Chapter 480 - 476: I Said I Was Just Passing By, Do You Believe Me?

Cecilia Sterling smiled and motioned for Jane Sterling to get in the car.

It was nearly noon, and the heat was absurd. The air seemed to shimmer with a hazy heatwave.

The two of them discussed heading back Downtown to their usual sushi place. Its handmade ice cream was especially delicious and the perfect treat for this killer heat.

The tires crunched on the gravel road. There was a paved concrete road at the foot of Mount Lyra, but only along the main route.

The path leading up to that particular mountain peak was still gravel. It would turn into a muddy track when it rained, making it incredibly difficult to traverse.

’Looks like I’ll have to shell out the money to get this road paved,’ Cecilia Sterling mused.

But on their way back, as they passed a grassy clearing at the foot of Mount Lyra, they saw several cars parked by the roadside. A group of people who looked like college students were setting up tents, apparently camping.

At first, Cecilia paid them no mind as the car drove past at a steady speed, but she couldn’t resist a second glance.

And in that one glance, she immediately spotted Wyatt Sherman in the crowd.

The car, which had just driven past, slowly backed up a moment later.

Jane Sterling looked at Cecilia in confusion. It wasn’t until the car stopped that Jane asked, perplexed, "What’s wrong, Cecilia? Do you know them?"

Cecilia Sterling rolled down her window and honked the horn twice.

Hearing the sound, everyone busy on the clearing stood up and looked over. The guys were a sea of tan, athletic types, nearly all of them over six feet tall—this was a camping trip for the Lorcain U varsity basketball team.

Jane Sterling’s eyes widened in shock, a glint in them like a hungry wolf spotting its prey.

And with his pale complexion, Wyatt Sherman was particularly conspicuous among the crowd of tan guys.

"Cecilia?"

Wyatt Sherman recognized Cecilia in the car at a glance. Astonishment gave way to delight, and dropping what he was holding, he trotted over to her car.

Watching from a distance, Reggie Hale frowned. He heard Cindy Underwood ask coldly from beside him, "I thought you said Cecilia Sterling wasn’t coming today?"

"Wyatt Sherman did say he was coming alone today," Reggie Hale said.

Cindy Underwood was a little annoyed. She turned and glanced behind her, where a girl in a short white skirt was also looking at her with a bewildered expression.

To lure Wyatt Sherman away from Cecilia Sterling’s side, she had even brought along her most impressive friend—the best she had to offer.

But then Cecilia had to show up out of nowhere.

’What the hell is this?’

"Cindy, that Cecilia Sterling really doesn’t deserve Wyatt Sherman. She’s bad news." Recalling the time he saw Cecilia acting intimately with another guy outside the Japanese restaurant, Reggie Hale decided to tell Cindy all about it.

Upon hearing this, Cindy’s eyes instantly lit up. "Really?"

"Really. I saw it with my own two eyes. I even secretly took some pictures." As he spoke, Reggie Hale took out his phone and found the photos he had taken that day.

He had a photo of Cecilia linking arms with the guy after they got out of a car, and he’d even managed to snap one of them dining alone in a private room.

Cindy Underwood’s eyes gleamed with increasing excitement as she looked at the photos.

"This was the same day we ran into them at the mall? Cecilia had a date with Wyatt Sherman at noon, and by evening she’d switched to this guy?"

Reggie Hale nodded. "The very same day."

Cindy Underwood could no longer suppress the smile playing on her lips. ’If I expose her in front of Wyatt Sherman, she’ll be utterly humiliated, won’t she?’

’Then again,’ she thought, ’the guy in the photo is also really handsome, and he drives a Verrago. How does Cecilia always do so well for herself? Every guy she hooks up with is exceptional.’

Jealousy and excitement battled in Cindy’s mind.

’But it doesn’t matter. Once this is out in the open, Cecilia will have nowhere to hide. Sure, everyone here is from Lorcain U, but when I get back, I’ll make sure to spread this all over Lorcain Tech.’

’Then, the whole persona she’s built for herself at school will come crashing down, and everyone will see her for the shameless bitch she is!’

"Cecilia, you—what are you doing here?"

Seeing Cecilia suddenly appear, Wyatt Sherman felt like his heart was about to leap out of his chest. His eyes were filled with disbelief, but also an undisguisable excitement and joy.

Because Cecilia had clearly turned him down before, saying she wasn’t free this weekend.

Cecilia Sterling took off her sunglasses and gave a helpless smile. "Would you believe me if I said I was just passing by?"

Wyatt Sherman nodded frantically. "I do. I’ll believe anything you say."

As he spoke, he couldn’t help but glance in the direction Cecilia’s car had come from—deeper into Mount Lyra. Confused, he asked, "But what were you doing on Mount Lyra?"

’How do I explain this?’ Cecilia wondered. After all, she couldn’t just tell him she was here to buy a mountain, could she?

’I’d scare him off.’

Fortunately, Jane Sterling jumped in. "Hey handsome, I dragged Cecilia here. Hi, I’m Cecilia’s bestie."

"Hi, I’m Wyatt," he replied quickly.

Cecilia took the opportunity to glance over at the group. She saw Cindy Underwood and her boyfriend, but didn’t recognize anyone else.

"The address you sent me before wasn’t here, was it?" Cecilia asked, confused.

She had asked Wyatt to send her the address, saying she would think about it and come if she was free. But she remembered the address he sent was for Magnolia Lake.

"Magnolia Lake gets too crowded with campers on the weekends, so the experience isn’t great. We all talked it over and decided to pick the more remote Mount Lyra instead. Since you said you were busy and couldn’t make it, I didn’t tell you," Wyatt explained.

Who would have thought they would end up running into each other unexpectedly on Mount Lyra.

"Wyatt, is this a friend of yours?"

Just then, Todd hurried over. As he spoke, his gaze instinctively fell on Cecilia, who was still sitting in the car.

His first thought was: ’Wow, she’s gorgeous!’

He casually slung an arm around Wyatt’s shoulder and whispered in his ear, "What’s the situation?"

"We just ran into each other," Wyatt said.

But Todd didn’t believe him. ’Running into someone you know out here?’

’You’d have a better chance of running into a ghost.’

"Excuse me, miss, just one second," Todd said, raising a hand to Cecilia. Ignoring Wyatt’s reaction, he forcibly dragged him aside.

"What are you doing?" Wyatt was getting anxious, his worried gaze fixed on Cecilia’s car, afraid she would drive away.

Todd frowned at him, slightly annoyed. "If you had someone, you should have said so! Reggie’s girlfriend specifically brought a friend to introduce to you. What is this supposed to be? How are we supposed to handle this now?"

Wyatt looked completely lost. Hearing this, he glanced at the girl Cindy Underwood had brought, then pointed at himself. "An introduction? For me? Did any of you even ask my opinion?"

"We were just trying to be nice! Everyone else is paired up today, we didn’t want you to be alone."

"Thanks, but no thanks. Thalassa is here by herself, why don’t you introduce a guy to her?" Wyatt asked.

Todd was at a loss for words. ’Who would dare try to set Thalassa up with someone?!’ he thought.

"So, the only reason you insisted on dragging me along was to set me up with a girlfriend?" Wyatt laughed in exasperation.

Todd snapped out of it and looked a little sheepish. "Dude, it was with good intentions. If you’re pissed, take it out on me, but it’s got nothing to do with the girl, alright? Just don’t let it show on your face later."