Amelia Clarke returned to the dorm at half past ten, with only an hour left until lights out.
Mia Moreland lay on the bed, hugging her phone and watching a drama; Rosy Mone was applying a facial mask.
Hearing the door open, Mia didn't even lift her head, "Amelia, you're back! Can you pass me my water cup from my desk, please?"
Amelia handed Mia the cup and laughed, "If I didn't come back, were you planning to die of thirst?"
Mia rubbed her face against her hand like a kitten and cooed, "Amelia, you're the best."
Amelia smiled, took her clothes and toiletries, and went to the bathroom to shower.
After the shower, as she passed by Rosy, who was painting her toenails, Rosy glanced at Amelia and then pointed to a bottle of moisturizing water on the desk that had been opened and said, "That bottle is for you, I'm allergic to it. It cost over a thousand bucks, it would be a waste to throw it away."
The tone was indifferent and felt like a handout.
When giving something to someone, some people are kind-hearted, while others only want to show off how much they possess.
Rosy belonged to the latter.
Amelia touched her own fair and smooth cheeks with a smile and said, "Thanks, but my skin is quite good. I don't need that. You should give it to someone who needs it."
Her words were faultless.
But to Rosy's ears, they sounded different. Rosy had nice features, but particularly poor skin—dull and prone to blemishes and acne, and it was sensitive too.
To her, Amelia's words sounded like a boast.
Rosy looked back at Amelia, who was arranging her bed, thinking how despite her family being so poor that they couldn't even afford meat, she unfortunately had such beautiful skin.
She curled her lips in disdain: Acting all high and mighty! A poor wretch!
Half an hour left until lights out.
Amelia finished making her bed, drank a cup of warm water, ate a stomach pill, and had just laid down when Viola Harris returned.
Upon entering, Viola teased, "Amelia, earlier at the front gate, I saw you get out of a luxury car. Don't tell me it was some rich suitor who brought you back?"
Amelia glanced at the dark blue scarf hanging on the balcony and jokingly said, "Yeah, a really rich one indeed."
"Who is it? Who managed to catch the eye of our pure and proud Bordine University campus belle?"
Amelia didn't even know what she was thinking when she blurted out, "Owen Moreland... would you believe that?"
"Owen Moreland? The founder of Bowe, Owen Moreland?" Viola was astonished.
Amelia immediately regretted her words but then thought that she hadn't lied, so she nodded.
"Bullshit!" Viola laughed after her initial surprise. Owen Moreland, the founder of Bowe, was like a godly figure to them, existing only in legends.
At the same moment, "Impossible!" Mia bounced up from her bed, "Amelia, are you making up stories without even drafting them first? Owen Moreland sent you home? No way! If he did, I'd shave my head and let you use it as a volleyball."
Amelia laughed, "Why not?"
Although she said that, she herself found it incredible. A high and mighty figure actually helping someone as insignificant as her time and again—it felt like a dream.
"Let me tell you, don't be fooled by his handsome looks and wealth. There are as many women after him as there are flies, but despite being in his thirties, he hasn't had a single woman. He's always so stern, his face might as well have a 'Keep Out' sign for women," Mia said, her face glowing with the excitement of gossip.
Amelia felt quite relieved after hearing Mia's words.
"Wait, that's not right." Viola, with a sudden Sherlock Holmes moment, said, "Mia, how do you know so much about him? Could it be... had you once tried to seduce Owen Moreland but got cruelly rejected, so now you're spreading rumors out of spite?"
"What? Nonsense! Viola, your imagination is way too wild! Owen Moreland is my cousin," Mia clarified.
"What?" Not just Amelia Clarke, Viola Harris and Rosy Mone were also greatly surprised.
They always knew that Mia Moreland's family was extraordinary, but they didn't expect it to be this extraordinary.
"How come you never mentioned this before?" Rosy Mone asked.
"You guys never asked, and I can't just go around telling everyone that Owen Moreland is my cousin, can I? If he found out, wouldn't he chop off my head?"
Viola Harris said with a laugh, "I don't believe that."
Once Mia Moreland was riled up, her temper flared, "Well you better believe it. I'll have my cousin take you all out for a meal and then we'll see if you still doubt me!"
Viola Harris's eyes twinkled, still skeptical, "You're boasting even bigger than Amelia."
"Next Monday it is, then. I'm going home this weekend and I'll tell him. To think you're saying I'm full of hot air! I, Mia Moreland, never brag! Humph!"
Inexplicably, by the end, everyone somehow secured a dinner appointment with the Bowe CEO, Owen Moreland.
That night.
Amelia Clarke, tolerating her stomach pain, finally managed to fall asleep, only to have a nightmare.
In the dream, she was desperately running across the grassland, pursued by a ferocious wolf that refused to give up. At last, she was inevitably caught and knocked down by the wolf. Instinctively turning around, she saw that the wolf bearing down on her had Owen Moreland's face.
She woke up with a scream.
The other three were still asleep, and there was no light shining through the heavy curtains; it wasn't dawn yet.
Amelia Clarke lay in bed with her eyes open until daylight.
After getting up and washing up, she went to the sports field with Viola Harris for a morning run.
Viola Harris and Amelia Clarke came from similar backgrounds; the poor know the importance of being in good health, as they couldn't afford medical treatment, so both of them paid extra attention to their health, running together every morning to exercise.
"Was it really Owen Moreland who brought you back last night?" Viola Harris asked while running, her breath slightly uneven.
Amelia Clarke suddenly thought of last night's nightmare, pursed her lips, and said, "No, I was just joking. I didn't expect it would lead to the revelation that Mia is Owen Moreland's cousin."
"Heh, I didn't expect it either. To think we've lived together for over a year... Life is full of surprises everywhere," Viola Harris said with a laugh.
Surprises? Amelia Clarke couldn't agree. More like scares.
A morning filled with heavy coursework.
Noon.
Amelia Clarke bought a bowl of rice with a small dish of Tomato Scrambled Eggs and served herself a bowl of free soup at the cafeteria.
Just as she was about to finish, her phone rang.
Amelia Clarke glanced at the caller ID, it was her mother, Olivia Wilson. She quickly picked up, "Mom."
"Amelia, have you eaten yet?"
"I'm eating right now, Mom. Have you had your meal?"
"I've just eaten too. Amelia, these past years we've been so reliant on your uncle, our family has managed to hold on because of his help. When you're there, you must behave and not trouble your uncle, study hard, and after graduating you must find ways to repay your uncle..." Olivia Wilson repeated the same reminders she'd said countless times.
Amelia Clarke held the phone, silent for a moment, then her lips bloomed into a smile and her voice tinged with cheerfulness, "I know, Mom, don't worry."
After hanging up, looking at the last few bites in her bowl, she still hadn't had her fill, but suddenly she lost her appetite.