Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 49: How did he get here?

Chapter 49: How did he get here?

Few minutes ago.

Because of how Neil had been warned to start eating traditional meals properly, he had come earlier to the university so he could eat his breakfast in the cafeteria instead of going to some five star restaurant and then driving back to the university again. When he walked into the cafeteria, all heads turned to his direction. He was already accustomed to people staring at him in awe wherever he went to, thus he walked steadily towards the corner table beside the window where he could sit with no professors or students coming to disturb his morning by annoying him with just their mere chatter and small talks.

Ever since he’d come to Ivy Grove institute, his overwhelming aura and charisma was enough to make the rest of the professors stay away from him. He wasn’t the kind to handle small talks, and he made himself clear with his curt replies and unwelcoming expression. And they all seemed to get the memo and steered clear of him.

Neil casually removed his suit jacket and loosened his tie, making himself comfortable in the chair. His wounded side wasn’t as uncomfortable as it was before, and it didn’t stop him from doing his daily tasks. Since he wasn’t accustomed to having breakfast, he only ordered egg toast, bacon, and coffee. While he was eating, a student approached him and placed the school newspaper on his table while giggling stupidly when he glanced up to meet her eyes. He would have disregarded the newspaper if it weren’t for the headlines that caught his attention.

Neil furrowed his brow as he realized the headlines were about Mia Harrison and the town she resided in. However, he refrained from touching the newspaper until he finished eating. He wiped his hands with a napkin and picked up the paper.

His naturally well shaped thick eyebrows raised as he noticed how the photos on the newspaper looked heavily edited. What a joke, Neil thought with dry amusement. It seemed these nosy journalism students would never fail to surprise him with how they make things up just to get attention. If he hadn’t been to whispering way before, he would have definitely believed this crap in the papers.

Neil’s expression twitched slightly as he continued to read the crap In the newspaper, and he couldn’t help but notice that the person who published this seemed to be targeting Mia, because they made sure to make her look like someone who barely even knew what a bath was. The person also suggested that someone like her shouldn’t be studying in Ivy Grove institute before she spread some unknown disease to the students in the school.

"Who the fuck published this crap?" Neil mumbled to himself in annoyance. He didn’t know why he was feeling annoyed while reading the newspaper, but one thing he was certain of was that he hated it when these brainless journalists published lies about people just to get attention. He had once been on the receiving end when they published lies about his personal life. He hated it then, and he still hated it now. He knew everything said in the papers about Mia were all lies because he had spent a night in the Harrison’s apartment, so he knew what Mia’s lifestyle was like. They might not be rich, but they were clean and simple.

Neil dropped the newspaper and sipped from his coffee. However, as he was about to set down his coffee cup, he noticed the girl walking into the cafeteria. Even from where he was sitting, he could see that she was upset. Her large brown eyes appeared dark, and her plump cheeks and little nose looked so flushed that he could see the color from a distance. Not to mention her childhood habit of hugging her midriff to control her emotions.

He didn’t resume reading the newspaper and instead watched as she walked to the counter and ordered her food. Then, without paying any attention to the judging eyes of the students, she took her seat at the front row table and began to eat.

Neil couldn’t help his amusement at the fact that she didn’t hide away in a corner like most girls would in such a situation. She even took the front table and ate calmly, even with the judging eyes. How interesting, he thought to himself as he sipped his coffee again. And as he watched her from where he sat, he couldn’t help but think that she was as headstrong as she was when she was a little girl.

In the past, she would slip away from her nanny and sneak out of their residence just to come and meet him at home. He also remembered a time when she once sneaked into a house filled with dogs just to get him another dog to replace his dead one. She wasn’t intimidated by their sizes and went ahead to carry a pup from its mother, and if the caretaker of the residence hadn’t arrived on time, she would have been torn apart by the dogs.

Remembering that now, Neil’s usually tight lips slightly pulled up. She hadn’t changed; she had done the same even now that she’d grown into a woman. She risked her life to obtain confidential information from a house filled with large dogs, and she had also endangered herself to pursue criminals for her assignments. The more he saw this older version of the little girl he once knew, the more he wanted to unveil the mystery behind her. Something about her just didn’t seem right.

Nonetheless, he couldn’t help but wonder which of the brainless journalism students spied on her and published such crap in the school newspapers.

Well, whoever that may be, it wasn’t his business. As long as he was still Leo Bennett, he mustn’t interfere with any of the students’ affairs and focus on his mission. He only had two weeks to finish up his work in Ivy Grove and return to being his soldier self, going back to the camp to make Jason’s life a living hell until he’d gotten his full satisfaction for what the bastard said to him on the day of their meeting on Friday.

Neil had told Mia to meet him after her classes today because he had somethings to discuss with her about her information on Da Kroll. But right now, he would prefer to act like he hadn’t read the newspaper and it hadn’t annoyed the shit out of him before he’d end up breaking another student’s arm like he did to that brat Alaric.

Neil thought to himself and resumed to sip his coffee. But then, as he was about to get up from his seat to go back to his office, he heard a small commotion from the front row tables. Looking up, he noticed beauty with no brains along with her other friends standing in front of little Mia.

Seeing that, Neil sat back down on the chair, crossed his right leg over his left leg, and leaned back against the chair. He tapped his long fingers against his thigh as he watched the girls with a blank face. He should get up and return to his boring office, but he found himself unable to leave, keeping a keen eye on the girls who he already knew were here to look for trouble.

Under his keen observation, he noticed how one of the girls purposely bumped into Mia, making it seem like she had pushed her to the floor. At first, Neil watched with no expression or reaction, but when he heard Diane, who he thought still needed some good home training ask Mia to apologize to the girl on the ground, he frowned deeply. If Mia dared to apologize to that girl, he would be really disappointed in her.

To his delight, she didn’t apologize and stood her ground. "Good," Neil thought with a faint smirk on his stone-cold face; he liked it when people stood their ground. However, as the other students began to call her names and insult her, Neil felt his fingers clenched into a tight ball. He didn’t like this at all, and the fact that none of them were supporting her made his blood strangely boil in anger. To avoid interfering, Neil decided to just leave.

Nonetheless, the next thing that happened immobilized him in place. When the milkshake glass jar hit against Mia’s forehead, a vein throbbed in Neil’s forehead. He tried to scold himself into simply walking away and pretending like he didn’t see what was happening. However, as he saw the others begin to pour their drinks on her body, and Diane was about to throw another glass jar at her, he lost his temper. Before he could tell himself all the reasons he should ignore the students, he had already walked towards the girls in a few long strides and grabbed Diane’s wrist before she could throw the jar.

"Have you completely lost your mind Miss Foster?!" Neil gritted his teeth as he tightened his hold around Diane’s slender wrist. His gray eyes looked dangerously dark as he glared down at the girl before him in utter annoyance. If looks could kill, Diane would have fallen dead and buried immediately with how he was glaring at her.

All the students gathered around the scene went silent and still in disbelief; the silence was so loud that if a feather were to fall, it would make a noise. The temperature suddenly dropped, and everyone felt the chilliness emitting from the man.

However, Diane, whose wrist was being crushed in his grip, slightly winced in pain. She quickly schooled her expression and put on a pitiful look. Despite the noticeable anger in his eyes that looked like it would slice her into pieces, she still had the guts to speak because she believed no man was immune to her charm, including all the professors in Ivy Grove. Even though this man had once walked away from her in the restaurant, she believed he wouldn’t deny her charm.

"Mr. Bennett, thank goodness you are here. Look what Miss Harrison did to Sally because we were just trying to help her from the life she’s living." She said pitifully while trying to play the victim.

Neil didn’t even glance at the other girl on the ground, his grip only tightened around Diane’s wrist, and as if he was afraid of what he would do to her hand if he continued holding it, he abruptly released her and shoved her away from him. Diane almost lost her balance and stumbled against the person behind her, but she quickly found her footing and stood up.

Mia, who was grabbing her forehead in pain as the jar had broken the skin, slowly looked up with teary large brown eyes when she heard Mr. Ice cube was here. She was slightly shivering from the cold drink poured on her body and how soaking wet she was under the cafeteria air conditioner. She hugged her midriff as usual and glanced at Mr. Ice cube’s imposing back, blocking her from the other students. Even though she couldn’t see his face, she could feel the cold aura emitting from him. How did he even get here when she hadn’t noticed him in the cafeteria?