Reign said nothing as he opened the car door, signaling for Lydia to get out.

If there had been even the slightest trace of lingering desire for her body earlier, it was now completely gone.

He wasn’t lacking in women, so why waste the family’s resources on a woman full of schemes?

As he had promised, Reign followed through. Even when Lydia bumped into him a few times around campus afterward, he remained cold and distant. Even when she approached him to greet him, he responded with indifference, as if they had never shared a bed.

Later, when he went on a business trip for a project and returned to Marineton after two months, the first snow of the season had just fallen.

Marineton University was celebrating its centenary, and many of its old buildings were still preserved. The red tiles and white snow gave the campus an elegant, nostalgic charm.

Lydia was busy taking promotional photos for the school. In order to capture the perfect snow scene, she knelt on the sidewalk, holding her camera up to shoot the snow on the roof of the teaching building.

Just as she finished, she suddenly heard someone shout Reign’s name. She froze for a moment, then looked in the direction of the voice, only to see Reign standing in the snow, wearing a dark gray cashmere coat, his posture tall and graceful, his demeanor as cold as the winter air.

Despite the bustling street and the flow of people, he stood out, his presence commanding attention amidst the crowd.

Lydia’s heart leaped with joy, and she started walking toward him to greet him. But before she could reach him, a figure stepped in front of him.

It was a girl with a bright red butterfly bow in her hair. She was holding two ice cream cones, one in each hand, and bounced toward him with a playful smile, “I bought matcha and strawberry, Rei, which one do you like?”

The two were standing close together. The girl, petite and delicate, stood on the tips of her toes and looked up at Reign, her posture almost as if she were asking for a kiss.

Reign lowered his head, a faint smile appearing on his face, “What about you? What flavor do you like?”

When Lydia saw the smile on his face, her color drained.

She couldn’t help but study the girl more closely. She wore a white down jacket and a red plaid skirt, exuding a youthful and lively aura. She pouted and complained playfully to Reign, “Rei, you know I have trouble deciding. Why don’t you choose first, and I’ll take whatever’s left?”

Her eyes curved into crescent-shaped smiles.

In comparison, Lydia appeared much more mature. But... men often preferred younger women.

Perhaps Lydia’s gaze lingered too long, as Reign subtly lifted his head and, across the street, noticed her watching him with a look of quiet resentment.

She was used to being bold and bright, but the rare display of sadness made her appear pitiful.

Reign expressionlessly shifted his gaze, taking the strawberry ice cream from the girl’s hand. “I’ll take this one.”

The girl cheered in delight, eager to bite into the other cone, but then, she playfully leaned on Reign’s arm, “I changed my mind. The matcha one isn’t as good. Rei, I want the one you have.”

Reign handed her the ice cream, but she didn’t take it from him. Instead, she took a large bite from the cone in his hand. She gasped, “So cold!” before closing her eyes in satisfaction, “Rei, yours is much better.”

Lydia had seen Reign a few times before, even before she and Jayden had been involved. He’d always seemed distant and aloof. She never imagined that he would exchange ice creams with someone so casually.

It was clear—he either liked her or he didn’t.

Lydia realized that her plan to use her body to get Pruetol from him was likely going to fail.

A feeling of disappointment and anxiety welled up inside her. In the time she’d stood there, Reign and his companion had already walked away.

Looking at the time, she realized her father’s supply of the medicine was running low, and she wasn’t sure how to get her hands on more Pruetol. She had no backup plan.

Her pride and her father’s life—there was no need to think twice about which was more important.

Lydia gritted her teeth and rushed after them. “Prof. Hawke, can I talk to you for a moment?”

In his office, Reign’s face remained unreadable. “For what?”

Lydia didn’t speak right away. She turned and closed the door first, then took slow, deliberate steps toward Reign. Her eyes were misty, lashes fluttering as she looked up at him. “Prof. Hawke, it’s been so long… don’t you… miss me?”

That single word, miss, lingered on her lips, dripping with sweetness, enough to make anyone weak to the bone.

Reign remained unmoved. He coolly scanned Lydia from head to toe before speaking in a tone that was neither warm nor cold, “With you looking like this, I’m really not interested.”

Lydia’s steps faltered.

She had come here for work today. The snowy weather made the roads slippery, so for convenience, she was wearing loose overalls and flat shoes. She had just been kneeling in the snow to take pictures, and the knees of her pants were stained with stubborn black mud. She looked disheveled, and it was far from flattering.

But she quickly recovered, a playful smile lighting up her face as she tilted her head. “What look does Prof. Hawke like best on me? I’ll dress however you like.”

Reign’s lips curled in a cool, dismissive smirk. His tone was icy. “There’s no version of you that I like. Lydia, to me, you’re nothing but trouble.”

Lydia’s expression faltered, a hint of confusion clouding her face. Forcing a small smile, she pressed on, “Why would Prof. Hawke say that? Were those two times… not satisfying for you?”

“Do you know why I was away for so long this time?” Reign’s voice was even colder. “Jayden kept pestering me. I got so fed up I had to leave the country just to get some peace.”

Then, he added with a finality that stung, “Lydia, about those times with you… I regret it. From now on, keep your distance.”

Lydia felt her face flush with humiliation.

In the past two months, Jayden had shown up a few times at first, but her firm refusal and the persistence of Lina Rowen—Jayden's childhood sweetheart—had finally driven him away. She’d secretly been relieved, thinking she’d severed ties with him cleanly. She had no idea Jayden had continued harassing Reign, even driving him to leave the country. "I’m sorry, Prof. Hawke. I didn’t mean to cause you any trouble,” she apologized sincerely.

Pruetol was monopolized by the Hawke family; even if she couldn’t get any more from Reign, she dared not offend him.

Walking out of his office, Lydia felt she could practically feel the words “tail between her legs” stamped across her back. The humiliation gnawed at her, and as she trudged along, she failed to notice the slick patch of ice beneath her. Her foot slipped, and she landed hard on her backside.

Worse, her loose overalls snagged on a branch, tearing a sizable hole.

Lydia immediately called her friend Elaine Jow, a professor at the university, explained the situation, and asked her to grab a new pair of pants. Elaine replied, “No problem—I’m free next period. Just send me your size, and I’ll pick up something for you.”

After a pause, she added, “While you’re waiting, why not head over to my office? No one else is around, so you won’t have to worry about anyone seeing.”

Lydia, grateful for the suggestion, hurried to Elaine’s office. Her overalls were damp from the snow, and the office's warmth only made the wet patches worse.

Since she was alone, she figured there was no harm in taking off the dirty pants to let them dry. Even if Elaine returned, they’d been best friends since childhood—there was nothing they hadn’t seen before.

But just as she removed them, the office door swung open.

She looked up, expecting Elaine, only to find Reign standing there, cold air still clinging to him from outside.

Their eyes met. His gaze flicked over her long, bare legs, and while he wore his usual composed expression, there was a hint of disdain.

Lydia instinctively took a step back.