Chapter 491 - 487: Why So Abnormal?

That wasn’t a question. It was a statement.

Seraphina frowned. ’Did he follow me?’

But Owen Griffin just gestured with his chin at the small penguin keychain hanging from her bag. "That’s a souvenir from the aquarium."

Seraphina instinctively glanced down and saw that he was right. The words "Lorcain City Aquarium" were printed on the small keychain.

"It’s none of your business. Take this back. I’m not accepting it." Seraphina pushed the gift bag toward him again.

But Owen Griffin still didn’t take it.

"You haven’t even opened it, have you? Why not take a look?"

"I don’t intend to accept it, so why would I open it?"

"So you just turn your back on the gift I gave you and go to the aquarium with someone else?"

Seraphina’s breath hitched. Forcing herself to take a deep, patient breath, she looked at Owen Griffin and spelled it out for him. "Owen Griffin, who I go out with and where I go is my own business. It has nothing to do with you."

"You forced this on me, and I don’t like it. Besides, this is too expensive. I can’t accept it!"

Owen Griffin didn’t look away, simply meeting Seraphina’s earnest gaze with his own.

After a long moment, he sighed softly, then suddenly let out a self-deprecating laugh. "Maybe I’m just stupid. I’ve never pursued a girl before in my life, and the methods I’m using aren’t making you happy."

His sudden change in demeanor caught Seraphina completely off guard, leaving her stunned.

Owen Griffin pursed his lips. "But I’m not taking it back. I put a lot of thought into picking it out. I wasn’t thinking about how much it was worth when I chose it; I was just thinking about whether you’d like it. But now that I’ve given it to you, it’s yours. If you don’t want it, just throw it away."

With that, before Seraphina could snap out of it, Owen Griffin turned and walked away.

Seraphina didn’t turn to watch him go. To be honest, Owen’s words had sounded sincere, and it had shocked her.

She glanced at the gift bag in her hand, then at a nearby trash can. She walked right over, lifted her hand, and decisively tossed the bag inside.

Then, without a backward glance, she entered the dormitory building.

The moment she got back to her dorm, her roommates eagerly gathered around her.

"Seraphina, where were you today?"

"Why are you only back now?"

"Oh, stop asking about all that," one of her roommates said, grabbing a baffled-looking Seraphina. "Did you run into that guy downstairs just now?"

It dawned on Seraphina what they meant. She frowned and asked, "You mean Owen Griffin?"

"Yes!"

"I did," Seraphina admitted. Seeing her roommates’ strange reactions, she couldn’t help but ask, "What’s wrong?"

When they heard her say "I did," all three of her roommates simultaneously broke into expressions of relief. One of them quickly said, "You have no idea! That guy was waiting downstairs for you all afternoon!"

Another one immediately added, "The temperature this afternoon... I checked, it was ninety-five degrees out! We kept checking to see if he’d left, but he just stood there waiting for you. I couldn’t stand it, so I yelled from the window that you weren’t in the dorm, but he wouldn’t leave. We were all worried he’d get heatstroke!"

"What?" Seraphina’s eyes widened in shock. An image of Owen Griffin standing perfectly still downstairs, waiting for her, automatically appeared in her mind.

’Why does that feel so out of character?’

Subconsciously, she just felt Owen wasn’t the type of person to do something like this.

His past actions had always been selfish and domineering, completely inconsiderate of others. Why was he acting so strangely today?

But her roommates were all nodding. Before Seraphina could even process it, it was clear that the three of them were deeply moved by Owen’s actions.

"He really waited for four or five hours, during the hottest part of the afternoon."

"Seraphina, what did you guys talk about just now?"

"It seems like he really likes you. To have that kind of perseverance in this weather... Seraphina, maybe you should consider him?"

Seraphina’s mind was in a whirl. She waved her hand, signaling for them to stop talking for a moment. She walked over to her desk, pulled out her chair, and sat down, a pang of guilt suddenly washing over her.

’Just now...’

’Was I too harsh on him?’

As she casually tossed her bag onto the desk, Seraphina suddenly snapped to her senses and shot up from her chair.

Her roommates jumped in fright. "What’s wrong, Seraphina?"

Seraphina didn’t answer. She rushed out of the dorm, ran downstairs, and hurried back to the trash can.

As she lifted the lid, a foul stench wafted out. Pinching her nose, Seraphina leaned over and reached in to retrieve what she had just thrown away.

Her roommates crowded around the balcony window, watching, with no idea what was going on.

The gift bag was stained with grime from the trash, so Seraphina tossed it aside. The box inside, however, was still clean.

Back in the dorm, her roommates swarmed her again. With just one look, someone gasped, "Tiffany! Seraphina, you threw a Tiffany box in the trash?"

"I..." Seraphina was at a loss for words, not knowing how to explain.

Especially since her roommates had witnessed Owen’s "devotion" firsthand. If she told them she’d thrown away his gift, they would definitely call her ungrateful and accuse her of trampling on his feelings.

"This must be expensive, right?" someone asked in a low voice.

Seraphina had never been inside a Tiffany & Co. store, but she knew it was a luxury jewelry brand. She had no idea how much it cost.

But it definitely wasn’t cheap.

She slowly opened it. Inside was a platinum necklace with an exquisite, hollow cube-shaped pendant.

Within the pendant were two intertwined rings, and nestled at the very center was a beautiful, Tiffany-blue gemstone.

"It’s so beautiful!"

A roommate couldn’t help but gasp. The design was just what you’d expect from a luxury brand—unique, aesthetically refined, and clearly worth a fortune.

"Owen Griffin gave you this, right?" a roommate asked, looking at Seraphina. "I saw him drive to campus once in a really nice sports car. His family must be loaded."

Seraphina reached out and touched the pendant, but at the last second, she resisted the urge to take it out and try it on, quickly snapping the lid shut.

"Hey, Seraphina, you should try it on! It would look amazing on you."

"Yeah, you can tell this necklace was picked out just for you."

Seraphina pressed her hands on the lid, her heart in turmoil. Owen’s words from earlier echoed in her mind: ’I wasn’t thinking about how much it was worth when I chose it; I was just thinking about whether you’d like it.’

"Seraphina, are you okay?"

Seraphina gently shook her head and gave her roommates a small smile. "I’m fine, just a little tired from being out all day."

With that, she opened a nearby drawer and placed the box inside.

Just then, a message from Ethan Sterling came in. She instinctively picked up her phone to look: "I’ve imported the photos to my computer. I know how to use Photoshop, and some of the pictures have distractions, like people in the background. I can edit them out for you."

Seraphina let out a soft breath and replied, "Okay, thanks. Just remember to send me the bill."