Chapter 227
“You mean that young professor, the one everyone can’t stop talking about because he’s so good-looking?” Linsey was usually the serious type, all about classes and coursework, but even she couldn’t resist a bit of gossip. Wendy looked up from her stack of books, her eyes shining with interest. “I noticed him too. He’s tall, but not in a way that’s intimidating kind of elegant and refined. If this were an old-time drama, he’d totally be the leading man from a rich family p>
Wendy was shy and quiet most of the time, but she loved romance novels, and Norris really did have that storybook hero vibe. “Exactly!” Nanette grinned and gave her mattress an excited pat. “Claire, what about you? Do you think he’s as handsome as everyone says p>
Claire had met more than her share of attractive guys. With Dane around, her standards were already sky-high, and honestly, even the best-looking men seemed to pale in comparison. Still, she nodded along. “Norris isn’t just good-looking. He’s also fair, and he stood up for me today.” Norris and Dane were completely different, but both had this irresistible charm about them.
“I knew it,” Nanette said, looking pleased. “He’s honestly amazing. I heard he’s teaching our class this afternoon. Plus, he’s Sammie’s doctoral student, so the two of them are basically legends in the math department p>
Just like that, the conversation shifted, and Carr was old news. By the time everyone filed into the classroom that afternoon, the buzz about Norris had only grown. The local students seemed to know all kinds of stories and rumors.
“Norris isn’t the only genius in his family,” someone whispered. “I heard his aunt was Sammie’s student too. She was brilliant, a real prodigy p>
“Yeah, but then she just disappeared one day. People say maybe some foreign countries got jealous and did something to her The theory. sounded wild, but everyone nodded like it made perfect sense. Stories about spies and stolen geniuses always seemed to circulate, especially when someone was exceptionally talented they couldn’t recruit you, they’d do whatever it took to keep you from succeeding.
“Do you remember her name?” Len asked, curiosity getting the better of him. He was sitting behind Claire, sharing a desk with Leo, while Claire and Wendy sat together.
“I think her last name was Churchill, same as Norris!” the girl chimed in, happy to keep the gossip going. “Her first name was Melissa. I read
somewhere that there are old el.ne
articles about her in the university newspapers, but it’s all buried in the library archives p>
The name hit Claire like a wave. She remembered what Pandora had told her-her mom’s name was Melissa, and she was from Cabinda. Could it really be the same person? Maybe her mom’s talent for math was something she’d inherited.
There wasn’t much public information about Melissa. Even after Claire arrived in Cabinda, she hadn’t gone out of her way to ask The only students who seemed to know anything were kids of university faculty, who’d grown up hearing about Melissa from their parents. Their families hoped they’d be the next Melissa. The older professors always spoke of her as a teenage genius, then fell silent with a kind of wistful regret.
Regret for what, though? Did she pass away young, or did something else happen? No one seemed to know if Melissa had an accident, or if she just graduated, got married, and left her field behind. Whatever it was, it clearly wasn’t the ending her teachers had wished for her.
“Even just hearing her name, you can tell she was someone special. Beautiful, insanely talented no wonder everyone looked up to her p>