her yet. But you—you lost your chance a long time ago."

Ethan's eyes reddened. He moved forward again, but Charlie stopped him.

Sebastian tossed out four words. "Pathetic rage."

He pulled open the car door and drove off.

Ethan shook off Charlie's hold. "He's gone. Why are you still holding me back?"

Charlie sighed. "Ethan, why do this?"

Ethan glared at him, eyes still red. "You should be asking Sebastian that!"

They were once brothers. Why did he have to set his sights on Sophia?

With that, he also got into his car and left.

Only Charlie and Julian were left, looking at each other.

Charlie said, "This leaves a bad taste."

Julian replied, "They're losing it. There's nothing we can do."

Charlie asked, "Why Sebastian? Why Sophia?"

Julian paused.

Almost without thinking, he said, "Liking someone never makes sense."

Charlie: "?" That's not what you used to say!

What about all the other fish in the sea?

Brothers before others?

And that line: Plenty of women out there, a new one every day!

...

The morning sun streamed down.

The sky was blue with white clouds, and cicadas chirped.

In the lab, Professor Quincy Evans woke up.

He sat up, gathered himself for a moment, and walked out of the break room.

"Whoa! Alex, you're up this early? Or did you not sleep at all?"

At the experimental bench, Alexander Laurent was focused on his work, not looking up.

Until—

The operation finished. He took off his protective suit and gloves.

"Woke up early."

"What time?"

"Five-thirty."

Quincy swallowed. "That's too hardcore. I need to go home today. I can't keep this up. I'll come back tonight. Lend me your charger; my phone's dead."

"In the cabinet. Get it yourself."

"You left it on the bench after using it. Isn't it a hassle putting it back in the cabinet every time?"

It wasn't a hassle at all.

Because Alexander hadn't touched his phone for days.

After putting it on silent, he'd tossed it directly into the cabinet.

Quincy found the charger. "Alex, you have missed calls. I brought your phone over."

"Thanks." Alexander took it.

The next second, he froze.

Sophia had called?

Two calls.

He opened WeChat. Sure enough, there were messages—

[Professor, I have something I'd like to ask you. Are you free?]

Sent five days ago.

He hadn't seen it at all!

Alexander immediately started typing a reply.

He thought for a moment, then put the phone down. Maybe he should just go back. It was Sunday; she should be home.

"Quincy, I'm leaving. The data for group three will be ready soon. Keep an eye on it."

He made to leave.

"Wait... I said I was going home! Hey—where are you going? Did I agree?! I told you to rest yesterday and you wouldn't listen! Now you're stealing my time?!"

"Alexander Laurent—you're really something!"

...

Back home, he knocked on the neighbor's door.

There was no response for a long time.

"Sophia? Are you there?"

Silence.

Alexander sighed, went back to his own apartment, sat down, and sent a WeChat—

[Sorry, I was in the lab and didn't check my phone.]

[Can I still help with anything?]

He waited half an hour. No reply.

Alexander couldn't help but wonder. When she sent the message, did her expectation slowly turn to disappointment too?

Sophia truly couldn't reply.

She was busy cleaning and setting up the new lab.

Marcus Lawrence had specifically applied for the largest and most remote room.

The teacher had confirmed multiple times, worried he was being impulsive.

This lab had been vacant for a long time, hardly ever used.

It was too big, lacked equipment, and was too far from the teaching buildings.

Marcus insisted. "This is the one."

It was spacious enough to section off a break area.

Lacking equipment? They could buy their own.

It was far from the teaching buildings, but close to the cafeteria. Hannah Morse was thrilled.

For the three of them, the only downside was—

It was incredibly hard to clean!

After a whole morning of work, they had barely managed to arrange the lab benches, cabinets, coffee table, and water dispenser.

Next was the actual cleaning.

Hannah groaned. "I'm exhausted. Why won't the school let us hire a cleaning service?"

Marcus replied, "It wouldn't look good."

"Look bad for what?"

"The spirit and vitality of university students."

"..." Fine, you win.

The three went to eat first, planning to continue in the afternoon.

Just as they reached the cafeteria entrance, Sophia saw Alexander walking towards them.

She was hesitating whether to greet him when the man was already in front of her, slightly out of breath—

"Sophia, what did you need?"

Sophia was stunned, not processing it immediately.

Hannah and Marcus exchanged a look.

Alexander said, "I'm sorry. I was in the lab the past few days. I didn't check my phone. I didn't reply to your message in time."

Sophia suddenly remembered. She had sent a WeChat, but he hadn't replied. He must have been busy.

She'd forgotten about it later herself.

"There was something, but it's already resolved."

Sebastian had messaged her this morning. The CPRT dynamometer would arrive tomorrow.

"...Why pay for it yourself? What happened?"

Alexander asked. Before Sophia could answer, Hannah launched into a rapid-fire explanation like a little machine gun.

"...Professor Victoria Lowell?"

"Yes! Her! The department is siding with her too, bullying us!" Hannah said through gritted teeth.