Chapter 1300

"We're so sorry. We were ignorant and completely out of line..."

"Please forgive us."

The rest of the class chimed in with frantic apologies, desperately wishing the floor would open up and swallow them whole.

"I remember every single whisper you aimed at me," Juniper raised a brow, her tone slow and deliberate. "And I don't plan on forgiving any of you right now."

"?" The students stared at her in dismay. They hadn't realized she held such a fierce grudge.

"Professor Dawson, I only agreed to sit in on these medical classes out of respect for you and Professor Tucker." Juniper turned her attention to him. "If you ever need me to teach a lecture, I'll come back. If you need a hand with anything, just ask."

"While I have studied the material extensively on my own, I don't have the official credentials. I need the license to formally verify my qualifications."

Having the official documentation would save her a lot of legal headaches when she eventually needed to treat patients.

"Of course I want you here." Still reeling from the shock, Dawson nodded dumbly. "Juniper, have you practically mastered the entire curriculum?"

"I know a little bit of everything," she replied with a polite smile, before leaning in slightly to whisper, "By the way, the data on the final question of your exam was flawed, which made the correct answer mathematically impossible. Try swapping it out with a 2."

"?" Dawson's eyes widened to the size of saucers. She caught that too?

No wonder.

He had been scratching his head over how she managed to get the correct result despite the faulty question. It turned out she had simply corrected the flawed variable herself and solved it anyway.

"Uh, thank you." He awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, looking slightly embarrassed.

He used to secretly mock Tucker for calling a young girl 'Little Master.'

But looking at her now, her grasp of medical theory was genuinely terrifying.

He was going to have to watch his step around her from now on.

Still...

Just because she was a theoretical genius didn't mean she had the practical skills.

To be a doctor, you had to perform surgery.

She couldn't possibly have experience operating on actual patients yet, right?!

He definitely still had things he could teach her.

With that comforting thought, Dawson suddenly felt his confidence return.

***

Back at her apartment, Luella had spent the entire night tossing and turning. When she finally managed to drift off, she was plagued by endless, chaotic dreams.

And every single one featured that annoying actor, Jimmie Tate.

In one dream, she had him pinned against a wall, playfully tilting his chin up like a villain. "Pretty boy, you might as well just give in to me."

"I'd rather die than be with a man," Jimmie shoved her away ruthlessly, whipping out two daggers.

He drove one straight into her heart, and plunged the other into his own.

They both dropped dead on the spot.

The dream abruptly shifted to the underworld.

The second Jimmie spotted her, he took off sprinting in the opposite direction, screaming over his shoulder, "I would rather die than ever like you!"

"Ah-!"

Luella jolted awake, drenched in a cold sweat, her heart hammering against her ribs.

It was true.

What completely straight guy would ever fall for another 'guy'?

Her true identity as a woman could never be exposed. Even if she was falling for him, she had to bury those feelings deep and pretend absolutely nothing had changed.

Just a little while longer.

Once the partnership paperwork was finalized, she would immediately leave Eclara

City.

Distance and time were the best cures for a broken heart.

Buzz, buzz-

Just as she managed to hype herself up, her phone vibrated with a news notification.

She clicked it.

It was a promotional post for a new music video, and Jimmie was the star. He was the male lead, playing opposite a breathtakingly beautiful young actress content

The video showed the two of them sitting by the ocean, playing the piano together. The sunset painted the sky in brilliant hues, the autumn waters blending seamlessly into the horizon. Bathed in the goldenhour light, they smiled softly at each other.

Slowly, Jimmie leaned in, his face inching closer to hers. Then, the camera artistically blurred out.

Even though she knew it was just a camera trick for the shoot, a sharp, bitter pang

of jealousy twisted tight in her chest.

She was doomed.

She was hopelessly, completely in love.

Ahhhhhh! Damn it all to hell!

Luella threw her phone across the bed and aggressively yanked the blankets over

her head.