PopularNovelChapter 298 If she could forget the pain her family had carved into her from childhood, then surely she could forget the flutter of her heart for one person.
Mila had always been good at shutting the door on her feelings.
After that night, Mila decided to quit her job as a court assistant.
When she went to hand in her resignation to the court manager, Lysander happened to be there, deep in conversation with the manager. He didn't even glance her way, his expression as unreadable as ever.
Thankfully, having already performed a sort of emotional amputation, Mila felt nothing but numbness as she handed over the letter.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThe manager looked surprised, instinctively glancing at Lysander's impassive profile before quickly looking away. After a brief attempt at persuasion, Mila insisted she was too busy with her studies, and that was that.
From that day on, she never set foot on the court again, never asked about Lysander, forcing herself to cut him out of her life completely.
The truth was, Mila never cared much for sports. She wasn't passionate about the game. She only ever went to the court because of the person who played there. Now that she'd made up her mind, there was no reason to look back.
She threw herself into her studies like a woman possessed, diving so deep into textbooks and programming projects that she sometimes dreamed of the clacking of keyboards and the blur of colorful code on her screen. She worked even harder than before, burning all her energy just to keep her mind off everything else. Eventually, her best friend Miranda had seen enough.
"At this rate, you're going to turn your brain to mush," Miranda declared. "You've already jumped up several places in the class rankings, your scholarship's been approved con, you need a break. My treat!" Without waiting for a response, Miranda shut Mila's laptop, pulled her up, and dragged her out to a bar. "But my code! I haven't even saved-" Mila protested, frantic.
"Relax, it'll be fine," Miranda waved her off.
Miranda took her to a cozy lounge bar-quiet, tasteful, and nothing like the rowdy student haunts.
As soon as they sat down, Miranda rattled off a list of drinks and had them lined up in front of Mila, grinning. "Drink up! I'm buying, and we're not leaving till we've unwound!" Mila just pushed the drinks away, silent. She didn't mind alcohol, but her tolerance was terrible-one cocktail and she'd flush bright red, two beers and she'd be under the table. Ever since the night she blacked out, she'd sworn off drinking altogether. She hated the feeling of losing control.
"Don't worry, I only ordered stuff with a low ABV. Even if you get tipsy, I'm right here to get you hsafe, promise." Miranda gave her a reassuring look, then sighed. "Honestly, you need to relax. You've been wound so tight lately. Did you know you've been shouting academic jargon in your sleep? You've startled half the girls in the dorm awake more than once." Mila blinked, embarrassed. "Seriously? Why didn't you guys tell me?" "We know you're hustling for that scholarship. It's just for a while no big deal. We're all friends, we get it." Miranda shrugged, but her concern lingered. "But now you've made the cut, you're still going full throttle. What gives? Is something going on that you can't tell me?" Mila had never confided in anyone about her first crush. And once things fell apart, she had even less reason to talk.
Now, with Miranda's question hanging in the air, she felt a rush of discomfort. She grabbed a drink and knocked it back in one go, not even noticing how it burned until her eyes watered.
"Whoa, slow down!" Miranda quickly handed her a napkin. Mila shook her head, dizzy from the sting, and headed for the restroom to splash scold water on her face.
The icy water jolted her awake. When she looked up, she froze.
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In the mirror, reflected by the door, stood a tall young man, Jeaning m casually against the frame, his sharp gaze fixed directly on her. She wasn't sure how long he'd been there.
She never expected to run into Lysander here.
towel, wiped the content is on wibelgrabbed a paper novelenglish.net! her face, and kept her head down, intent on walking past without a word.
But as she brushed by him, Lysander's hand shot out and caught her wrist.
His palm was dry, hot against her skin.
Mila flinched, ready to pull away, but his low, gravelly voice stopped her. "Let's make a deal."
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