Chapter 227 Chapter 227
When she heard Nicholas call her “Miss Ford,” Caroline felt a pang of triumph. She smiled openly. “Thank you anyway. I'm going to class now, Mr. Wolf. Shall we keep in touch by phone? Maybe you can invite me for coffee if I have a break in my schedule.”
Her adorable sarcasm was a test of endurance.
Nicholas gripped the steering wheel. “Um... Can I at least walk you to your building or your dorm?”
Caroline tilted her head, pretending to think seriously about it. “Um... it's okay that I told you to try hard. But I think we should keep a low profile at first, you know? We would attract too much attention if we walked around campus together. People gossip.”
Nicholas gritted his teeth, his patience evaporating. “Since when do we care about gossip? Why would we attract so much attention?”
Caroline replied with the disarming sincerity of someone stating a fact: “Because you're too handsome. With you in a suit and driving that car, they'll think I'm a gold digger sucking up to a CEO from a soap opera.”
Absolute silence in the car.
Nicholas didn't know whether to be flattered by the compliment or furious at the rejection.
“Well... I'm going. Bye!” she announced, with irritating cheerfulness.
Even without being able to see his face through the dark lenses of the sunglasses he had put on, Caroline could sense the strong aura of bitterness and frustration emanating from the billionaire.
Before he could argue or use the “husband card,” she nimbly jumped out of the car.
After slamming the door, she leaned over and tapped twice on the glass. When the window rolled down with a soft buzz, she smiled at Nicholas, who was still frowning with his hands on the steering wheel.
“Have a good day at work, Mr. Wolf. And don't forget to think of creative ways to impress me today. Goodbye!”
Nicholas stared at the beautiful, radiant face outside the car window. He took a deep breath, trying to control the urge to pull her back inside. “You're leaving... just like that? That's it?”
Caroline blinked, confused and amused. “And then? What else is missing?”
Nicholas pouted slightly—an expression no one at Wolf Corporation would ever imagine seeing on the face of the ruthless tyrant. He looked at her, dissatisfied, and muttered, “Aren't you going to give me a goodbye kiss?”
In the recent past, before this damn idea of “courtship,” they always said goodbye with a kiss. It was his privilege.
Caroline's smile widened until it almost touched her eyes. She said slowly, savoring each syllable: “Mr. Wolf... I just said that I haven't agreed to a relationship with you yet.”
Where have you ever seen a decent girl give goodbye kisses in a suitor's car on the first date? Do you think I'm that easy?
Nicholas choked, speechless. He had fallen into his own trap.
“Have a good class, Caroline,” he said sharply, defeated by his own rules.
“Thank you! I'm leaving now.”
Caroline was delighted to see the all-powerful Nicholas Wolf so upset and restrained. She covered her mouth with her hand to hide a triumphant laugh. She turned her back, waved to him over her shoulder without looking back, and ran happily into the college, her skirt swaying in the wind.
In the car, Nicholas sat on the shoulder for another five minutes. He was genuinely upset.
He banged his forehead on the steering wheel, closing his eyes.
He bitterly and completely regretted agreeing to this charade.
Nicholas sank his head into the leather seat of the Bugatti.
He had shot himself in the foot.
Until the day before, his wife had always let him hug or kiss her whenever he wanted. It was his right.
But now, because of a moment of romantic guilt, even a goodbye kiss had become an unattainable luxury.
However, the Great President Wolf had a golden rule: he never went back on an agreement. The only thing he could do now was swallow his frustration, play her game, and perform so flawlessly that he would “win her over” in record time.
He was going to show her how to woo a woman.
...
On the college campus.
After passing through the university gates, Caroline sent a quick message to Tania and headed straight to the central library to meet her.
On the way, she felt a chill down her spine. She wasn't sure if it was just her paranoia, but the atmosphere was bizarre.
Everyone seemed to be looking at her.
As soon as she stepped into the library, the whispering began. Groups of students with their heads together would stop talking abruptly when she passed by, only to resume whispering as they followed her with their eyes. Some pointed furtively; others looked at her with pure contempt or scorn.
Caroline had always been a prominent figure. She was widely known throughout campus as the undisputed “Beauty Queen” of the School of Performing Arts. In addition, most people knew she was dating Edward Collins, a wealthy second-generation heir (or at least, that's what they knew until the recent scandal). So being recognized was nothing new.
But today's stares were toxic. They were vastly different from the admiration or envy of the past.
With a strange tightness in her heart, she quickened her pace between the bookshelves until she spotted her friend.
“Carol! Over here!”
Tania waved frantically from an isolated table in the back.
As Caroline approached, Tania removed the bag she had placed on the chair next to her to reserve the seat. She waited for Caroline to sit down and immediately leaned over the table, her voice reduced to a tense whisper.
“Girl, you've been sabotaged. Someone set you up. Have you checked the college online forum today?”
Caroline's expression went blank.
“Forum? What post?” Tania paled slightly. “You haven't seen it yet... Someone posted a disgusting rumor about you on the main forum. The post has already had over a thousand views and shares in less than an hour! I'm absolutely certain that whoever did this bought an army of haters and fake accounts to inflate the comments section.”
Everyone is calling you horrible names.
Tania clenched her fists on the table, unable to contain her rage. “How hateful! I don't know what kind of psychopathic bastard is trying to destroy you, but the rumors are so absurd and disgusting! The goal is clearly to ruin your reputation.”
Caroline was paralyzed.
No wonder the whole campus was looking at her like she was a monster. The internet court had already convicted her.
With slightly trembling hands, Caroline picked up her phone, opened the browser, and entered the university forum.
Since the post was receiving absurd traffic, it was pinned to the top of the home page in the Trending section. It was impossible to miss.
The headline, written in bold, flashy letters, hit her like a punch in the stomach:
\[BREAKING NEWS! Does the “pure and innocent” Performing Arts Beauty Queen, Caroline Ford, have a dirty past? The truth about her secret ABORTION in high school! Would you dare to believe this hypocrisy?\]
Caroline felt a lump tighten in her throat. The blood drained from her face.