Seeing Claire, he couldn't help but call out, "Claire?"
Claire immediately perked up when she saw him. "Professor Carlson. Norris."
Carlson affectionately patted Claire on the shoulder. "Well, well. So you really aren't joining the math department?"
"No, I'm completely set on medicine." Claire was unwavering about her major.
Carlson sighed, thinking it was a massive waste of talent.
Norris, however, had his predatory gaze locked directly onto Felix. "What's going on here?"
His voice was ice-cold, his stare razor-sharp.
Felix wasn't usually intimidated by professors, but the sheer aura rolling off this man made him instinctively tense up.
"Professor, please don't misunderstand. It's nothing at all," Claire quickly interjected, terrified that her cousin's icy glare was going to crush the poor guy on the spot.
Felix quickly caught on. "Sir, I promise I'm not harassing her. I just came to thank her."
He gave a quick rundown of how Claire had saved his mother at the mall yesterday. Hearing the explanation, Norris's expression finally softened. "I see. Carry on, then."
He had no intention of micromanaging his cousin's social life.
However, the fact that the rescue had blown up online caught his attention.
Norris immediately pulled out his phone and called Owen, instructing him to keep a close eye on the trending topics.
If any nasty rumors or negative spin started targeting Claire, Owen was to shut it down instantly.
The Churchill family's PR team wasn't something to be trifled with.
Carlson waited until Norris hung up before giving him a bewildered look. "Say, Norris... aren't you going a little out of your way for a freshman?"
"You treated everyone exactly the same at the winter camp, but now you're having your family control the media narrative for her?"
"If you ask me, saving a life is a good deed. Nothing bad is going to come of it."
Norris looked at him deadpan. "She's my cousin."
"Huh?" Carlson's jaw practically unhinged.
He assumed Norris was pulling his leg, but the man's expression remained terrifyingly stoic. It didn't look like a joke at all.
Then again, Norris never joked.
"Hold on. How did Claire suddenly become your cousin? Weren't you two complete strangers during the camp?"
Carlson was struggling to process the information.
"On campus, we keep things strictly professional."
"Well damn. You kept that incredibly quiet!"
Carlson was speechless.
But his academic brain quickly connected the dots. "No wonder Claire is such a genius at math. It's literally in your family genetics, isn't it?"
Norris thought of his aunt, Melissa. "Yes."
It really was in their blood. Melissa's talent for mathematics had been unparalleled, and it made perfect sense that her daughter would be just as brilliant, if not more so.
But while Claire possessed the raw talent, she didn't share the passion. Unlike Melissa who had lived and breathed numbers Claffe ad nos love for the subject. fo FindNovel.net
"We weren't trying to hide it on purpose. It was just better to draw a clear line during the winter camp selections."
Claire had the skill to back up her placement, and Norris refused to let anyone claim she got in through nepotism.
They had only recognized each other halfway through the camp anyway, so there had been no reason to give Carlson the full backstory.
"You made the right call. But still... if she's family, why didn't you drag her into our department?"
Carlson just couldn't understand it.
"She should study whatever she loves. I'm not going to dictate her life choices." Norris believed Claire's happiness came first.
The world had plenty of mathematicians. It wouldn't fall apart without her.
Besides, his aunt's mysterious disappearance was likely tied to her work in mathematics Selfishly he didn't want his cousin walking down that same dangerous path.
The Churchill family couldn't afford to lose another Melissa.
"Alright, alright. Your family is incredibly open-minded."
Carlson threw his hands up in defeat.
If it were him, he definitely would have pressured his sibling into choosing math.
Professors in the math department carried a bizarre sense of arrogance—they genuinely believed numbers were far more vital to humanity than medicine.