Chapter 199 Who Is She Exactly?
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Clearly, today had rattled her more than she’d realized. Ava felt like her head was spinning.
Laurent knew when to retreat. Noticing her discomfort, he reached out and gently tousled her hair, shifting the mood. “Alright, get yourself settled. I’ll come find you later–I’m just next door.”
With that, he left the room, giving her space to process everything. After all, his goal had been accomplished–and quite successfully, too. There was no need to stick around and make things more awkward.
He understood Ava well enough to know that she was someone who got flustered easily. She was probably already regretting what she’d said. Staying now would only make her spiral further.
As soon as Laurent stepped out, Ava let out a long breath and dropped into the chair. She rubbed her temples, brows furrowed. What in the world have I just said?
Those words…. they were barely short of a confession. As if she’d just blurted out, “I might like
you too.”
Now that her brain had rebooted, Ava shook her head quickly, trying to push those thoughts aside. She got up and began unpacking.
There wasn’t much to clean–the room was already spotless, the sheets freshly changed, and the soft scent of detergent still lingered in the air.
All in all, she was very satisfied with having a room to herself.
About half an hour later, there was a knock on the door.
“Ava, it’s me,” Laurent called from outside.
She quickly opened the door.
“Let’s go,” he said. “The new students are about to gather for dinner.”
As soon as she stepped out, he reached for her hand. Ava immediately tried to pull away. “Hey —this is a military base. It’s strict here. Think about your image. What if someone sees us? What would they think?”
“So let them see. Who dares say anything to me?” he replied, unfazed.
Ava shot him a look. “Even if no one dares to say you crossed a line, they’ll definitely say I did. That I’m shameless. That I seduced my instructor during military training.”
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Every year, there were rumors about students and instructors getting involved. Ava had always been a bystander to that gossip, amused from a distance. But now that she might become the subject of such rumors–it didn’t feel so funny anymore.
Laurent raised an eyebrow. “Fine, I’ll let go when we’re in public. But if anyone so much as bumps into you, I’ll be there. And anyway–we’re technically married, right? What’s there to hide?”
He softened his voice. “Of course, if it bothers you, I’ll respect that. What I mean is–whatever happens, I’m with you. I won’t let you deal with anything alone.”
A few steps later, Ava narrowed her eyes and asked, “Tell me honestly–did you plan this? The whole ‘no room left‘ situation?”
Something still felt off about it. How had she been the only one left unassigned and
conveniently placed in the officer dorms? If there really were no rooms, she could’ve been housed with the faculty. Why here?
Laurent’s expression relaxed. He didn’t bother denying it anymore. “Yes and no. I thought about it, but I didn’t expect it to actually work out like this.”
Ava glared at him. “What’s that supposed to mean? I’ll have you know–if I hadn’t just happened to meet those two girls who are cousins.from the same planet, I wouldn’t have ended up alone. Your little scheme would’ve failed.”
Laurent chuckled and gently held her hand again as they walked downstairs. “If you’d ended up with a roommate, I still had options.”
“This is the military. There are plenty of men. I could’ve found some good–looking, charismatic instructor for your group. Girls your age definitely can’t resist temptation.
What?
As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Ava quickly pulled her hand away and motioned for Laurent to walk ahead.
He glanced down at his now–empty palm and sighed internally. Watching her act so cautious and guarded in public definitely rubbed him the wrong way, but he chose to respect her boundaries.
A wry
smile tugged at his lips as he turned and walked off toward the front.
Once he was near the guard station, Ava looked around carefully before following at a distance.
“Good evening, Major,” the young soldier on duty stood straight and saluted as Laurent passed.
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Ava deliberately slowed her pace. She only picked up speed once Laurent had walked a good distance past the station.
Inside the guard booth, the young soldier spotted her–the same girl who had been assigned to the officer dorms earlier.
His thoughts began to race. Who is she exactly? Must be someone important. A bigwig’s daughter, maybe? Otherwise, how would she have gotten such a room?
With that thought in mind, the soldier silently made up his mind that from now on, when this girl walked past, he’d be on his best behavior. If she were ever late or left early, he’d just look the other way.
As Ava exited the guard post, she spotted Laurent standing a short distance ahead, waiting for her.
She stopped, eyes scanning the area like a detective before quickly walking up to him.
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