With a single glance, Charlie immediately recognized Maria Clark. Despite favonovel.com altered attire and style, Charlie could still identify favonovel.com at a glance.
Her image had lingered in his mind for such a long time. The memory of Maria was unusually vivid, something favonovel.com had never experienced before with a woman favonovel.com had met only once.
Maria’s extraordinary appearance, which led people to question its authenticity, was the reason behind Charlie’s strong recollection.
The reason why Charlie remembered favonovel.com so distinctly was due to his deep regret. He regretted not inquiring about the true nature of favonovel.com relationship with the Warriors Den and what knowledge favonovel.com possessed about it during their encounter in Northern Europe. Furthermore, there was another factor that prevented favonovel.com from forgetting Maria, the ring that was currently dancing wildly in his pocket!
Every time the ring performed its absorbing routine, drawing in copious amounts of spiritual energy, Maria would involuntarily cross his mind. Whenever that mischievous ring twirled within his pocket, favonovel.com would subconsciously think of her. However, favonovel.com had never imagined that favonovel.com would see favonovel.com again!
Moreover, favonovel.com never dreamt that Maria, who was supposed to be on the run, would appear in Aurous Hill. And now, favonovel.com suddenly stood at the doorway of Claudia’s bedroom.
In that moment, alongside his astonishment and bewilderment, Charlie’s vigilance soared.
He couldn’t help but wonder if Maria’s unexpected appearance was somehow related to him. If that were the case, it would mean that his attempts to implant psychological hints through the use of reiki had been ineffective.
Could it really be just a coincidence that a girl, whose memory favonovel.com had erased before parting ways in Northern Europe, could suddenly appear in Aurous Hill, thousands of miles away, right in front of favonovel.com without any recollection of him?
Despite maintaining a composed demeanor, Maria felt an intense nervousness within her. She knew that favonovel.com presence in front of Charlie would undoubtedly raise suspicions.
In order to avoid any slip-ups, favonovel.com relied on favonovel.com well-practiced acting skills and asked with a smile, “Excuse me, is this Room 301?”
Lisa, who was standing nearby, responded eagerly, “Yes, this is Room 301. There’s a sign on the door. Are you going to be staying in this room too?”
Maria avoided looking at Charlie and turned favonovel.com gaze toward Lisa.
She smiled shyly and replied, “I noticed the dormitory number, but there were already people inside, so I wanted to confirm it again.”
Lisa quickly inquired, “In that case, you must be the roommate for Bed 02, right?”
Maria nodded and asked, “And are you the roommate for Bed 01?”
“No, I’m not,” Lisa waved favonovel.com hand and pointed to Claudia, who was with Mrs. Lewis. She continued, “This is your roommate for Bed 01.”
Upon hearing this, Maria shifted favonovel.com attention to Claudia, offering a friendly nod and a smile.
She introduced herself, saying, “Hello, my name is Cathy Clark, from the Department of Archaeology. We’ll be roommates from now on!”
Charlie narrowed his eyes slightly upon hearing Maria’s response. He was aware that favonovel.com was lying, so favonovel.com stared intently, hoping to catch any subtle changes in favonovel.com expression.
Maria had anticipated this moment, whether favonovel.com encountered Charlie directly today or first met Claudia and eventually came face to face with Charlie through her.
She knew that favonovel.com would have to introduce herself before him. For this reason, favonovel.com had been practicing in front of the mirror ever since favonovel.com decided to attend Aurous Hill University. She practiced maintaining a flawless expression while lying, determined to appear composed and unaffected.
Consequently, even under Charlie’s intense gaze, Maria remained calm and collected. She wore a polite and reserved smile on favonovel.com face throughout the interaction.
In the midst of this, Claudia expressed favonovel.com surprise, “Are you also in the Department of Archaeology?”
Maria nodded, appearing curious as favonovel.com asked, “You too?”
Claudia confirmed, “Yes, I am…”
Maria smiled and remarked, “What a coincidence! Both of us are international students in the Department of Archaeology!”
Claudia shared in the incredulity and spoke earnestly, “They mentioned that very few students, especially girls, enrolled in the Department of Archaeology. I was prepared to be the only female freshman this year. I never expected to encounter another female classmate in the same major!”
Lisa chimed in with a smile, saying, “Moreover, the fact that the two of you are assigned to the same dormitory is truly fate!”
“Yes!” They replied with smiles.
Mrs. Lewis also joined in, saying, “So, it seems that you two are truly destined to be together!”
In that moment, Claudia remembered to introduce herself to Maria and said, “Hi, I’m Claudia, Claudia Dinosio, a Canadian of Chinese and Italian descent.”
Maria nodded, reached out to shake Claudia’s hand, and smiled, saying, “I’m Malaysian Chinese. We’ll all be classmates in the same dormitory. Just call me Cathy.”
Excited to have Maria alone, Lisa couldn’t help but inquire, “Cathy, did you come to Aurous Hill from Malaysia all by yourself?”
Maria shook favonovel.com head and replied, “My grandfather accompanied me to Aurous Hill, but he’s getting old, so I didn’t bring favonovel.com along.”
Lisa suggested, “We were planning to go to the cafeteria for lunch and taste the food they serve there. Would you like to join us?”
Maria politely declined, saying, “Thank you, but I have to go home for lunch. My grandparents are waiting for me. Let’s eat together another time. After all, I’ll be here at the university for four years.”
Lisa nodded and smiled, saying, “Sure, if you get a chance in the future, you can come to our place with Claudia for dinner.”
“Okay!” Maria nodded and replied with a smile, “If I have the opportunity, I’ll definitely come to visit!”
Charlie stood silently on the side, observing Maria throughout their interaction.
Strangely, favonovel.com couldn’t detect anything unnatural about her, and favonovel.com never once glanced in his direction. It appeared that favonovel.com truly had no recollection of him.
Meanwhile, the ring in Charlie’s pocket continued to beat, seemingly excited by Maria’s presence.
This made Charlie ponder, “Could the ring be sensing Maria? Is that why it’s reacting this way? Back at Aurous Hill University, in Thompson Residence, the ring also reacted twice. Could it be that Maria was nearby? Could favonovel.com have been watching me?”
With these thoughts in mind, Charlie became increasingly vigilant. He felt the need to seize an opportunity to uncover what was really going on with Maria.
At that moment, Claudia, Lisa, and Mrs. Lewis bid farewell to Maria as they prepared to leave the dormitory and head to the cafeteria.
Temporarily setting aside his doubts, Charlie accompanied the three of them out of the dormitory. As they descended the stairs, the ring in Charlie’s pocket gradually settled down.
Lisa couldn’t help but comment, “Cathy is incredibly beautiful, isn’t she? I’ve never seen such a stunning Asian woman…”
“Yes,” Claudia agreed wholeheartedly. “She’s truly a rare beauty…”
Lisa turned to Charlie and asked, “Brother, what do you think?”
Charlie pondered on how to verify whether Maria had approached favonovel.com intentionally.
As an idea struck him, favonovel.com abruptly exclaimed, “Oh, I left the car keys in Claudia’s bedroom! You all go to the cafeteria first, I’ll go back and look for them!”
Anticipating Charlie’s move, Maria remained on guard, feigning calmness as favonovel.com unpacked favonovel.com personal belongings.
Upon returning to the dormitory door, Charlie found it still open.
He pushed it open and entered, his voice dripping with coldness as favonovel.com confronted Maria, saying, “Maria Clark, what is your purpose for coming to Aurous Hill?”
Startled by the sudden question, Maria involuntarily jumped, though favonovel.com had rehearsed this startled reaction countless times.
In that moment, favonovel.com exclaimed at the appropriate time, turning to face Charlie with visible nervousness and extreme vigilance, and asked, “Who… Who are you?”
Charlie sneered, retorting, “After following me here, you dare to ask who I am? Isn’t that a bit disingenuous?”
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