Chapter 194: He Likes Eleanor Rhodes

Chapter 194: Chapter 194: He Likes Eleanor Rhodes

Henry Sterling knew he had no grounds to stay here.

What happened between Caleb Quinn and Eleanor Rhodes had nothing to do with him. Yet, he remained.

It wasn’t until the students around the court thinned out and the crowd gradually dispersed that Caleb and Eleanor noticed Henry standing on the periphery.

Eleanor had actually spotted Henry long before. When she first arrived, she had subconsciously glanced toward the referee’s bench and seen him. But after that single glance, she never looked in that direction again.

Even so, once the basketball game began, as she watched Caleb play on the court, she could still see Henry out of the corner of her eye.

This made Eleanor extremely uncomfortable. She disliked the feeling. Thus, she tried her best to focus solely on Caleb, shifting all her attention to him in an effort to forget that Henry was also present today.

At first, it was difficult. Eleanor struggled to concentrate and almost lost control a few times, tempted to steal a few glances in Henry’s direction. Fortunately, the basketball court was packed today. Even around the referee’s bench, there were quite a few people blocking Henry from view. When Eleanor caught glimpses from the corner of her eye, she couldn’t see him.

This allowed her to breathe a sigh of relief. However, she hadn’t expected that after the game ended and the awards were presented, Henry—a specially invited guest referee—would still be around. Logically, he should have left.

But he hadn’t. He stood not too far away, looking right at her.

Eleanor said nothing. She didn’t look at him, but with him in her line of sight, his dazzling presence made him incredibly hard to ignore.

Naturally, Caleb saw Henry too. Caleb was already feeling quite down today. He had figured out that Mr. Eleanor had not only rejected him but also seemed intent on keeping her distance from him.

Caleb had always been a good-tempered person. Shortly after entering the university, he had seen Eleanor playing the piano at a school concert and was deeply captivated by her. Eleanor’s beauty wasn’t the peerless, jaw-dropping kind; rather, she had an excellent temperament. She was as lively as an elf. Just recalling her smile was enough to make anyone feel happy.

It was slightly regrettable that she was his senior. Before Caleb even had the chance to properly get to know her, Eleanor had already graduated. Fortunately, Caleb noticed that she seemed to return to campus occasionally. The few times he saw her, she was always carrying a large cat trap around campus, trying to catch strays.

The trap was so big and looked incredibly heavy. Watching Eleanor’s petite frame lugging such a massive cage made Caleb feel the weight himself. He wanted to help.

It was also during that time that Caleb discovered Eleanor seemed to already like someone: the genius professor at their school, Henry Sterling.

Henry was exceptional. Caleb had known this since the moment he first enrolled.

At fifteen, Henry had graduated from the gifted youth program at Aethelburg University and gone abroad. By the time he returned to the country with a Ph.D., he was only twenty-two and immediately became a professor at Aethelburg University. He was handsome, and many female students had crushes on him. More importantly, even though Henry was a professor, he wasn’t like the typical old scholars who spent their entire lives pouring blood, sweat, and tears into research papers until their hair fell out. Nor did he neglect his appearance and look sleazy, inspiring only respect but absolutely no romantic fantasies!

Henry was different. Shortly after entering the university, Caleb learned that many female students liked Henry. Of course, for most of them, it was merely an unspoken admiration.

Very few actually pursued him. This wasn’t just because Henry appeared exceptionally aloof, but mostly because the majority of them knew Professor Sterling had an unforgettable first love in his heart. That first love was a classmate from his time abroad who hadn’t returned to the country with him. Even though they had broken up, Professor Sterling still longed for her.

Several female students had been rejected because of this.

Caleb never expected that Eleanor would also like Henry. At that moment, Caleb’s feelings were somewhat complicated. It wasn’t as if girls in the basketball club hadn’t given him love letters, but he had never accepted any of them. He had wanted to present his best self to Eleanor, but now it seemed he wouldn’t get the chance.

Before he could even make a move, someone else had already beaten him to it.

Caleb felt a bit sad, but he quickly reined in his emotions. He thought that since it had always been an unrequited crush, it was best to keep these feelings hidden away in his heart. If Eleanor could be happy with Henry, that would be for the best. As long as she was happy, he felt everything was fine.

But if she couldn’t be, Caleb was willing to step back into her life and let her know that a wonderful girl like her deserved to be properly loved.

On the basketball court.

Three people, each harboring their own complex thoughts, collided.

Eleanor’s heart ached. She did like Henry, but because of Wendy Wynn, she had already decided to give up. She didn’t want to degrade herself. Getting involved in some petty rivalry over a man with that two-faced manipulator was entirely meaningless. It was beneath her status as Miss Rhodes. Yet, as luck would have it, she ran into Henry here, right after Caleb had confessed his feelings to her.

Eleanor had no desire to speak to Henry and turned around, preparing to leave.

For some unknown reason, as if possessed, Henry chased after her.

"What are you doing?"

Clearly, Caleb wasn’t about to let Henry have any further contact with Eleanor. Caleb knew a bit about the situation between the two of them. He knew that Henry had already made his choice between Eleanor and Wendy Wynn—he had chosen Wendy. Since that was the case, Henry should draw a clear line with Eleanor.

So why was he chasing after her now?

Caleb reached out and blocked Henry’s path.

Henry shot Caleb a cold glare. Recalling how Caleb, surrounded by adoring fans and accompanied by music, had walked step by step toward Eleanor to apologize, Henry found the younger man incredibly grating.

"It’s none of your business," Henry snapped. His tone was terrible. After speaking, he tried to ignore Caleb and continue pursuing Eleanor.

And then, Caleb punched Henry squarely in the chest.

"As long as I’m here, I won’t allow anyone to harass Eleanor. Leave. Can’t you see that the moment you arrived, she immediately turned her back? She doesn’t want to see you at all."

Caleb’s words were like a basin of ice water dumped over Henry’s head, chilling him to the bone. It was clearly almost May, yet he felt freezing cold. He knew Caleb wasn’t wrong—Eleanor didn’t want to see him.

"Eleanor Rhodes," Henry called out. Refusing to give up, he clutched his aching chest where he had been hit and shouted her name.

Eleanor didn’t turn around, but she stopped in her tracks. With her back to him, she said, "Professor Sterling. Let’s end this here. If you have any urgent matters in the future and want to catch stray cats, you can contact other charity organizations in Aethelburg.

"What happened in the past is in the past, and I don’t want to dwell on it anymore. Let’s just go our separate ways and wish each other well, okay?"

After saying this, Eleanor exhaled a long breath, finally releasing the pent-up frustration she had been harboring in her heart for so long.

She left. Henry watched helplessly as she walked away from him. There was nothing he could do. Caleb followed Eleanor, and the two of them disappeared from his sight. Dejected, Henry stumbled back two steps and slumped onto a nearby bench.

The basketball court was quiet and the lights were bright, yet Henry felt as if he could no longer see any light at all.

Right then, his phone rang. Feeling annoyed, he pulled it out and glanced at the screen. Without even seeing clearly who was calling, he directly hung up. A moment later, the phone rang again. Picking it up once more, Henry saw that the caller was Wendy Wynn. This time, he hesitated for a second before answering.

On the other end of the line was Wendy’s tearful voice. Something was wrong; she sounded deeply upset. "Henry. I went to a furniture store today and saw a really beautiful picture frame.

"It was a bit large, but I loved it. I bought it and intended to carry it home myself, but it accidentally fell on me. It hurts so much, Henry, and I’m bleeding.

"Could you come check on me now? I haven’t even had the chance to feed the kitten yet. It’s been meowing beside me. Maybe it’s hungry, or maybe it misses you. I miss you too."

Henry remained silent. Deep down, he felt resistant, though he didn’t know why. Before Wendy returned to the country, Henry had often stayed alone in the university laboratory to conduct experiments. In the dead of night, he would frequently think of her. He remembered the carefree, simple, and happy life they had shared when they were still abroad together, a life they could never go back to.

But precisely because it was lost, those memories made him deeply nostalgic. And yet, Wendy had returned. This time, however, Henry didn’t feel happy about her return. Instead, he felt it would be better if they simply forgot about each other and moved on. He had even figured it out: what he actually liked was the simple joy he felt when they were together, not the person Wendy herself. With Wendy back, he couldn’t recapture that feeling; he only felt annoyed.

He was resistant and didn’t want to be with her anymore, but Wendy kept clinging to him, constantly bringing up the past—like the kitten, for instance—to get him to stay. It was adopted from Eleanor’s Pet Hospital. Henry knew that Eleanor had put a lot of effort into rescuing it from the streets. During that rescue, Eleanor had gotten hurt, scraping her arm.

He had seen the wound and brought her some medicine. Eleanor had immediately smiled. Even though the cut clearly hurt, she had been so happy, beaming radiantly. Henry wanted to protect that kitten because it represented Eleanor’s kindness. He knew she must desperately want the little cat to live a good life. He wanted to help Eleanor safeguard that kitten, not have his compassion exploited by Wendy.

But looking at it now, it seemed he was doing a terrible job of it. Ultimately, Henry agreed to Wendy’s request—not for her sake, but simply because he wanted to check on the kitten Eleanor had saved.

His thoughts drifted back to the previous night.

Henry had finished his experiments and headed home alone. It was already quite late. Passing by a supermarket, he went inside driven by some unseen force and saw the snacks Eleanor usually liked to eat. He bought some, picking up some alcohol as well. He went back to his apartment and drank. Wendy came over. He wasn’t entirely clear on what happened next; he only knew that in his drunken haze, he had been thinking of Eleanor the whole time.

Later, when Henry was driving back to the university, Wendy asked him a question in the car.

"Have you fallen in love with Eleanor Rhodes? You were drunk just now, and you called out her name. Henry, I was the one right in front of you. Why would you call out another woman’s name?

"Henry, I heard from people that during the years I was out of the country, you missed me all the time. That was why I chose to come back.

"But now I find out that you’ve fallen for someone else. Henry, you know my temper. I’ve never liked giving what’s mine to others." ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Abandoning her usual gentleness, Wendy became incredibly forceful as she spoke those words. Henry frowned and cast a glance at her. A paper-thin veil of denial he had forcefully erected in his mind seemed to have been pierced right at that moment. His secret had been discovered. What did Wendy mean by that last sentence?

"What are you trying to do?" Henry asked, looking at her with a hint of wariness.

Predictably, Wendy grew even angrier. Staring at him, she demanded, "What am I trying to do? I should be the one asking you what you’re trying to do! You clearly loved me so much before. Why is it that now that I’m back, you no longer cherish me?

"Henry, I heard that Eleanor used to really like you too, but you completely ignored her. What? Are you regretting it now?

"Henry, are you a glutton for punishment? Do you only learn to appreciate things once they’re gone? Is your whole life just a chase after what you can’t have or what you’ve already lost?

"It’s absolutely ridiculous!"

It was the first time Wendy had ever spoken to Henry like this. Provoked, Henry lost a bit of control over his emotions, and then the car crashed.

In his dreams, Henry saw a scene from the past—back before Wendy had returned. It was the first time Eleanor had shown up at his place, clumsily carrying a cat trap to catch a stray. She smiled sheepishly. Standing in the sunlight, she looked so gentle and adorable. Such a smile, he...

Henry called out Eleanor’s name, and then he woke up. The silhouettes from his dream overlapped with those in the real-world hospital room. Still a bit dazed, Henry saw his parents, Vivian Lowell, and Julian Faulkner. It wasn’t a dream. He finally remembered that he had been in a car accident. Was Eleanor here to visit him?