Megan Clifton turned her head to see Carolline Ruiz returning with the purchases, and called her, "Carolline, come on, your Taro Balls are about to melt."
"Oh, coming." Carolline quickly adjusted and went over, placing the items from her bag on the table. Fortunately, the table was spacious enough; otherwise, there wouldn't be enough room for all of their ice cream balls and a big bag of snacks.
"You could have bought just a bit; why so much?" Megan Clifton didn't quite agree. She held two spoons in her hands and tasted each of the dozen varieties of ice cream balls.
"We'll eat it slowly." Carolline whispered her reply, noticing that Megan Clifton didn't mention the other two people at the table, and she didn't ask either.
She figured that the two were probably here to share the table since all the other tables outside were full.
"...Oh, right, I forgot to introduce them to you. This is my cousin, Matilda Ferguson, the campus belle from the neighboring Ethnic Dance Academy, and this is my future cousin-in-law, Bryan Hawkins." Staring back at Matilda, Megan Clifton finally explained, then turned to the other two and said, "This is my dormmate, Carolline."
"Nice to meet you." Carolline bowed her head and greeted first.
"Hello, little sister. My cousin is a bit careless, so since you're her classmate and living in the same dormitory, please take good care of her." Matilda Ferguson had completely forgotten about the incident that day and expressed her concern for her sister to Carolline.
Matilda had several cousins, but she was particularly good to Megan Clifton because Megan's uncle was Redstar Film Company's vice president. Megan's aunt and uncle didn't have children, so they adored Megan and spoiled her like their own daughter.
So, to please Megan's aunt and uncle, Matilda had to be especially nice to her.
"Mhm." Carolline responded softly again, not saying much, and lowered her head to stir her cup of ice cream balls.
She didn't dare shift her gaze and tried to reduce her presence as much as possible as she was somewhat afraid of being recognized by the couple.
However, it was just Carolline being overcautious. In the end, neither Bryan Hawkins nor Matilda Ferguson recognized her when they said their goodbyes. The incident that day had only mattered to Carolline, while the other two had long forgotten about it.
"Megan, your classmate is so shy. She hardly talks, and speaks very softly. Anyway, we have some other plans tonight, so we'll leave first. We've paid for your order, but let us know if you want anything else." Matilda Ferguson's tone seemed deliberately ingratiating.
"That's enough; no need for anything else." Megan Clifton shook her head, not even bothering to look at her.
In her eyes, she didn't think Matilda had anything worth her attention, other than her good looks; there were no other particular talents.
As for her boyfriend, he might be handsome, but he didn't seem all that remarkable in Megan's eyes.
Of course, that was because neither Megan Clifton nor Matilda Ferguson knew that Bryan Hawkins would become G City's richest man in the not-so-distant future, expanding his family's hotel business into an unbeatable empire.
"...Fine." Matilda Ferguson agreed and let Bryan Hawkins pay the bill while she turned around, her fake smile gone from her face.
She swore that one day she would become powerful enough for Megan Clifton to fawn over her, so she told Megan to wait and see.
"Aren't you a bit too cold towards your cousin, given how much she cares for you?" After Bryan Hawkins and Matilda Ferguson left, Carolline voiced her doubts.
"Her concern for me has an ulterior motive; she wants to please my aunt and uncle through me. You really think her concern is genuine?" Megan Clifton was quite disdainful.
Matilda would never know that Megan Clifton knew all her motives very well.
Megan spoke with utter contempt, and people like Matilda could deceive others with their appearances, acting so fragile and pitiful; but the truth was, she had seen Matilda's unknown side.
Anyhow, ever since Megan had discovered Matilda's true nature, her fondness for her cousin had vanished completely.
"..." Carolline stopped talking, not expecting her curiosity to prompt such a response from Megan.
"That man can't see what's in front of him; I don't know why he's attracted to such a double-faced woman. If he can fall for someone like that, it proves that he's extremely vain. Matilda has nothing going for her, except for her beauty."
Following that, Megan Clifton began to denounce Bryan Hawkins as well. Such a superficial man deserved to be cheated on.
"Maybe your cousin isn't as bad as you say, and there's some misunderstanding between you?" In order not to directly defend Bryan Hawkins, Carolline could only help him indirectly.
"How long have you known her? How long have I known her?" Carolline's words earned a rolling of the eyes from Megan Clifton.
"..." Alright, as if she never spoke.
"I lost my mood after encountering her. Let's go back too. See you in eight days, Carolline. You're my friend now." Megan Clifton acknowledged Carolline's status as her friend.
"You're my friend too." Carolline smiled.
On the way back, she thought of Bryan Hawkins. Although he hadn't spoken much that afternoon, she'd memorized the three words Megan had used to introduce him.
So his name was Bryan Hawkins.
After carefully savoring these three words, Carolline didn't know that, from this moment on, they would deeply engrave themselves into her life.
During the eight-day holiday, besides accompanying her parents to some social events, whenever Carolline had free time, she would involuntarily think about Bryan Hawkins and the words Megan had said about Matilda Ferguson.
Such a beautiful woman and such a handsome man truly seemed like a match made in heaven, a real-life golden boy and Jade Maiden. She estimated that those terms were created specifically to describe them.
But if Matilda really was as Megan described, Carolline couldn't help but feel worried and even upset for Bryan Hawkins.
What she didn't expect was that, in the following semester, she would encounter Bryan Hawkins almost every weekend. Sometimes he would be standing alone under the shade of the trees, waiting; sometimes the couple would be walking or cycling hand in hand along the tree-lined path; or, at other times, he would be carrying Matilda on his back, cheerfully walking through the crowd on the sidewalk.
These scenes gradually became etched in her memories like flowing water, streaming across her heart and melting into her mind.
Their love was so extravagant and happy that, by the end of the first semester, Carolline found herself uncontrollably falling in love with Bryan Hawkins. However, she knew that this unrequited love would lead to nothing because his heart already belonged to someone else.
So, her unrequited love was doomed to remain a secret, never to be shared with anyone else.
After all, unrequited love was a one-person affair, and from now on, it would be Carolline's own private matter.