Chapter 3 Blocked

"Is it tough finding a spot? Lemme head out and give you a hand..."

Seeing Leopold's sour face, Oliver finally got it, "Leopold, Camilla's still MIA, huh?"

It had been over three hours.

Leopold threw up his hands and shrugged, "Come back? You think breaking up's a joke?"

Then he brushed past Oliver and plopped down on the couch.

Oliver scratched his head, like, "No way, this for real?"

But then he shook it off, realizing he was overthinking it.

If Leopold could break up just like that, he’d buy it; but Camilla...

Any girl might agree to a breakup, but not Camilla.

That was a no-brainer.

"Leopold, why you flying solo?" Simon Miller teased, arms crossed with a smirk, "The three-hour bet's now a whole day."

Leopold grinned, "A bet's a bet; what's the penalty?"

Simon raised an eyebrow, "Let's switch it up today, no booze."

"What’s the game?"

"Call Camilla and say in the sweetest voice, 'I'm sorry; I was wrong; I love you.'"

Everyone cracked up.

Oliver even snatched Leopold's phone and dialed Camilla's number.

After the beep, "Sorry, the number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable..."

Did Leopold get blocked?

Leopold was a bit taken aback.

The laughter died down, and everyone started exchanging looks.

Oliver quickly hung up, handed back the phone, and tried to play it off, "Maybe it's really unavailable, no way Camilla blocked Leopold!"

Even he felt awkward by the end.

Simon thought for a moment, "Maybe Camilla's serious this time."

Leopold scoffed, "Breakup's no joke. I’m done with this game. Anyone who brings up Camilla again, don’t blame me for cutting ties."

Simon's eyes narrowed a bit, and after a pause, he muttered, "Just don’t regret it."

Leopold smirked, unfazed.

He never regretted anything he did.

Marcus Davis quickly tried to lighten the mood, "Come on, don’t be so serious, haha... we're all bros..."

Morning, 7 AM.

Juniper finished her morning run and just walked in when she caught a whiff of food.

Camilla came out of the kitchen with a bowl of porridge, rocking a dress that showed off her legs, looking stunning even without makeup.

"Go take a shower, then have breakfast."

Juniper, "Hey? New hairstyle? Dressed up nice, you heading back? Or is Leopold picking you up?"

"Can you just wish me well?"

"Leopold picking you up is wishing you well?" Juniper walked to the dining table and saw it all decked out.

"Go shower," Camilla swatted her hand away, "You're dirty."

"When Leopold uses his hands, why don’t you slap him?"

"Well, next time, I will."

"I don’t buy it."

When Juniper came out after her shower, Camilla had already left with a lunchbox.

"Made breakfast for me but didn’t forget to bring some for her boyfriend, what a friend."

Tranquil Hospital, private room.

"Aurora, how you feeling today?"

Aurora put down her thesis and adjusted her reading glasses, "Felix? What are you doing here!"

"Don’t move," Felix Young quickly placed a pillow behind her, "Your wound’s still healing."

"Appendicitis, minor surgery. I’m just old, so recovery’s slow, and the doc kept me here for days. By the way, has the master's admission quota for this year come down?"

"Yeah, you get three, I get four."

"Three, huh." Aurora murmured.

"What, still planning to take only two this year?"

"Yeah, I’m old, I can only handle two."

Felix pouted, knowing the extra spot was for Camilla, but she wouldn’t admit it.

"Professor Garcia, oh, and Professor Young too?" Lucas strolled in with two junior students, dropping off some fruits and flowers, "We came to visit Professor Garcia."

During the chit-chat, one of the students piped up, "I heard there's a super genius freshman this year who got straight into our college's combined bachelor's, master's, and PhD program."

In the last decade, Harmony College's School of Life Sciences has had fewer than three straight-to-PhD students.

"Apparently, this freshman snagged gold medals in both the International Mathematical Olympiad and the Computer Science Competition last year and got a direct pass into our college."

"Two gold medals? Not bad. I remember there was a senior, Professor Garcia's student, I think? She had four gold medals when she started undergrad! Math, Physics, Chemistry, and Computer Science, she aced them all! Her name was Camilla..."

"Alright, time's up!" Felix cut in, "You guys should head back to school."

"Oh, we'll get going then."

"Okay."

Outside the room, one of the students looked bummed, "Lucas, did I mess up? Why did Professor Garcia and Professor Young look so upset?"

Lucas was just as puzzled.

Inside the room.

Felix said, "Those kids didn't mean any harm; don't overthink it."

Aurora waved her hand, but her lips trembled, and tears welled up in her eyes, eventually spilling over.

"She was such a genius! But why didn't she value her talent?"

Felix comforted, "Calm down."

"Felix, do you know what she said to me the last time we met? She said she wanted love. What a joke. She broke my heart."

Camilla stood at the door of the hospital room, clutching the lunchbox, tears streaming down her face.

She thought, 'I'm sorry, Professor Garcia.'

In the end, Camilla didn't have the guts to go in. She left the lunchbox at the nurse's station, "This is for Professor Garcia, please pass it on, thanks."

"You haven't registered your info! Hold on!"

Camilla bolted out of the hospital building, gulping in fresh air, but the suffocating guilt wouldn't go away.

"Camilla?" A tall, elegantly made-up woman in high heels and carrying a fancy bag walked over.

A blazer with a pencil skirt, straight hair draped over her shoulders, exuding intelligence from head to toe.

Clara Wipere, Leopold's younger sister.

"Is it really you? What are you doing at the hospital?" Clara glanced at the building.

She felt relieved for her mother, Elodie Smith, 'The inpatient department, probably not visiting the maternity ward. If Camilla were really pregnant, Elodie would faint from anger.'

"Clara." Camilla forced a smile.

"Why are your eyes red? Have you been crying?"

Camilla didn't respond.

"Did you have another fight with Leopold?"

"No."

Clara assumed Camilla was being stubborn and couldn't help but feel sympathetic.

She actually liked Camilla; she was beautiful and had a good personality.

But unfortunately, she wasn't quite fit to be Leopold's wife.

Especially since Elodie valued education highly and only wanted top students from prestigious schools as daughters-in-law.

"Is it tough being with Leopold? He has a bad temper, you should bear with it."

Camilla, "Actually, we've already..."

"Well, I have something to do, so I won't chat with you."

After saying that, Clara checked the time and walked into the building.

She was there to visit Aurora, having heard that Aurora liked smart and well-behaved students, so she had dressed up for the occasion.

Whether she could get the direct PhD spot depended on this visit.