Chapter 475: And There It Was: Aria
Clyde stared at the papers scattered across his desk, the edges curling from how many times he had flipped through them. His temples throbbed, a dull ache crawling behind his eyes. Numbers, reports, signatures... all useless when his mind was elsewhere. He couldn’t stop thinking about Micah, about leaving him alone with Darcy in that quiet coastal city. The thought made his chest tighten. But Dean had messed up. Badly. And now Clyde was stuck cleaning the mess.
He exhaled sharply, the sound heavy in the quiet room. "What were you thinking?" His voice came out clipped, his patience hanging by a thread.
He had been training Dean to become his successor in a few years. Yet, the young man had made such a rookie mistake.
Dean stood a few feet away, shoulders drawn in, head lowered like a boy awaiting punishment. His hands twisted behind his back, fingers fidgeting restlessly, shame written all over his face. "I’m sorry, uncle," he muttered.
Clyde’s gaze was cold and unflinching. "You were supposed to meet the representative of the medical board for our next phase of distributing the new medicine. That meeting was scheduled two months ago. And what did you do instead? You didn’t show up at all!" His tone was flat, but every word cut.
The silence stretched between them as Dean had no excuse to defend himself. His throat bobbed, swallowing hard. He couldn’t bring himself to lift his head. He knew he had failed. He knew exactly what he had done wrong and worse, why he had done it.
Since the moment he had seen Micah’s sister, Aria, everything had gone sideways. She wasn’t like the other girls who lingered around social events, their smiles practised and their voices sweetened by habit. Aria had been different. She was warm and easygoing. With a quiet backbone that could even stand up to his uncle, Clyde, that alone had caught him completely off guard. Ever since that brief encounter, he hadn’t been able to shake the image of her from his mind.
He had truly lost all reason. He wanted to see her again. But Aria was not the kind of girl who appeared at banquets or fundraisers. He had tried asking around discreetly, only to learn she was a law student from QC university. He had spent hours brainstorming, thinking of ways to meet her again without giving away too much.
He ended up scrolling through students’ forums late into the night, bleary-eyed, searching for her lecture schedules. When he finally found it, he had told himself he would just look, just see her once, nothing else.
So he went.
The campus was alive that morning, students laughing, calling to one another as they crossed the courtyard. Dean stood there awkwardly by a vending machine, feeling like a complete idiot in his tailored coat among all the casually dressed students.
He tugged at his collar, hoping no one would glance his way.
And for once, luck was on his side. He saw Aria finally. She was standing near the library steps, her hair catching the light as she laughed with a group of girls. Her expression was open, unguarded, free in a way that disarmed him completely. The sound of her laughter... it was the kind of thing that stuck in one’s head, quiet but impossible to forget.
Dean froze. His heart thumped hard against his ribs. He wanted to walk up to her, to say something, anything, but his courage failed him before he even took a step. He felt ridiculous, standing there like a stalker, watching her from a distance. What was he doing? He wasn’t a teenager anymore. He was a grown man with responsibilities.
He sighed and turned to leave, ducking his head in shyness. But fate, or whatever cruel force enjoyed making fun of him, had other plans.
He bumped into someone. Hard. Papers flew, a startled grunt followed, and before Dean could even apologise, a too-familiar voice called out his name loudly.
"Young master Dean? What a coincidence! What brings you here?"
Dean stiffened. Of all people.
Emanuel Laurent, an acquaintance from one of the Du Pont branch families, stood before him, all bright smiles and obnoxious enthusiasm. He clapped Dean’s shoulder as if they were best friends. "You should have told me you were coming here! I could have arranged for our little group to attend to you."
Dean wished he could just block the guy’s mouth. What was he babbling about? Dean shot him a cold look, but Emanuel was totally oblivious. "Are you here for that seminar? I didn’t know La Riviere was interested in legal tech. That’s new."
Dean stared at him blankly for a moment, his mind trying to make sense of what he was saying. Seminar? What?
But there was no way he could tell the truth that he had come here chasing a girl he barely knew. He thought it was better to save face and say that was the reason instead of the actual one. So he went ahead and nodded. "Yes, that."
Emanuel’s grin widened. "Perfect! I’m heading there too. We can go together."
And that was how Dean found himself sitting through a two-hour legal seminar about something he barely understood. The lecturer talked on and on about case precedents and data privacy laws while Dean sat there in a fog, thinking, Where am I? What am I doing here? Every word felt like it was being spoken in another language.
By the time it ended, he was certain his brain had melted, and he had forgotten how to speak his own language.
He stepped out of the lecture hall, lost his will to live. Emanuel was still talking beside him, waving his hand dramatically as he rambled about something involving his father’s new investment.
Dean nodded absently, pretending to listen. When they reached the courtyard, he glanced around quickly and spotted a coffee stand nearby. "Why don’t you grab us something to drink?" he said smoothly. "My treat."
Emanuel perked up. "Sure thing! Be right back!"
The moment he turned his back, Dean exhaled in relief and started walking fast in the opposite direction. He weaved through the crowd, determined to disappear before that annoying guy returned. He almost made it to the campus gate when fate decided to mock him one more time.
Someone bumped into him.
He barely registered the motion before a splash of icy liquid soaked the front of his shirt. The shock made him inhale sharply. "What the.." he started, but the words died in his throat.
A soft gasp met his ears. "I’m sorry! I wasn’t looking..."
Dean looked up.
And there it was. Aria.
For a second, everything else faded, the chatter, the footsteps, even the breeze. It was just her.
Ah... his prayers had finally been answered.