Chapter 909
Ophelia had also wanted to tag along.
But her work schedule was far too demanding that week, making it impossible.
“I’ll take Claire. I’ve got the most free time,” Owen volunteered, raising his hand.
“Aren’t you swamped with your new startup?” Phil asked, effortlessly calling his bluff.
Owen waved him off dismissively. “The product is still in the R&D phase. It’s not like I need to stare at them twenty-four-seven.”
“Besides, Phil, aren’t you way too busy closing deals to drive her?”
Phil fell silent. He couldn’t deny it; his schedule was brutal.
“I’ll do it. I have to head to campus anyway,” Norris stated matter-of-factly.
Phil and Owen protested in unison. “You’re going there for work! The first week of classes is chaos for professors. When would you have time to help her settle in?”
This day was supposed to be all about Claire. If Norris took her, he’d probably just dump her luggage at the dorms and leave her to figure out registration on her own.
That was hardly any different than her going solo.
“The boys are right, Norris. You’ve got academic obligations,” Padgett chimed in, his eyes gleaming eagerly.
The old man had absolutely nothing to do but lounge around the estate all day. Escorting his beloved granddaughter to her freshman dorm seemed like the perfect mission for him.
“I vote against Norris, too. It’s probably best we maintain strict professor-student boundaries,” Claire agreed. She wanted to keep her profile as low as possible on campus.
That meant keeping her familial connection to a renowned professor a secret. Norris’s face darkened with a mixture of annoyance and defeat. “…”
one of them, she vastly preferred Owen.
If she had to be dragged to campus With the deciding vote cast by the VIP herself, Owen emerged victorious from the sibling showdown.
On registration day, Claire and Owen woke up at the crack of dawn.
Metropolitan University happened to be Owen’s alma mater, so he knew the campus like the back of his hand.
Claire had also spent time there during a training program, so the grandeur of the grounds didn’t faze her.
Owen parked his sports car and walked her through the check-in process. They divided and conquered, flying through the paperwork in record time.
Once registration was complete, they finally headed to the residential halls.
She had been assigned to a
four-person suite. The university had allowed students to select their beds online weeks ago, and nametags
were already taped ametags
to the
Corresponding frames.
Claire’s chosen spot was right by the window. She wasn’t the first to arrive.
One of her roommates, an out-of-state student, had moved in the night before.
She had claimed the bed directly opposite Claire’s.
“Oh, thank god, actual human contact! I was dying of boredom,” the girl cheered, practically bouncing over. “Hey gorgeous, I’m Skylar Sommers.”
“Hi, I’m Claire,” she replied, gesturing to the printed tag on her desk.
“Mind if I just call you Claire? You can call me Skye! Is your name inspired by something poetic?”
Skylar bubbled, radiating endless golden-retriever energy.
“Just a classic poem,” Claire
answered with a polite smile. She had only lived in a dorm briefly ly lived
during her senior year of high school and that was only because Octavia had kicked her out of the house.
She had eventually moved into her own apartment shortly after.
Navigating the delicate social dynamics of college roommates made her a little anxious.
Thankfully, Skylar was as sweet and welcoming as her name implied, completely vaporizing any potential awkwardness.
“Oh, wait—who’s this?” Skylar blinked, noticing the incredibly tall man currently wiping down Claire’s study desk. “Your boyfriend?”
He was absolutely gorgeous!
If he hadn’t clearly been here with Claire, she might have actually marched up and asked for his number.
“My brother,” Claire clarified simply.
“Damn, your genes are seriously blessed!”
Skylar gasped, completely failing to filter her thoughts.
Owen glanced over his shoulder and shot her a dazzling smile. “Thanks for the compliment.”
Skylar giggled, instantly swooning.
Owen was utterly unfazed, having been subjected to that exact reaction his entire
life.
He casually grabbed a washbasin, filled it from the tap, and meticulously scrubbed down Claire’s bed frame and wardrobe twice over.
“Your brother is literally an angel. Look at him go!” Her own parents had driven her up the day before, doing all the heavy lifting and deep-clearing the
tire dorm
before heading back home.