But she wouldn't sit around and wait for fate; now she was sitting in The medical community. As the saying goes, the little grove is perfect for hiding couples in love, and here she sat, letting Ariana Thorne sober up. Medical students aren't emotionless; they have feelings and desires.
However, Shea Thorne underestimated the students of National Medical University who researched in Jenson Hall. There were indeed people in The medical community, both males and females, but they weren't mesmerized by the moon.
"The heart valve doesn't look all that healthy, and the lungs are blackened. He must have smoked a lot before he died."
"Shall we dismember him first? I want to see the degree of muscle change in the legs after death," another cold boy discussed.
"Ugh!..." The girl was most excited, but as she spoke, she became dejected.
Shea Thorne just wanted to cry. Although she was in her thirties and had met men, she didn't want to know the subject of their discussion was a chain smoker, nor did she want to know he was a potentially physically strong man.
She was wrong; she forgot that tormenting Ariana Thorne was tormenting herself.
"Folks, family, send some rockets, boost the popularity, and soon we'll go into the most famous Jenson Hall of National Medical University; there are many hidden shots inside..."
This was even more absurd—it was a live streaming scene.
Shea Thorne wasn't curious at all about what the streamer meant by the so-called "hidden shots," but the audience seemed curious, as the streamer kept thanking his "family" for gifts.
Shea Thorne held onto her violin case, not wanting to hear about who would next be dissecting the heart or the liver, urging herself to leave quickly.
Just as she reached the entrance of The medical community, Shea Thorne hadn't emerged from the shadows when she saw Miles Crawford walking out of Jenson Hall with a neat-looking girl.
They chatted and laughed. Shea Thorne recognized the girl. She was Zoe Wymond, the one Ariana Thorne imitated in style.
Ariana Thorne celebrated her birthday and answered Miles Crawford's call, saying it was her who was annoying, and in the second life, she had just died and quickly married him.
So they knew each other early on, and they seemed to have always gotten along well.
"It's too late; you don't need to see me off. I'll go back on my own." Zoe Wymond wore a smart suit, carrying a laptop in one hand and hanging her coat on the other.
"It's okay; it's not safe for a girl to be alone at night. I'll see you home to ease my mind," Miles Crawford said gently, completely unlike when he was with Ariana Thorne.
Did you hear that? It's unsafe for a girl to be out alone! But you have to go back alone, even if you're in excruciating pain!
Shea Thorne hadn't even tasted the bittersweet irony before the pain in her chest made her sweat all over!
"I bought a new car, taking you home today. You're the first person to sit in it," Miles Crawford said, eager and attentive.
He quickly threw the plastic dinner box into the trash, which clearly hadn't been touched. It was the dinner Ariana Thorne had controlled Shea to buy.
Shea Thorne almost couldn't stand, watching them disappear into the darkness, barely stepping out from the shadows of The medical community. Miles Crawford bought a new car but couldn't spare a minute to tell her, much less send her a few steps.
Having stood too long in high heels, her legs went numb, causing her to step down on the carved stone bench below and fall to the ground, dizzy from Ariana's torment.
"Be careful—"
Her elbow supported on the ground, feeling numb all over. This fall wasn't light, and Shea Thorne looked up to see it was none other than Milo Sinclair.
Did you see that? The Miles Crawford you've obsessed over for two lifetimes isn't even as good as a stranger you've just met.
...
Shea Thorne fell to the ground, and Milo Sinclair conducted a simple check on her where she was, confirming that it was merely her foot being numb from standing in high heels for too long. Only then did he carry her back to the sixteenth floor of Jenson Hall. Shea was dizzy from Ariana's antics.
Once in Milo Sinclair's office and placed on a single bed, Shea Thorne slowly relieved the pain in her heart.
"My violin is still downstairs." After she recovered, Shea was worried about her violin, so Milo Sinclair went downstairs to retrieve it for her.
Shea Thorne lay down to calm herself. With Milo not back yet, she sat up, and her feet dangled mid-air from the slightly tall bed.
She glanced around; Milo Sinclair's office was spacious, with a desk facing the door. On the desk were a closed laptop and a stack of documents, his gold-rimmed glasses neatly placed on the laptop.
Next to the desk was a large bookshelf filled with binders and medical books of various languages and countries.
Two large iron cabinets stood against the wall, with a clinical bed placed beside them.
The room housed a conspicuous human muscle model with vivid red muscle textures. Next to it was a complete human skeleton.
Sitting by the bed, facing the two models, under the white light, the office felt cold and solitary. The model was somewhat eerie.
Could those bones be real? In movies, psychopaths had such quirks, using real skeletons disguised as artificial ones.
The more Shea Thorne looked, the creepier she felt.
At that moment, Milo Sinclair came in with the violin case, placing it beside the bed. Shea Thorne worriedly opened it to check the violin's sound, relieved it was fine.
If this rented violin broke on impact again, the additional cost would be a loss.
Milo Sinclair watched her cherish the violin, waiting until she was done before bringing out disinfectant tools from the cabinet. She had scraped her elbow on the stone ground earlier.
"Hand out." Milo Sinclair pulled a chair to sit in front of her, saying, "Let's disinfect the wound on your hand."
Only when Shea Thorne felt the pain did she extend her arm for him to clean the wound.
Dirt stuck in the wound; the cotton swab pressed gently without pain, Milo lightly blew on the wound, asking, "Ariana Thorne?"
Called by the name, Shea instinctively looked up but saw he hadn't raised an eyebrow, solely focused on treating her elbow wound.
"Shea Thorne, not Ariana Thorne." She protested to Milo Sinclair, harmed by Ariana with crippled hands and feet, planning to change her name the first thing she did at home winter break.
Milo didn't care, smiling, "My student told me your name and assured me you have a clean relationship, not that kind."
"That kind" meant boyfriend-girlfriend relations, and it must've been Miles Crawford who told him.
"So you're his master's advisor? You all call him master, right?" Shea Thorne smirked bitterly, realizing it was him who called Miles out, showing her that Miles wouldn't take care of her.
Acknowledging Milo Sinclair's guess, Shea Thorne stressed, "I indeed changed my name to Shea Thorne; this winter break I'll change my name when I return home."
Not only Miles wanted to sever ties; Shea likewise desired to, doing what she could to separate from Ariana, losing ties little by little.
Once Milo finished treating her external wound, he let her stand to try, saying, "I'll take you home; does your foot still hurt? Can you walk?"
"I can, thank you."
She nodded, standing up from the bed, the ankle no longer hurting, and changed her shoes to follow Milo Sinclair out.