Anna Willow pouted. "I didn’t say anything. If I did, I’d just seem petty."

Holly Winslow understood the feeling. It was a tough spot, whether to speak up or not, but these kinds of problems could only be solved by talking them out. "Anna, you should talk to Zeke Zane about it. If you don’t, he’ll never know."

Anna Willow had the same thought. "That’s what I was thinking, too."

But an offhand comment from Zeke Zane had set her off.

Zeke Zane: Don’t overthink it.

Zeke Zane was completely misunderstood. He simply told her not to overthink things. He hadn’t even finished his next sentence—"I won’t talk to her anymore"—before Anna Willow hung up on him.

When Zeke Zane tried to call back, he found he’d been blocked.

Holly Winslow, who had just washed her hair and was reading a book, received a call from Anna Willow. "Holly."

Hearing the sob in her voice, Holly Winslow shot to her feet. "Anna, what’s wrong? Where are you? Arden Bridge, right? I’m coming to get you. Stay put and don’t hang up."

She grabbed a jacket. "I’m going out to get Anna. Can you make up the bed in the guest room?"

Mortimer Quincy: "..."

No need to ask. They’d be sleeping in separate rooms tonight.

"Okay."

After she left, he took out his phone and called Zeke Zane, asking irritably, "What did you do now?"

Zeke Zane was stunned for a moment before he realized what was happening. He sighed in frustration. "I didn’t do anything. I didn’t even get to finish what I was saying before she hung up on me."

"Do you know Monica Lewis? She’s a girl from the class next to ours in high school. She asked me a question, so out of politeness, I just answered..."

Before he could finish, the call was disconnected.

Zeke Zane: "..."

’This is a lit fuse,’ Mortimer Quincy understood perfectly. To keep the fire from spreading to him, he had to take decisive action.

Zeke Zane, utterly confused, called back. A standard, cold female voice came from the other end: "The number you have dialed is unavailable. Please try again later."

"..."

Blocked by two people in a row, he dejectedly called Pantheon. Pantheon was in a study hall with Cynthia Owens watching a game and hung up on him immediately.

Zeke Zane, not giving up, called again. Pantheon quickly stepped out of the study hall to answer. "What is it?"

After hearing Zeke Zane’s story, he rolled his eyes. "You think you’re Mortimer Quincy? ’Explaining a problem’? It’s obvious you had ulterior motives." Then he hung up.

Zeke Zane: "..."

Meanwhile, it was already past eight o’clock by the time Holly Winslow brought Anna Willow home. Mortimer Quincy had discreetly retreated to the study, but he left the door cracked to listen in.

He heard Holly Winslow comforting Anna Willow. "Anna, don’t cry. All men are like that—so thoughtless."

Anna Willow sobbed, "I didn’t even say anything to him, and he told me not to overthink it. It’s obvious he’s the one who doesn’t want to think about these things."

"Being in a relationship is so exhausting. I don’t want to do this anymore. Holly, I want to break up with him."

Holly Winslow patted her back soothingly. "Don’t say things you don’t mean just because you’re angry. Calm down first and see what he has to say."

As a girlfriend who was both angry and upset, there was no way Anna Willow could calm down right then, yet she kept insisting she was already perfectly calm. "Holly, I am calm."

"I’m not going to think about it anymore."

Holly Winslow took Anna Willow to the guest room to sleep. Noticing they were short one pillow, she went back to the master bedroom to get it. She saw a certain someone lying there looking at his laptop. "The blanket is about to fall off the bed, and you can’t even be bothered to fix it. Honestly, you’re only happy if I’m nagging you every day."

An innocent Mortimer Quincy: "..."

He glanced at the blanket, which was at least half an arm’s length from the floor, but didn’t dare say a word. He silently straightened the blanket on the bed.

Holly Winslow took a pillow from the closet and put a clean pillowcase on it. Then she saw Mortimer Quincy’s clothes where they shouldn’t be. "Mortimer Quincy, how many times have I told you? Our clothes need to be kept separate..."

Hearing her go on and on, Mortimer Quincy: "..."

He got out of bed and immediately moved his clothes back to his own closet.

Once Holly Winslow left the bedroom, Mortimer Quincy, with a dark expression, unblocked Zeke Zane and sent him a text: "Your girlfriend is at my place. You have half an hour to get here."

Zeke Zane: Let her cool down first.

Mortimer Quincy couldn’t help but curse: "Cool down my ass."

’My conclusion, as someone with experience,’ he thought, ’is that the calmer a girl gets, the bigger the trouble.’

He had cursed. Zeke Zane: "..."

It was already 10:30 PM when he arrived at the Winslows’ home. Mortimer Quincy opened the door for him.

Then he called towards the bedroom, "Holly, Zeke Zane is here."

Not ten seconds later, Holly Winslow came out. She looked at Mortimer Quincy. "You called him?"

Mortimer Quincy said calmly, "No, he came on his own."

Zeke Zane: "..."

’A blatant lie.’

But at that moment, he didn’t have time to dwell on Mortimer Quincy’s bald-faced lie.

"Holly, is Anna here?"

Holly Winslow said "Mm-hmm" and pointed to the guest room. Zeke Zane said gratefully, "Thanks, Holly. I’ll treat you to dinner some other time."

It really is hard to placate an angry girlfriend. Zeke Zane stood at the door and said a whole lot, but Anna Willow just ignored him and even brought up breaking up.

’As someone with experience, I can’t bear to watch this,’ thought Mortimer Quincy. ’He’s not hitting a single key point. Explanations are obviously useless in this situation. He should just delete Monica Lewis directly.’

He couldn’t watch anymore. He went back to the bedroom and lay down. A few seconds later, his dear wife came in, staring at him unhappily. "Anna and Zeke Zane are in this state, and you’re going to sleep?"

He: "..."

He took the initiative. "Honey, I was wrong."

"..." Holly Winslow was at a loss for words. After a few seconds, she added, "Did you know about this?"

Mortimer Quincy raised his hands. "Honey, I really didn’t know. I haven’t been in touch with him or seen him recently."

Holly Winslow said, "Oh," then, "Give me your phone."

Mortimer Quincy: "..."

He coughed unnaturally, his guilt showing. "Honey..."

Meeting Holly Winslow’s dark, penetrating gaze, he surrendered his phone.

Holly Winslow found the text he’d sent to Zeke Zane. She let out an annoyed "Hmph," said nothing, handed the phone back to him, and walked out of the bedroom.

Mortimer Quincy felt a headache coming on.

Zeke Zane failed to placate Anna Willow.

Mortimer Quincy’s headache got worse.

For the next two days, Anna Willow stayed with them.

The students in Class 1 of the finance department noticed that Mortimer Quincy’s girlfriend hadn’t been attending class with him for the past two days. At one point, the professor even called on Holly Winslow, and upon finding out she was absent, asked Mortimer Quincy about it.

A few words from one person led to another, and the rumor mill eventually churned out that Mortimer Quincy and Holly Winslow had broken up.

The title of the forum post read: "Finance Department’s Top Scholar and Campus Prince Has Broken Up With Math Department’s Top Scholar and Campus Belle."

Pantheon was the first to show his concern in the group chat: "@Holly is my treasure, Mortimer Quincy, did you guys break up?"

That immediately brought everyone else in the dorm out of the woodwork.

When Mortimer Quincy saw it, he wasn’t in the mood and couldn’t be bothered to reply.

He was miserable, and over on his end, Chris Chaucer was miserable too. Just because he forgot to buy milk tea one evening, it had escalated to the level of "you don’t love me anymore" and "you’ve had a change of heart." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Little Fairies Group Chat

Iris Kensington typed angrily: "Men are all pigs. They don’t cherish what they have once they get it."

Anna Willow chimed in: "Ellie, we’re fellow sufferers in this wretched world. Let’s go clubbing tomorrow."

Holly Winslow: "..."

Ellie, Anna, I ordered you guys some milk tea. Keep an eye out for it.

Anna Willow: Holly, you’re the best.

Iris Kensington: Having besties is enough. Who needs a boyfriend? I’ve decided—I’m coming to find you guys after class tomorrow.

Let’s go have fun, let’s go check out some hot guys.

Anna Willow: OOH, OOH, OOH! Hot guys, hot guys, hot guys!