Chapter 1647
[ 757 words ]
In her dream, Claire watched Hillary and Hanson exchange vows. The couple wore traditional crimson wedding attire, kneeling deeply to honor their parents before raising their glasses to a sea of applauding guests.
In the blink of an eye, the bride and groom morphed into her and Dane.
There were two distinct ceremonies, split between the towering skyline of Cabinda and the quiet familiarity of The James Village.
For the Cabinda reception, she wore an ethereal white gown-one she had meticulously designed herself.
For the ceremony in her hometown, she was draped in a breathtaking crimson dress, hand-stitched by the elders of The James Village. She looked every inch the noble heiress stepping out of a bygone dynasty.
And Dane… wearing the brilliant red silk, he looked so devastatingly handsome it was impossible to look away.
He usually stuck to a severe palette of charcoal, black, and slate, but the vibrant crimson suited him in a way that defied logic.
It was as if a flawless, ice-cold marble statue had suddenly been infused with a blazing, passionate soul.
Hand in hand, they knelt before the ancestral altar, and right as they bowed-Claire jolted awake.
Bright morning sunlight was already streaming into the room.
Claire rubbed her sleep-heavy eyes and instructed the smart-home system to open the blackout curtains fully.
She glanced at her phone. *8:50 AM.*
Was she late?
A split second later, her phone buzzed. It was Lawler!
“Claire, we’re already at the medical campus. We’re grabbing breakfast in the cafeteria. The symposium starts at 9:30. Are you on your way?”
Claire’s brain snapped to absolute attention. “I’m heading out the door right now!” Lawler immediately recognized the gravelly rasp of her voice; she had literally just woken up.
“If you just woke up, don’t panic. Your lecture isn’t scheduled until this afternoon.” “My mentor is giving the keynote this morning.”
Originally, the schedule hadn’t been packed this tight. The organizers had planned to give the visiting surgeons a free day in Cabinda to sightsee.
But nobody had anticipated how aggressively eager the attendees were. Everyone wanted to blitz through the material so they could rush back to their respective hospitals.
Thus, the day was now booked solid with back-to-back masterclasses.
“I’m on my way. I should make it in time.”
Claire ended the call and threw herself into getting ready.
By the time she navigated the Cabinda morning gridlock and pulled into the medical campus, the keynote had already started.
Thankfully, she managed to slip into the back of the lecture hall right before 10:00 AM.
The room was packed to the gills. There wasn’t a single empty seat.
Lawler and the others had tried to save her a spot early on, but as the crowd swelled, they were forced to surrender it.
Claire was already strikingly
beautiful, and slipping in late white carrying herself with such quiet confidence immediately drew the stares of the students forced to
stand in the back.
“What department is she in? I’ve never seen her before.”
“Probably just here for the spectacle.”
“She’s gorgeous. There’s no way someone looking like that flies under the radar on this campus.”
“Shut up, I’m trying to listen!”
The whispers rippled through the back rows, but the vast majority of the audience was hyper-focused on Barry’s presentation.
Claire leaned against the back wall, listening intently, though she didn’t bother taking out a notebook.
Her perfect posture and striking features made her look like a painting standing amidst the stressed medical students.
A male student in the back row leaned over and whispered, “Hey, do you want my seat?”
Claire glanced at him and gave a polite wave. “Thank you, but I’m fine.”
“I’m a guy, standing isn’t a big deal. It looks impossible for you to take notes like that.”
He made one last valiant attempt at chivalry.
“I don’t need to take notes,” Claire replied, shutting it down completely.
The guy looked utterly deflated. Were all gorgeous girls this impossible to talk to?
“Pfft…” Someone nearby snickered.
The guy’s face burned crimson.
Who the hell was laughing at him?
It was human nature to appreciate beauty! He hadn’t done anything wrong by offering his seat!
But man, this girl was a literal fortress of ice.
If she wasn’t going to take notes,
why was she even here? Everyone in this hall was a dedicated medica professional, and the front rows were packed with veteran attending physicians.
The only people sitting in the back three rows were elite grad students.
The professors in the front were scribbling furiously, yet this girl looked like she had just wandered in to kill time.
Suspicion began to brew. Several
students secretly snapped photos of her and started texting them around
to find out who she was.
Claire was already somewhat famous among the incoming freshman class across
the city.
If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.