"Really?" Tucker''s voice shot up, his excitement palpable. "I want to learn..."
He rattled off a long list of topics. These were all highlyplex concepts that Juniper had always imed were too troublesome to teach. He had finally caught his chance.
"Don''t you push it!" Juniper hissed, her grip tightening on the phone.
“The leave request!” Tucker reminded her, his newfound backbone on full disy.
"Fine." Juniper squeezed her eyes shut, finally relenting, though her voice turned sinister. "Just you wait till I get back, you old coot."
"Heh!” Tucker rubbed his nose, hanging up the phone with a guilty conscience. As long as he got to learn something new, getting kicked a couple of times by Juniper was a small price to pay.
After hanging up, Tucker immediately wrote out the leave request for Juniper. The department administrator in charge of attendance frowned as she looked through the records. "She''s already taken leave twice in a row."
Any more and the semester would be over for her.
"What difference does it make if she''s here or not?" Tucker muttered, stuffing his hands in his pockets and sniffing, his ck-rimmed sses sitting on his nose. “It''s not like anyone at this university can actually teach her anything."
"You-" The administrator started to argue, but then she paused, realizing she had no counterargument.
It was true. Juniper was a gold medalist whose skills surpassed even the department head. There really wasn''t anyone there who could teach her.
"If she fails her final exams, Tucker, you''ll be the one responsible," the administrator said grimly as she stamped the form with an official seal. Juniper had been the top scorer on the national entrance exams; countless eyes were on her. If she failed her finals..... their university did not want to be in the headlines for that.
“Fail?” Tucker scoffed as he took the approved form and sent a picture of it to Juniper. He''d fail before she ever would.
At the research institute, Juniper nced at the leave slip and said tly, "Let''s begin."
The director nodded. "I''ll get things ready."
With Nocturne personally taking charge, the results were sure to be exponentially better.
“I won''t be going back for the next few days,” Juniper said, turning to Shanley with a low voice. "You have things to do at thepany. Go take care of them."
"Nothing at thepany is more important than you," Shanley countered, frowning, with no intention of leaving.
"I''m going to be living in theb. I won''t have time toe out. Besides..." Juniper''s lips formed a pout, her expression serious. "We have tond that huge international deal."
It was a multi-billion-dor contract. Think of all the lollipop factories she could buy with that.
"I know." Shanley knew that once the girl made a decision, no one could change her mind. He could only nod. "Call me if you need anything."
"Mm," Juniper nodded, watching him leave. Just as his figure was about to disappear from view, she couldn''t help but run after him. "Shanley."
Shanley turned around. Before he could even get a clear look at her face, her soft body crashed into his arms He hissed as a sharp, sting, followed by a faint, tingling numbness, spread across his neck.
She had bitten him.
"This is my mark. You behave yourself while I''m gone for the next few days." Juniper stood up straight, her lips pursed, her tone sharp. “And don''t you go messing around with other women."
"When have I ever messed around?" Shanley asked, a helpless smile on his face as he steadied her by the waist.
"It''s not about thieves stealing, it''s about thieves plotting." Juniper had been scrolling through the news
recently and discovered just h
popr he was. He was repeatedly... voted Era City''s most eligible bachelor by the city''s socialites and heiresses. Nopetition.
"So possessive, Specter." Shanley arched an eyebrow, a refined, gentlemanly smile ying on his lips: "Alright I''ll consider getting tattoo on my chest that says ''Property of Juniper.""