A flash of panic flickered in Eve Vaughn’s eyes.

’It wasn’t her fault, so why did it feel like she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar?’

At that moment, Todd Hayes suddenly dropped to one knee before her and said, "Eve Vaughn, please accept my feelings. I really, really like you."

"Todd Hayes!"

Eve Vaughn, at the end of her rope, said to him, "Wasn’t I clear enough this morning? Fine, then I’ll make myself perfectly clear in front of everyone. Your feelings are your own, but I’ve only ever thought of you as a classmate. You’re not my type!"

After saying that, she strode in the direction she had last seen Mason Lawson, completely ignoring the various voices behind her.

Some were mocking, others were confused, but most were murmurs of pity.

After all, Todd Hayes’s grades were excellent. Just like Eve Vaughn, he was a recipient of the national scholarship every year.

On top of that, Todd himself was handsome and refined, and very popular with the girls.

But now, most of the girls pitied Todd Hayes. Some even sneered that Eve Vaughn was being pretentious and didn’t know a good thing when she saw it.

Just then, the women’s dorm supervisor suddenly threw a basin of water in their direction, extinguishing most of the candles Todd Hayes had used for his confession and even splashing Todd himself.

The supervisor yelled at him, "Get going! Shouldn’t you be studying? What’s the point of all this nonsense!"

As if the dousing had shocked him back to his senses, Todd Hayes stood there blankly, completely crestfallen.

Seeing this, his roommates rushed to apologize. "We’re so sorry, man. We had no idea... she really doesn’t like you. It was our stupid idea to have you make such a big scene."

His face a mask of shame and anger, Todd Hayes threw the flowers on the ground and left under the gawking stares of the crowd.

Aria watched the scene unfold from her balcony, a strange feeling stirring in her heart.

Her gaze followed Todd Hayes until his figure disappeared into the night.

...

Meanwhile, Eve Vaughn ran to the streetlight where he had been, but Mason Lawson was already gone.

She quickly took out her phone and called him several times, but every call was rejected.

"The number you have dialed is busy."

Obviously, Mason Lawson was angry.

Eve Vaughn muttered to herself, "That Todd Hayes... he’s going to be the death of me!"

She immediately hurried to the school gate, hailed a cab, and headed for Mason Lawson’s place.

As she scrambled into the car and settled into her seat, it suddenly hit her just how worried she was that he had gotten the wrong idea.

Finally, she arrived at Mason Lawson’s villa. She hurried out of the car and used the fingerprint scanner to let herself in.

Mrs. Linton was cleaning.

Seeing her return so late, she was quite surprised. "Miss Vaughn, I thought you were staying in the dorms?"

Eve Vaughn asked breathlessly, "Is Mr. Lawson in?"

"Oh, Mr. Lawson came back about half an hour ago. He’s in the master bedroom."

After she finished speaking, Mrs. Linton held her back and said, "Miss Vaughn, Mr. Lawson doesn’t seem to be in a very good mood."

Eve Vaughn nodded. "I know, Mrs. Linton. You should get some rest. I’ll go check on him."

With that, she hurried upstairs.

Opening the door to the master bedroom, Eve Vaughn looked around but saw no one.

Just then, the bathroom door suddenly opened.

Eve Vaughn instinctively looked toward the bathroom, and what she saw nearly made her jaw drop!

There stood Mason Lawson, his lean, powerful body completely exposed. Water droplets trickled down his chiseled abs, while a certain part of him clamored for attention.

"AH!"

After a few seconds of stunned silence, Eve Vaughn shrieked and quickly covered her blushing face. "Mason, why would you come out with no clothes on!"

When Mason Lawson saw her, he was clearly startled for a moment as well.

But his cold, grim expression quickly returned, and he calmly went to get the bathrobe hanging on the rack.

As he put it on, he said, "I’m in my own house. I can wear whatever I want."

Eve Vaughn could hear the barb in his words.

It was just that the sight had been so visually arresting, her heart was still pounding.

Only when the rustling sound of him dressing stopped did Eve Vaughn cautiously move her hands from her face and peek behind her.

Mason Lawson had put on a silver-gray bathrobe and was sitting on the sofa, casually flipping through a magazine with absolutely no intention of acknowledging her. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Eve Vaughn took a deep breath and was the first to break the awkward silence. "Mason, I really didn’t know he was going to confess to me tonight outside my dorm. If I had known, I never would have asked you to pick me up. Wouldn’t that just be walking right into a trap?"

Mason Lawson acted as if he hadn’t heard, and kept flipping through the magazine in his hands.

"Mason..."

Eve Vaughn cried out, frustrated and aggrieved, "What will it take for you to believe me!"

Mason Lawson put down the magazine, his deep, dark eyes glinting coldly as he asked meaningfully, "Is it that important whether I believe you or not? Or do you only think of me when you need something?"

Eve Vaughn hated being falsely accused more than anything. With a hint of anger in her voice, she said, "I think of you as my boyfriend! That’s why I ran all the way from campus late at night to explain things to you, because I believe that if there’s a misunderstanding in a relationship, it’s best to clear it up face-to-face. If that’s what you really think of me, then I guess I came here for nothing. Goodbye!"

With that said, she walked straight to the door, not wanting to endure his insults any longer.

But just as her hand closed around the doorknob, a hand seized her wrist.

The tall man’s body blocked her path. His gaze had softened considerably as he looked down at her and said, "You just got here and you’re already trying to leave? Did you think a simple explanation would make this all go away?"

"Then what do you want?"

Her face was flushed with anger as she looked up at him.

The next second, the man’s arm wrapped around her waist while his other hand lifted her chin.

A cool, clean scent washed over her as his mouth claimed hers. The more she struggled, the tighter Mason’s hold became, his kiss deepening possessively, as if staking a claim.

A tingling sensation spread from her lips, rendering all her resistance futile. She could only cling to his shoulders to steady herself.

But even this wasn’t enough for him. He scooped her up and carried her toward the large bed.