Zara Leighton walked briskly over and hugged her, noticing her pale face, she frowned slightly, "Really sick?"
Claire Prescott helplessly said, "When have I ever lied to you?"
"Is it serious?"
"No, just caught a chill, it's nothing."
The words settled.
Zara, holding her hand, walked toward the villa, saying, "You should be more careful with changing seasons, wear more clothes."
"..."
Inside the villa, by the pond, four men were sitting under a canopy. Just as Zara said, they were all men dressed in shirts and trousers, each with a distinguished presence.
Besides them were two uniformed waiters serving tea and refreshments.
Upon hearing sounds, one person turned around to look at them and exclaimed, "Seems like beauties always surround each other. Why haven't you ever brought her out to meet us before?"
As soon as he said this, the others all looked over.
Only one person didn't turn his head, his gaze focused on his phone screen, his wide, cool back an undeniable presence.
As they got closer, Claire faintly saw his profile.
Recognizing the person as Keane Lowell, her heart suddenly started racing.
She turned her gaze away, pretending not to see him, calmly walking in.
During her days at home copying books, she had thought of a good way to face him.
That was to erase all their past, pretending not to remember him.
Although she didn't have his contact information, for some reason, she always felt they might meet again someday.
Unexpectedly, that possibility came so soon.
Zara introduced her to everyone, "This is my best friend, Claire Prescott."
Hearing the name, Keane slowly turned his gaze, his eyes lingering on Claire for a moment, then discreetly put his phone away.
After sitting down, the man next to Zara started chatting, "Is she part of your circle?"
"No, she's a traditional Chinese medicine doctor."
Mentioning a sensitive word, everyone's expressions turned odd, casting oblique glances toward Keane.
The atmosphere suddenly became subtle.
The man laughed, "Being this pretty, it's a pity she's a doctor."
Claire chuckled lightly, "What pity?"
"Clearly you could make a living off your looks, isn't being a doctor exhausting? If you can't treat someone or make a mistake, can you handle unreasonable family members causing trouble?"
Speaking of medical disputes, she hadn't encountered any yet.
It's said her grandfather experienced a few in his youth, the worst of which almost cost Sinclair Apothecary dearly.
"Can you not dampen the mood, I've only recently started practicing."
Everyone laughed, someone teasingly remarked, "It's not easy for a young woman to study medicine, don't scare her."
"Does she look scared to you?"
In fact, she wasn't.
She was gazing at the shimmering lake, draped in a sheer soft white jacket, a lazy ponytail laid over her left shoulder, exuding a relaxed aura, seemingly fearless.
Staring at her profile, Keane couldn't help but speak, "She got in trouble at school, hired someone to pose as her parent to meet the homeroom teacher, didn't even call me brother afterward. With such guts, is there anything she'd be afraid of?"
He was usually stern and humorless, but in this moment, a gentle warmth extended in his eyes, emitting tenderness and affection he wasn't even aware of.
Everyone's gaze swept between them, their disbelief evident.
Their first reaction was surprise at them knowing each other, secondly shocked that she, a seemingly elegant young lady, could do something so rebellious.
"Brother Keane, you know each other?"
Keane nonchalantly glanced at someone sitting in the corner, "Ask her."
In other words, it's up to her to say whether they know each other or not.
Claire remained silent, lowering her head.
She hadn't expected him to reveal her past in front of everyone, leaving her no dignity.
The crowd saw everything, tacitly refraining from asking further.
Someone laughed out loud, "Never thought Claire would have such a past, couldn't tell at all."
Zara also hadn't expected Keane to know her best friend, she quickly jumped in to smooth things over, "Who hasn't gone through a rebellious phase during their school years?"
Claire deflected the conversation, "Fishing for so long, hasn't anyone caught a fish yet?"
"Brother Keane caught two, want to take a look?"
"What's so interesting about fish?"
Someone said to her, "Brother Keane caught the most beautiful fish in the entire pond."
Claire was skeptical, "With so many fish in the pond, how do you know it's the most beautiful?"
No matter how they talked, she just wouldn't go over.
Zara informed her, "The entire villa belongs to him."
Claire understood then, all the men present were either wealthy or influential.
Perhaps because of the illness, she wasn't in the mood to talk, so she stopped engaging with them, quietly leaning back in the chair to soak up the sun, trying to minimize her presence.
They didn't focus on her anymore either.
A gentle breeze blew by, carrying the fragrance of grass and warmth, remarkably comforting, causing her eyelids to involuntarily close.
In her half-awake state, she vaguely heard a few indistinct words, not knowing what happened afterward.
"Claire?" Zara nudged her shoulder, softly calling.
Claire, hearing the sound, opened her eyes, drowsily looking at her, not knowing when a blanket had been placed on her.
"I'll take you to soak in a hot spring, to dispel the cold."
Claire came to her senses, instinctively glanced towards Keane as she got up, catching his gaze unexpectedly.
A pair of deep, captivating eyes stared straight at her, causing her heartbeat to suddenly stagger.
She calmly averted her gaze and followed Zara.
On the way to the private spring, Claire asked, "Are you familiar with them?"
"Not familiar, only met today." Zara then added, "Milton Rivers brought me here, he had some matters and left early."
Milton Rivers, Zara's boyfriend.
Regarding this person, Claire had never met him, only heard his name, knowing little about their affairs.
It's because Zara deliberately kept it hidden.
She thus didn't inquire further.
Zara shifted the topic to her, gossiping, "When did you meet Keane Lowell?"
Claire stiffened, not knowing how to start.
She countered with a question, "Does he have a deep family background? I see everyone around him treating him like royalty."
Seeing her ignorance, Zara explained, "You might've seen Shane Lowell on TV, that's his grandfather. His family has a mansion within the second ring road, deep roots, whether it's extensive connections, or resource control, it's a height ordinary people can't reach even after striving for several generations. I just heard Keane is now the current head of the Lowell-Kystral Group, such a top-tier figure in the pyramid, who doesn't want to cozy up and treat him well?"
Realizing she had veered off topic, Zara turned back to her, "You haven't answered my earlier question. How did you know him?"
Thinking for a moment, Claire concisely replied, "Just as he said, once got called regarding a parental matter, I found someone on the street to pretend to be a parent to meet the homeroom teacher, he took the lecture."
Zara was shocked, "The parent you found was him?!"
Claire nodded.
Back then she was in her second year of high school, the homeroom teacher misunderstood her as being in a relationship with the science superstar from the third year and scolded her thoroughly.
Later, to stand up for her, the superstar fought with a guy from the neighboring school's seventh class, and the homeroom teacher firmly believed she was in a relationship, demanding she called a parent.
Which wasn't true, she wouldn't admit it, nor would she want to summon her grandfather to be scolded.
So, she randomly found a stranger on the street to pretend to be a parent.
Seeing the person wasn't her grandfather, the homeroom teacher brought out all her past friendships with the guys from the neighboring seventh class, along with their bad records.
Afraid she'd be led astray, telling her not to associate with outsiders anymore.
The meeting lasted over two hours, and she stood outside the office listening till her ears were about to callous, while her stand-in brother deftly handled everything, without a hint of a crack, calmly signing on the 'Parent's Notice'...