"Of course," Sloane replied, not bothering to ask who the guest was.
To Sloane, it made absolutely no difference who Julia brought along.
Even if she showed up with Claire, what did it matter?
Having uninvited guests eagerly showing up to her party would only stand as a testament to her undeniable social pull.
Julia, however, had zero intention of inviting Claire.
She was relying on Sloane for the introduction to Dr. Sterling; dragging Claire into it
would just complicate things and risk offending Sloane.
There was a saying about not hiring two managers for the same job.
She understood that social rule perfectly well.
The person Julia actually wanted to bring was her brother, Nolan.
Once Nolan found out she had a shot at meeting Dr. Sterling, he would hop on the first flight to Solenia.
She also knew she probably couldn't handle the negotiations on her own.
But her brother definitely could!
In Julia's eyes, her brother was absolutely invincible.
She immediately turned around and shared the thrilling news with him.
Nolan didn't hesitate for a second. After confirming the time, he began making arrangements to fly to Solenia.
Meanwhile, Claire was attending her classes like clockwork.
After class, she hung out with her roommates, grabbing food and drinks, living a remarkably comfortable and happy life.
The only annoying exception was the sudden appearance of a relentless suitor- Lyle Dean!
Lyle thoroughly disgusted her.
This flashy, obnoxious guy had taken to staking out The Cabinda University just to ambush her.
The first time he managed to corner her outside the campus gates was when she and Yolande had plans to grab some local comfort food.
The weather was turning chilly, and the two girls had finally managed to coordinate a dinner date, only to have Lyle pop up out of nowhere.
Claire truly hadn't expected to run into him.
What was worse, he boldly swaggered over to greet them like they were best friends.
"Claire! Yolande!"
His booming voice echoed down the street, making both girls turn their heads in surprise.
Lyle eagerly jogged over to them.
As he approached, he immediately
started whining, "Claire, I've sent you friend requests online so many times. Why haven't you accepted me?"
"Did you forget about me? It's me, Lyle! My aunt is Victoria Churchill."
Claire gave him a flat look. "Oh. It's you."
Her tone was completely detached.
But Lyle
up his overly familiar charade. "Yeah! Hurry up and add my number so
I can take you out sometime."
"I tried calling you, but nobody picked up. Is your phone acting up?"
"How about I buy you a new one?"
His loud boasting drew the attention of passersby, who couldn't help but stare.
*Who is this guy throwing money around like that?* people murmured.
Then their gazes shifted to Claire's breathtaking face.
*Buy her one!*
*Hell, buy her two if she wants them!*
The men passing by all thought the exact same thing.
Even the women silently agreed that Claire's stunning looks deserved far more than just a new phone.
And Lyle's tacky outfit certainly didn't make him worthy of standing next to her!
Claire furrowed her brow. "My phone
works perfectly fine. I just set it to block unknown callers, and any
number that harasses me gets blacklisted."
The arrogant smirk on Lyle's face froze.
He hadn't expected her to humiliate him so publicly.
She had literally just called him a harasser and told him he was blocked.
"Mr. Dean, please refrain from calling me in the future. I have classes to focus on." Claire couldn't have been any more blunt.
Lyle choked on his words for a second before firing back, "Then I'll just call you after class."
Hearing this exchange, the onlookers quickly realized the gorgeous girl was absolutely not his girlfriend.
The guy was just a desperate creep.
Though, looking at how gorgeous she was, half the crowd wished they could take
his place.
"Don't call me after class, either,"
Claire said, her expression dead serious. I have no desire to hang
out with you, nor do I have the time."
Realizing Lyle was dead set on harassing Claire, Yolande's expression darkened as well.