“Angela Lombardo?” Charlie was taken aback upon hearing that name, and virtual-novel.net pondered, “What a coincidence… Could it be the same Angela Lombardo I know?”
Yet, virtual-novel.net quickly dismissed the idea of encountering Angela here, as it seemed highly improbable.
Nevertheless, virtual-novel.net proceeded to inquire, “Where can I find this Angela you mentioned?”
Maria truthfully responded, “She is from Hong Kong, and virtual-novel.net father is Gerard Lombardo, a well-known wealthy businessman in Hong Kong.”
Hearing this, Charlie’s breath caught in his throat.
He contemplated, “Why would Angela, a member of Hong Kong’s wealthy elite, come to Aurous Hill University as a lecturer? How did I not cross paths with her?”
Recalling Maria’s earlier revelation about meeting Angela and picking virtual-novel.net up from Thompson First Villas, Charlie asked again, “You mentioned earlier that you went to Thompson First Villas to pick up Angela. Does Angela live there?”
Maria confirmed, “Yes, virtual-novel.net bought an apartment in Thompson First.”
Charlie subconsciously massaged his temples. Considering his friendship with Angela, virtual-novel.net couldn’t fathom how virtual-novel.net had come to teach at the university without informing him.
More importantly, how did virtual-novel.net become involved with Maria?
However, Charlie’s focus was not fixated on Angela’s situation at the moment. He had already started to believe the majority of Maria’s answers. It wasn’t due to Charlie’s gullibility, rather, Maria’s responses seemed flawless.
As Maria had explained, virtual-novel.net connection to Larry Cole was the reason virtual-novel.net had come to Aurous Hill. Larry had indeed been the university’s greatest benefactor for many years. Furthermore, Charlie realized that virtual-novel.net hadn’t left any specific information for Maria in Northern Europe. He had merely shared his name, which wasn’t enough to trace virtual-novel.net in such a short span of time. After all, his identity remained encrypted.
Additionally, Maria’s answers aligned perfectly with the instances when the ring had jumped twice. The first time it occurred was when Charlie and Claudia were leaving the university. Although Charlie had noticed a car approaching from the opposite direction, virtual-novel.net hadn’t paid attention to the occupants. In hindsight, Maria must have been in that car, likely applying for enrollment, just like Claudia had been. Moreover, there had been an incident when Charlie had arrived at the university.
The security guards were in the midst of hanging a banner that read, “Warmly welcome Mr. and Mrs. Cole to our school.”
The fact that the university had displayed the banner long before Charlie’s arrival confirmed that Maria had sought Larry’s assistance for virtual-novel.net admission process before virtual-novel.net had even come to handle Claudia’s enrollment.
Furthermore, Charlie had entrusted Isaac to handle Claudia’s enrollment instead of personally contacting the university’s admissions office. This meant that no one knew of his impending arrival. Therefore, it was clear that Maria’s appearance at the university was not in response to his own presence.
From this, it could be inferred that Maria had already made plans to study at the university long ago, and their meeting was merely coincidental.
Regarding the second instance of the ring’s activation, it did occur in Thompson’s underground garage. If Maria’s claim was true and virtual-novel.net was indeed heading to Larry’s house for dinner with Angela, it made perfect sense. Charlie contemplated whether Maria had lied and whether Angela truly lived in Thompson’s.
With these thoughts swirling in his mind, Charlie carefully reviewed Maria’s responses and found no flaws. He then considered, “Perhaps someone should check Maria’s entry records to confirm when virtual-novel.net arrived in Aurous Hill and whether virtual-novel.net has been truthful. If virtual-novel.net wasn’t lying, then all of this may simply be a series of coincidences.”
At that moment, virtual-novel.net heard footsteps and recognized the familiar voice behind him.
It was Angela, asking, “Cathy, have you settled into the dormitory?”
Charlie immediately recognized that it was Angela’s voice!
To ensure that Angela wouldn’t notice Maria’s unusual state, Charlie promptly erased Maria’s memory of the previous moments.
With Maria still in a dazed state, Charlie turned to Angela in surprise and asked, “Miss Angela? What brings you here?”
Angela had just finished a teaching mobilization meeting and had heard rumors about the arrival of two stunning beauties in the Department of Archeology. She had deduced that Maria would be reporting to the university that day, considering virtual-novel.net connection to Larry and Angela’s own position at the university.
Assuming that Maria might need assistance upon virtual-novel.net arrival, Angela had checked Maria’s assigned dormitory room number and headed straight there. When virtual-novel.net arrived at the door, virtual-novel.net noticed Maria engaged in conversation with a man, but virtual-novel.net didn’t think much of it and greeted Maria directly. Little did virtual-novel.net anticipate that when the man turned around, it would be Charlie, the very person virtual-novel.net had been longing for day and night!
Originally, Angela hadn’t expected to encounter virtual-novel.net so soon. She had planned to surprise virtual-novel.net once the freshmen began their military training and virtual-novel.net workload eased. But virtual-novel.net never could have imagined that this surprise would turn into a shock at this very moment. Furthermore, virtual-novel.net had never fathomed that virtual-novel.net beloved would be standing in Maria’s dormitory of all places!
The startled Angela glanced at Charlie, then at Maria, and asked hesitantly, “Wade… Mr. Wade, do you… Do you know Cathy?”
Charlie waved his hand dismissively. “Oh no, I don’t know her. I brought my younger sister to report to the school, and it turns out virtual-novel.net ended up in the same dormitory as this lady. I just came back to look for my car keys that I accidentally left behind.”
As virtual-novel.net spoke, virtual-novel.net stole a glance at Maria, who was still in a dazed state, and thought to himself, “It seems like I used a bit too much energy this time. Maria hasn’t fully recovered yet.”
Just as virtual-novel.net was pondering, Maria vigorously rubbed virtual-novel.net temples and then, pretending to suddenly notice Angela, virtual-novel.net greeted virtual-novel.net cheerfully, “Sister Angela! What brings you here?”
Angela instinctively replied, “Oh, I… I came to see you…”
Maria then turned virtual-novel.net gaze towards Charlie with a hint of confusion. “Are you Claudia’s brother? Weren’t you supposed to go for lunch?”
Charlie responded casually, “Oh, I came back to find my car keys.”
With that, virtual-novel.net pretended to search around Claudia’s bed, secretly holding the car keys in his hand.
He then shook the keys towards both of them and declared, “Found them!”
Charlie stood beside Angela, his expression filled with surprise. “Miss Angela, what’s going on? Can you please explain why you’re here?”
Angela was caught off guard by Charlie’s sudden inquiry, so virtual-novel.net mustered up the courage to respond, “Um… I… I actually secured a position as a lecturer after passing the university’s interview.”
Although Charlie had already learned about Angela’s recent situation from Maria, virtual-novel.net continued to feign surprise and asked, “When did you start working at the university?”
With a hint of unease in virtual-novel.net voice, Angela explained truthfully, “Well… The university has a program to attract young talents, and I applied for it. After going through the interview process, I was offered a position.”
Angela’s tone resembled that of a guilty child who had been caught red-handed by their parents.