Nancy never felt more embarrassed in her life after hearing that. Her father stepped in to help soon after. “I hope this doesn’t come as a surprise to you, Master Henson, but I suppose I’ve spoilt my girl a bit too much. To be honest, I also thought that she could learn a thing or two if I brought her here to meet and listen to such an accomplished individual like you,” he gushed.
“I only came for Howell, not to educate your daughter. I don’t recall you being such a smart alec before this, Burke,” Henson scoffed.
President Burke frowned at this and turned to look at Nancy instead. “How come you haven’t apologised to Master Henson yet? Do that and hurry home, alright?”
“Fine,” she muttered with a pout.
She later stood up and bowed her head towards Henson. “I’m so sorry for tonight, Master Henson. I’ll be taking my leave now,” she muttered and
walked out of the room with her father tailing behind her.
The moment the father-daughter pair stepped outside of the room, Nancy, who’d been holding in her anger all this while stomped her feet in annoyance. “How did I piss off Mr. Charles this time, dad? And why is it that he’s always so rude to me when we talk?!” she whisper-shouted.
“Calm down, dear daughter. He was right, you know. We were the ones who slipped up this time,” he replied.
“Since that’s the case, then why didn’t you tell him that I was coming? Of course he’d be mad to see an unannounced guest there! It’s all your fault,” she huffed.
“Yes, yes, it’s daddy’s fault. Be a lamb and go home ahead of me, will you? I’ll find a chance to clear your name to him again, alright?” he said apologetically.
She merely snorted at his response and left sulking.
President Burke then walked over to the hall where the basketball team had gathered to have their meal.
“Please come into the private room I booked for us, Miss Evans. I have a few things to go over with you regarding your role as assistant professor,” he said when he found Wendy.
“Be sure not to drink so much so that y’all don’t cause a ruckus, guys,” she hollered to everyone on the team after putting down her drink then
followed him into the private room.
In the meantime, Howell rolled his eyes at his team mates. “Don’t you guys dare say things like ‘Miss Evans is my woman’ next time. She was just a private tutor at my place last time, so that was how we got so close. You guys better stop thinking of anything lewd or else I’ll beat all of your *sses up,” he threatened.
The moment she entered the room, she was dumbstruck when her gaze fell on Henson. What was HE doing here?
“Make yourself comfy, Wendy,” President Burke said.
After coming back to her senses, she nodded towards him and chose the spot where Nancy sat just now. “Good evening, Master Henson,” she greeted formally.
Henson’s gaze slowly shifted onto her after that.
When their gazes met, she quickly darted hers to look elsewhere.
He raised his eyebrows at that then lifted his wine glass to take a sip. “Will you be joining us again tonight, Miss Evans?” he asked.
“I’m afraid not, Master Henson. I’m really not in the mood today,” she said apologetically.
“But Wendy,” President Burke urged. “It’s an honour to be able to drink with Master Henson,”
“I know, but I’m frankly not in the mood today, so my apologies Master Henson,” she replied.
“Never mind then,” Henson said flatly in reply.
President Burke then got up to his feet to pour him some more wine. “Please give me the pleasure to drink with you instead, Master Henson,” he said cordially.
“I’m not here just to drink with you tonight, Burke,” Henson said flatly as he put down his glass.
President Burke could only sit back down in awkward silence, while Henson shifted his gaze back to Wendy. “So, how’s Howell’s performance on campus lately, Miss Evans? Care to enlighten me?” Henson asked.
She was at a loss for words. “How droll must this man be to ask this here of all places,” she thought.
“Howell’s doing really well actually. He’s already a smart kid, so I’ve only heard good things from all of his lecturers up until now. Not to mention that he’s really active when it comes to campus activities and that he did really well during the university’s basketball championship, even helping his team bring home the first place trophy,” she said.
“Yes, yes. Master Howell did put in a lot of effort this time for the basketball championships indeed,” President Burke chirped in too as he nodded his head profusely.
Henson smirked at that. “Oh really? I’ve also caught wind that you and Howell would make a spectacular couple, Miss Evans. Are the both of you dating, by any chance?”
She paused for a few moments. Was he out of his mind?
What the h*ll.
“You know how chock full of pheromones both Miss Evans and Master Howell are at their age, Master Henson. The timing couldn’t be more right either. Master Howell’s a handsome young man and Miss Evans is an attractive lady, so obviously they’d make such a cute couple together,” President Burke guffawed.
Henson’s gaze suddenly turned cold as he shifted his gaze over to him.
This made him gulp. “It couldn’t be that Master Henson doesn’t know about the thing that’s going on between Wendy and his brother, right?” he thought.
Unless… Master Henson refused to accept Wendy’s advances towards his brother?
This caused him to look down immediately to avoid Henson’s death glare on him.
She eventually shifted her gaze to Henson with an agitated look on her face. “Where are you coming from, Master Henson? Why would I ever engage in a teacher-student relationship?” she snapped.
“On the contrary, before I stepped into the room, I heard the young’uns outside say that you and him are a ‘match made in heaven’. If you’re not dating, then how do you explain this?” he argued.
“They don’t know nuts either, so they’re just spouting whatever rumours they hear. I didn’t peg you as the type of person who’d wrongly accuse people of something they didn’t do without evidence, Master Henson. I assumed capitalists like you would do better than that,” she sneered.
After hearing what she’d said, Burke hurriedly interjected, “What’s with your tone, Miss Evans?”
“There’s nothing wrong with my tone, President Burke. I can take these accusations regarding Howell and me floating around campus, no problem, but only because the people spreading them are still young and like to gossip. However, Master Henson isn’t a child anymore, so can’t I stand up for myself when he accuses me of doing something I didn’t do after hearing a bunch of baseless rumours?” she scoffed then
got up from her seat. “I have a few matters to attend to, so if you two don’t have anything else to discuss with me, I’ll be taking my leave first. I hope both you, Master Henson and President Burke enjoy the remainder of the dinner. Good day,”
With that, she stormed out of the room.
Henson raised an eyebrow at that. This girl definitely wasn’t going down without a fight, it seemed.
After exiting the room, Wendy skillfully avoided bumping into the group of kids and left the restaurant all by herself.
She then got into Baron’s car which was waiting for her at the entrance.
Less than half an hour after Baron sent her home, Henson had come back as well.
Upon arriving at his room, he saw an already-showered Wendy sitting by the windows reading a book.
She didn’t even flinch when she heard him come in.
Henson then took off his coat and walked over to her to ruffle her hair. “Still mad?” he cooed.
She merely rolled her eyes at him at that. “Oh, I wouldn’t dare get angry at Mr. Charles. Mr. Charles right all the time, after all,” she mocked.
“I told you, the only reason I said that was because the brats brought it up. Can’t I be angry because of that too?
“And why is it that the two of you didn’t know how to stand up for yourselves when so many people were teasing you about it?” he sulked.
“And how’d you know we didn’t stand up for ourselves? Did you catch the whole thing?” she said incredulously.
He smirked after realising that they actually did stand up for themselves. “Well, why would such rumours be floating around campus if that were the case? Out of all the girls on campus, why you and Howell?” he argued again.
“Just ask him. Usually he doesn’t even do so much as look at all the girls on campus, but whenever he’s with me, all of a sudden he’s all fun and bubbly. Everyone must’ve assumed the worst because of that,” she proposed.
He fell silent at the same time his gaze turned solemn.
She frowned. “Please tell me that you’re not thinking that me and Howell have something going on between us, right?” she said, annoyed.