Chapter 60: Gossip and Jealousy

As the senior executives entered Victoria Sterling’s office, they immediately noticed the deep, affectionate look lingering in her eyes. No wonder President Sterling had sent them away earlier at noon! It turned out they were just a bunch of bright lightbulbs getting in her way.

After the executives finished delivering their reports, they walked out of the president’s office together down the quiet hallway.

"I never imagined that someone as serious and stern as President Sterling would actually do something so passionate with her boyfriend right in her office..."

"No wonder she fell in love! Ms. Sterling’s boyfriend is absolutely amazing; he actually managed to make someone as unyielding as President Sterling fall completely in love!"

"I feel like I’m watching a romance novel play out in real life..."

——

Meanwhile, Julian Vance returned to Capital University campus.

He was currently recognized as the single most handsome guy at Capital University, and his stunning looks were on a completely different level compared to guys from any other university. As he walked down the tree-lined campus street, his striking presence naturally drew the captivated attention of countless female students—and, frankly, quite a few male students’ gazes as well.

Before long, a candid photo of the prominent bite mark on Julian’s neck was snapped and posted directly onto the campus online forum!

[Breaking news! Huge story! Our campus heartthrob is in a relationship! But who is his girlfriend? Who is she?! Who is she?!]

The thread attached a crystal-clear photo showing Julian walking, with a very noticeable, reddish bite mark stamped prominently on his neck!

— Holy crap!! The school heartthrob is actually in a relationship! Mom, I’m completely heartbroken! Waaaaaah!

— The heartthrob has always been a notorious, dedicated follower of the school beauty, Natasha. Could that bite mark on his neck have been done by Natasha herself?

— Probably not. Natasha wouldn’t be interested in Julian Vance.

— No, no, no, you guys have it totally backwards! It’s Julian who looks down on Natasha now. Have you already forgotten how Natasha tried to pretend to trip into Julian’s arms last time, and he effortlessly dodged her?

Elsewhere on campus, Tom stared at the forum post, his brow furrowed in deep frustration. He immediately made his way to the girls’ dormitory building to find Natasha.

When Natasha came downstairs and saw him, she sneered coldly, "Why did you come to see me? Did Julian Vance send you over to apologize to me?"

She knew in her heart that Julian wouldn’t be able to ignore her for long.

"Tell him that I won’t forgive him so easily unless he shows some real sincerity!" she added arrogantly.

Julian was very different now compared to before; he drove multi-million-dollar luxury hypercars and was extraordinarily handsome. When Natasha thought about having such an outstanding, wealthy man desperately following her around like a sycophant, her vanity was immensely satisfied.

"I came to find you entirely of my own volition, not because Julian sent me," Tom said, his tone heavy.

Natasha frowned in annoyance. "Then what are you doing here?"

"Have you seen the campus forum today?" Tom asked, pulling out his phone.

What forum?

Natasha’s frown deepened. She had been busy preparing for her upcoming university examinations recently and hadn’t found time to browse the student forums.

"Look at this." Tom held out his phone screen right in front of her.

Natasha’s eyes suddenly widened in disbelief. In the photograph, Julian had a clear, distinct bite mark on his neck!

"Did you inflict that bite mark on Julian’s neck?" Tom asked, searching her face closely.

"It wasn’t me!" Natasha shook her head, her face turning pale as the blood drained from her cheeks. "I don’t know who did that either!"

Julian had clearly stated in the past that he only ever loved her! How could he betray her and have an affair with another woman?!

Tom’s frown deepened. "I honestly thought it was you. After all, he’s always only had eyes for you."

When Tom had first seen the photo of the bite mark, his immediate instinct was that Natasha must have finally given in. However, Natasha had never thought highly of Julian in the past. Even if Julian had suddenly become remarkably outstanding, Natasha would never have engaged in such an intimately ambiguous act with him in such a short span of time.

He had come to verify it with Natasha directly, and now he had his answer.

"School Beauty Natasha, I just came over out of sheer curiosity to ask, so I won’t bother you any longer," Tom said flatly before turning on his heel and leaving.

His brows remained tightly knitted as he walked away.

If it wasn’t Natasha, who on earth is it?

Tom then recalled the ultra-luxury sports car that Julian frequently drove to and from campus. Could it be... that car belongs to Julian’s secret girlfriend?

No, that doesn’t make sense. Even the heiresses from wealthy aristocratic families couldn’t easily afford such top-tier hypercars themselves, let alone gift them casually to a boyfriend.

Therefore, she wasn’t just a regular girlfriend—she was most likely a powerful, wealthy older woman who was keeping Julian as a hidden sugar baby!

Tom suddenly remembered the strange, muffled noises coming from inside their shared bathroom that night. Could it be that it wasn’t an illusion after all? Was there really a woman hidden inside the bathroom by Julian?

Tom clenched his fists tightly, a burning surge of intense jealousy consuming his heart. He and Julian were both born in the gutter from humble backgrounds—so how on earth did Julian manage to climb out of the gutter so easily?

That woman will probably show up again tonight, Tom thought sinisterly. I need to find something solid to use against Julian!

Deciding to act, Tom quietly slunk into the shadows not far from Julian’s dormitory building, carefully concealing himself while intently observing every movement near the entrance.

....

After returning to her dormitory room, Natasha immediately opened the campus forum on her phone. The internet was completely flooded with fiery discussions about Julian Vance having a secret girlfriend.

"Julian Vance... how could you do this to me?" Natasha murmured in a stunned, dazed state. "How could you betray me like this?"

Her roommate and friend, Rosy, came into the room to find Natasha. Seeing the ghostly pale expression on her face, Rosy frowned with concern.

"Natasha, why is your face so pale? What on earth happened?"

"Rosy..." Natasha looked up with red, tear-filled eyes, her voice trembling. "Julian Vance has a girlfriend."

"What?!" Rosy was taken aback, blinking in utter shock. "Are you sure you’re not mistaken? How could Julian, that ultimate simp, possibly be interested in any other woman besides you?"

"Look!" Natasha said, pointing at her phone screen, her voice choked with heavy emotion. "It’s true! The entire forum is flooded with news about Julian being in a relationship!"

Rosy took the phone and scanned the posts carefully. Her brows furrowed tightly as she read through the comments and looked at the picture of the bite mark.

Suddenly, a stroke of inspiration struck Rosy’s mind.

"Natasha, I get it now!" Rosy said with absolute confidence, her tone brimming with certainty. "Julian must have deliberately hired a woman to act for him! Wait, no—Julian never lets women get close to him at all! This bite mark must have been made by one of his male friends!"

Natasha frowned in confusion. "Is that really the case?"

Rosy continued earnestly, "Natasha, think about it! He only did this because he saw that you were ignoring him lately and realized his usual tactics weren’t working. So he’s using this deliberate method to provoke you and make you jealous!"

"Natasha, he’s just trying to force you to show weakness and reach out to him first! You absolutely mustn’t fall for his childish trick!"

Hearing Rosy’s logical breakdown, Natasha felt that it made complete sense. Julian had pursued her so devotedly for so long—it was fundamentally impossible for him to suddenly stop loving her out of nowhere! It had to be exactly as Rosy said: Julian had hired someone to act out a show just to make her jealous.

Feeling a surge of indignant pride, Natasha immediately opened her phone and sent a text message directly to Julian:

[Julian Vance! I hate unclean men the most! Don’t even think about using other women to provoke me!]

Inside his dormitory room, Julian received the incoming text message on his phone.

Looking at the screen, his mind was instantly filled with endless question marks: ???

Where on earth did this self-absorbed, ordinary woman come from?!

He had long since blocked and deleted Natasha on WeChat, but he had completely forgotten to blacklist her phone number for SMS messages. Without a second thought, Julian casually added Natasha’s number straight to his phone’s system blacklist.

Just as he was about to throw his phone onto his desk and head to bed, his phone vibrated with a new WeChat notification.

It was a message from Victoria Sterling:

[My Julian, come to the campus grove right now.]

The campus grove was a quiet, wooded area located only a brief three-minute walk from Julian’s dormitory building. Because it was quite dark there at night, very few students ever walked through it after hours—making it the absolute perfect spot for a secret rendezvous or an illicit date.

Julian stared at the screen: !!!

A wooded grove?! Is Victoria seriously planning to go into the dark woods with him right now?!

Can I choose not to go?

As if reading his exact thoughts through the screen, Victoria sent another message immediately afterward:

[If my Julian doesn’t come out, then I’ll just have to climb over your dormitory balcony to look for you right now.]

Julian glanced down at the time on his phone—it was currently nine o’clock in the evening, a peak hour when many students were still walking around the dorm quad. If Victoria were to scale his balcony at this time of night, she would guaranteed be spotted by everyone!

Fine, I’ll go right away!

Julian put his shoes on, grabbed his jacket, and stepped out of the dormitory building.

What he failed to realize, however, was that a shadowy figure standing in the nearby bushes was secretly stalking right behind him.

Tom kept a stealthy distance as he tailed Julian through the dimly lit pathways of the campus. Seeing Julian head straight toward the secluded, dark grove of trees behind the academic buildings, Tom’s eyes glinted with cold satisfaction.

He’s meeting that mysterious woman here! Tom thought, clutching his phone tightly. If I can capture video evidence of Julian meeting his wealthy benefactor or mistress in the dark woods, I can ruin his reputation entirely!

Julian walked briskly into the shadowy grove. The cool night breeze rustled the leaves overhead, and the faint moonlight barely penetrated the thick canopy of trees.

"Victoria?" Julian called out in a hushed whisper, looking around the empty clearing.

Suddenly, a soft pair of slender, ice-cold arms wrapped tightly around his waist from behind!

Before Julian could even turn his head, he was pulled backward into a firm, fragrant embrace. Victoria’s velvety voice purred softly right against his ear, sending a shiver down his spine.

"My Julian is so obedient~ You really came out to see me."

Julian let out a soft sigh, turning around in her arms to face her. "Victoria, why did you come to the campus grove at this time of night? Didn’t you still have work at the company?"

"I finished processing the urgent files," Victoria whispered, her hands gently sliding up his chest to cup his neck, her thumbs brushing lightly over the fresh bite mark she had left on him earlier. "Besides, I missed my Julian too much. Seeing the bite mark I left on you makes me so happy..."

Julian smiled helplessly, resting his hands gently on her waist. "You’re getting bolder and bolder."

Not far away, hidden behind a thick oak tree, Tom pulled out his smartphone with trembling hands. He carefully aimed the camera lens through the leaves, adjusting the focus to capture the couple in the moonlight.

Got you! Tom thought triumphantly, his heart pounding with dark excitement. Let’s see how you explain this to the whole university—

However, the moment the moonlight shifted and fully illuminated the woman’s face, Tom’s breath caught squarely in his throat.

His entire body went completely rigid, and his phone almost slipped from his paralyzed fingers!

The woman wrapped passionately around Julian was stunningly gorgeous, possessing an aura of absolute dominance and cold elegance that no ordinary student could ever hope to match. But more importantly—Tom recognized that face instantly from economic news broadcasts and business magazines!

S-Sterling Group’s CEO... Victoria Sterling?!!

Tom’s mind exploded into absolute chaos, his brain completely short-circuiting.

The mysterious woman keeping Julian Vance isn’t some random wealthy middle-aged mistress... It’s the top business tycoon of the entire capital, the legendary cold-blooded heiress of the Sterling Empire, Victoria Sterling herself?!

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Hey readers! Here is my first 2,000-word Chapter. Hope you all enjoy it!"