I sighed and answered in a flat tone, "How about you go to your boyfriend's room, Nikki?"

"Unfortunately, he is not an elite or a third grader, so he shares the dorm with two others.

“Fine, because you are still in a break heart mode, I will accompany you for a while," she stated while hugging me.

I smiled and hugged her too while saying, "Thank you for your consideration."

When I was about to sleep, Nikki happened to open her phone and showed me Molly’s new post on X.

There was a photo of the dorm with a slight Isaac’s shoulder and the caption read, “Thank you for saving me. I did not know what would happen if I did not have you.”

We both felt disgusted with it. Nikki even sneered, “If I was you, I would punch her on the face.”

**

The next morning, when I just went downstairs and was about to go to class, Isaac was already waiting in front of the second year’s dormitory building.

Nikki, who seemed understanding, went first to give us some time alone.

Isaac came over and held my hand, saying, "Eloise, listen, I'm sorry for what happened last night.”

But I did not answer nor nod my head, just kept quiet.

So, he continued, “I know you’re upset with me, but I hope you understand the reason. She could not run on her own last night.

You know, since tomorrow is the weekend, Molly invited us to dinner tonight as a thank you. Will you come?"

Soon, the bell for the first class rang, so I just answered briefly, "Sure, why not?"

Then I let go of his hand and left to go to the class.

I could see Isaac smiling when he shouted, "Okay, I'll pick you up tonight."

At that moment, my wolf, Lucy, teased me in my mind, “It turns out you can’t be upset for so long, huh?”

“Shut up, Lucy. I did it for you. You missed Bernard already, right?” I murmured.

Lucy just kept smiling when hearing Isaac’s wolf name mentioned.

**

When we got to the restaurant near the Academy, Molly had already been waiting inside for a while.

She looked a little surprised when she saw us walk in together.

I noticed the table was also set for two. So, I could not help wondering if Molly only intended to invite Isaac, but he ended up asking me to come with him eventually.

But then, she greeted us, "Hi Isaac, Eloise,"

Then, Isaac nonchalantly signaled the waiter to bring another set of utensils. He also stood up to pull out my chair, a gesture he often made when we dine out.

Lucy suddenly teased in my mind, “Look at her, Eloise. Her face darkened when seeing Isaac act romantic to us. Haha, who she thinks she is.”

I did not answer her, just smirked quietly.

Soon, the table was filled with beautifully arranged dishes.

Since the main menu was steak, Isaac took the initiative to cut the meat first before giving it to me.

Actually, it was nothing new, because Isaac had always been like that.

But maybe it was the first time Molly saw it, so after observing the courtesy, she smiled and asked, "Isaac, could you pass me the salt too?"

Isaac passed it without hesitation.

Molly smiled and said, "Thanks.”

Not long after, she said again while looking at Isaac only, “Oh, this time, I want to specially thank Isaac… and you, Eloise. I was so panicked when the fire happened, fortunately Isaac came and helped me.”

Then, she looked so guilty at me when she continued, “But you must have been really scared during the fire, Eloise.”

My fork paused briefly.

In fact, the fire was brought under control very quickly.

What was more, with the alarm blaring and the corridor filled with smoke, everyone was panicking.

That was terrible to remember.

But then I snapped back to reality and just said, “Not really. I’m a fast runner actually.”

Isaac then continued, “Yeah, you should know it, Molly. Eloise is an outstanding student in her second year.”

“Oh, really? That is good to hear, I hope you can get your opportunity to the Ridge Academy too, Eloise. Talking about it, in Ridge, we….”

It seemed that Molly did not want to lose to me, so I just ate my steak quietly while they were chatting so happily.

If it was just me and Isaac, we would have talked about a lot of things, starting from the future of what Isaac would do after he became Alpha.

Maybe about the days when we would be married when I graduated from the Academy later.

Other little things too, like the color of our house, the contents of the house and how many families we would have later.

But at that dinner, I only listened to Molly show off about how great she was at the Ridge, which actually was my dream too.

I ended up drinking wine in frustration, so without realizing it, I had already drunk quite a few glasses of wine.

Isaac seemed to be aware of it and scolded me, “Eloise, you drank too much.”

I knew Isaac did not like the smell of alcohol on other's breath, but if I did not drink, I thought I would be insane at that time.

“I can handle my wine,” I said shortly.

“No, stop right now!”

Finally, the true nature of an Alpha's candidate came out.

Although Isaac was known to be very romantic and understanding, so many students were jealous of me, saying that I was the luckiest person in the world because I was his mate, but they did not know that Isaac was a dictator.

Everything I did must be according to his wishes.

“Fine, I’ll stop and go back to my dorm,” I replied.

Isaac seemed to be confused with my answer.

At first, he wanted to take me, but I refused and asked him to enjoy their dinner instead of caring about me.

I said, “You guys take your time eating, do not let me spoil your fun.”

After all, I was just a third-wheel between them. So, it was better for me to be gone.

However, I did not expect Isaac would allow me to get back to the dorm alone. That was why, on my way to the dorm, I sighed sadly.

Since the hangover had not completely worn off, I sat down on a bench nearby.

When I opened my eyes again, I felt nostalgic when I saw the cafe in front of me.

It was the cafe where Isaac pursued me when I was just a 1st year.

The cafe was indeed a place for students at the Academy to just hang out or do assignments together.

When we first started dating, we also often spent time hanging out at the cafe.

Everything seemed so lovely that time, but why did I start to feel like I lost my feelings for him at that moment?

What was more, why did Isaac never tell me about Molly before?

As far as I could remember, his friends also never gave any clues about their relationship when Molly was in Grimbiens. Was I really that unimportant to him?

When I was still with my own thoughts, suddenly someone tapped my shoulder, it was Nikki.

"What are you doing here, alone?" she asked.

She was with her boyfriend at that time, so I smiled and said, "Just hang out by myself."

Nikki immediately snorted when she smelled the alcohol on my breath. "Ugh... you're drunk, Eloise. Let me take you to the dorm."

But I directly refused and said, “Nope, I’m fine. Enjoy your date.”

Then, I walked away and went back to the dorm by myself.

Before going to sleep, I opened my phone to find some funny videos to entertain me.

But unlucky me, Molly's post was the first to appear.

In the familiar room, the photo focused on an apple candy with a caption that read, “Apple candy from a special person for my best day.”

That was Isaac’s room.

I smiled, but tears filled my eyes when knowing that they were in Isaac's room that night.

What was more, Isaac, who had a mild case of germophobia and never let me eat in his dorm, let Molly do it.

I always believed love was about mutual compromise and understanding, where someone eventually had to yield. So, I never minded it.

But then, he broke his principles and rules easily for someone else, which he introduced as a childhood friend only.

Well, maybe I was the one who underestimated their relationship. I never thought that it turned out to be more important than ours.

While I was about to throw my phone, it rang.

A message from Isaac, asking if I had made it to the dorm safely. But I did not reply.

Seeing no response, he messaged again.

[Isaac: Are you asleep?]

After a while, another message came through.

[Isaac: Let’s have breakfast together tomorrow. Good night.]

I still did not have the intention to reply to it, instead I scrolled through our past messages.

It turned out that they were filled with my long, rambling updates, met with his occasional short replies of “OK” or “Got it.”

It seemed that I loved him recklessly, while Isaac always responded indifferently.

Suddenly, Lucy said in my mind, “Hey, do not think too much about it. If you want to know, ask him tomorrow. I miss Bernard too.”

I sighed and just threw my phone to sleep.

***

Nikki suddenly woke me up in the morning and said, “Hey, he is waiting for you downstairs. How long will you make him wait?”

I opened my eyes slowly, because I did not intend to meet him. But I knew how stubborn he was.

If I was not coming, he would be waiting there maybe until tomorrow, so that the people would start gossiping about our relationship.

In the end, I woke up and tidied myself.

Suddenly, my mind went insane and asked Nikki an absurd question, “Nikki, do you have a spell or a potion that can keep others away?”

Nikki just laughed slightly and answered, “Do not be silly, Eloise.”

“Right, that’s impossible,” I let out a sigh before saying.

Then, I went out to meet him downstairs.

Isaac smiled when seeing me and said, “I called you many times, but you did not answer.”

“Sorry, my battery ran out.”

Isaac seemed to understand my reason and did not prolong the problem. He just asked while holding my hand, “I see. Oh, I have bought your favorite meal. How about having breakfast near the lake? It is the weekend after all.”

I nodded in silence, but I could feel that my wolf was so happy about it. Lucy even sent Bernard a mind-link, saying that she missed him so much.

Isaac smiled and could not help telling me, “They’re so noisy. It turns out that it is not only me who misses you.”

In the past, I would be so happy when hearing that. But I did not know why that day it felt so annoying.

When we had breakfast together, Isaac talked more while I just listened.

He seemed to notice my indifference, so he asked me, “Why are you so quiet?”

“Can’t you think of the reason?”

Isaac acted as if he was thinking about it, then his fingers touched my face and pinched my chin when asking, “Is it because I have not given you a morning kiss?”

I actually wanted to refuse, but Lucy seemed so tempted by it, so I just followed his rhythm without returning it.

But before we deepened our kiss, his phone rang. It was a call from Molly.