No Substitutes for the Bigshots' Dream Girl Anymore!-Chapter 1769: Arnold Simmons Extra (135)

She sat by the window, sunlight spilling through, reflecting her smile and enhancing the beauty outside.

"Even you got rejected? Guess the campus belle hasn’t heard your name, huh?"

He curled his lips into a grin, completely unbothered by the earlier rejection. "This is just our first meeting. There’ll be plenty of chances in the future."

When Amy Taylor returned, she also noticed Nick Cooper but waited until he was far enough away before commenting, "That guy just now looked like Nick Cooper."

Hannah asked, "You know him?"

"Of course, I know him." Amy nodded and explained to Hannah, "Nick Cooper was the president of the club I used to be in. He’s handsome, comes from a wealthy family, and treats people kindly. A lot of girls like him."

Hannah nodded, not particularly interested.

The next time Hannah ran into Nick Cooper was during a meal with her group of senior classmates.

At the time, she and her group were heading to the school cafeteria when Nick casually walked over and, without hesitation, took the seat directly across from her.

Coincidentally, one of the seniors in her group was Nick’s classmate, so no one found it too unusual.

Nick was also very tactful, not displaying the same enthusiasm as during their first encounter.

It wasn’t until everyone else had left that Nick caught up to Hannah and offered, "Can I walk you back to your dormitory?" 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Hannah was holding onto her textbooks for her major, deliberately keeping a bit of distance from him. She politely but distantly replied, "There’s no need, I can go back on my own."

Nick didn’t mind her aloofness. Smiling, he lowered his gaze to meet hers. "It’s no trouble. It’s on my way anyway, so walking together is nice."

Hannah stopped in her tracks and said firmly, "I already have a boyfriend."

Nick showed no signs of disappointment or sadness. "That’s okay. Being just normal friends works too."

In the days that followed, Nick seemed to "coincidentally" run into Hannah quite often.

Be it during club activities, meals in the cafeteria, or even just walking around campus, their encounters happened with surprising frequency.

No matter how she rejected him, Nick’s attitude remained unwavering.

It didn’t take long for everyone on campus to know the campus belle had attracted the attention of a charming and wealthy suitor.

The news eventually reached Arnold Simmons, who was still buried under a pile of documents. His team had recently launched a new project, just past a critical stage.

Benny Cooper, seated nearby, couldn’t help but sigh, "As expected, Hannah remains incredibly popular no matter where she goes."

Skipping dinner entirely, Arnold left directly for the school.

A while back, Arnold had already moved out of campus. Originally, he’d thought of having Hannah move in with him, but knowing she was busy with her group’s activities, he had set the idea aside temporarily.

But now it seemed like bringing her over was becoming increasingly necessary.

...

Amy Taylor dragged Hannah to watch a basketball game.

Amy was determined to seize the last bit of her youth and dive into another "passionate" romance.

It just so happened that the school was hosting a basketball intercollegiate event, and many of the basketball team’s attractive players were in attendance.

Hannah hadn’t been seated in the bleachers for long before someone on the basketball court took notice of her.

Perhaps Nick Cooper’s very public pursuit of Hannah had stirred things up, emboldening some of the previously hesitant guys to try their luck. Several of them seemed intent on showcasing their charm on the court.

When Arnold Simmons arrived, he stood below the bleachers.

Dressed in a light-colored trench coat over a white shirt, with his thin-framed glasses still perched on his face, he exuded an air of refined elegance and frost-like detachment, a charisma that felt intimidatingly distant.

At this moment, Arnold no longer had a trace of immaturity. Compared to the carefree boys expressing their youthful energy on the basketball court, he radiated a sense of maturity and steadiness.