Chapter 3 : Professor, Do You Still Believe in Love?

Lucas didn''t want to get entangled with Cody for even a second, choosing to play it safe and head home quickly. Once he isolated himself from the entire world, he belatedly felt the numbness and pain. He and Harold were truly over this time. If Harold had a girlfriend, why did he still come to bother him? Why did he pretend to understand Plato even though he knew Lucas had a mental purity obsession? Lucas couldn''t figure it out no matter how hard he thought about it. He sighed and chose to give up.

At least the fish he raised wouldn''t disappoint him. He opened a small packet of fish food and sprinkled it into the tank bit by bit. "Good fish, you''ll always be with me, right?"

Lucas simply cooked some noodles for himself as dinner. He walked into the study, turned on the computer, and originally wanted to watch a light comedy. On a whim, he searched for Cody. Cody, the top Alpha and young master of The Wilson Family, was showered with endless love and affection. He was the only child of The Wilson Family. Graduated from New York University, majoring in business and minoring in philosophy? This guy actually studied philosophy?!

At 20 years old, he was 8 years younger than Lucas. Lucas''s hand unconsciously tightened. Why was he comparing Cody to himself? It was ridiculous. But this guy was just a rich kid. Did he really need a dedicated search encyclopedia? There weren''t many tabloid stories about him, so he was considered clean? Wait, why was he thinking about him? Unbelievable.

Now he didn''t feel like watching TV anymore. Lucas turned off the computer, sat by the window, and looked at the colorful, flickering lights of the charming night scene outside. Harold would soon find out that he had been blocked and would definitely come to question him. How should he handle it? Telling the truth might be best. Should he say, "Your uncle told me you''re getting engaged. Aren''t you going to explain?" Lucas wasn''t that foolish. But Harold was probably too busy with his engagement to bother with him right now.

The next second, the landline at home rang. Lucas rarely didn''t check the number and answered it casually. Harold''s anxious voice came through, "Lucas, why did you block me? What''s wrong?" His voice was as usual, without any panic from being found out.

Since he called, Lucas might as well ask him. Even if it meant the end, he needed to understand. Besides, he couldn''t just take Cody''s word for it. "Harold, I have a question for you." His voice was unusually calm, as if he were talking about someone else''s business.

Harold''s heart skipped a beat. Did Lucas find out? Impossible. None of his friends knew because he didn''t want them to talk. Only his family knew, but they didn''t know Lucas, and they didn''t know he was dating him. So it couldn''t be that. "Ah, go ahead. If I know the answer, I''ll tell you everything."

"I have only one request: be honest." Lucas leaned on the sofa, gripping the phone tightly, his eyes a bit red. During the day, Cody was there, and he couldn''t show his emotions in front of an outsider. Now at home, even if he cried, no one would know. He wasn''t afraid of anything. No matter how ruthless or rational he was, this was his lover of many years. They had been through so much together, shared the same goals, and he never thought they would part ways like this.

"Okay, go ahead."

Lucas found his voice again. "Are you... are you engaged?"

Harold''s mind went blank, and he panicked immediately. He stammered, "Lucas, it''s not what you think."

So it was true? He didn''t deny it first but said it wasn''t what Lucas thought. Then what was it? He couldn''t possibly say it was just a fling, right? "Then what is it? Explain it to me."

Harold was frantic on the other end. "I, I and Holly Lewis, it''s really not what you think. We..." He thought Lucas blocked and deleted him because he was angry about not answering his calls. He didn''t realize it was about this, so he hadn''t prepared a response. Now, trying to come up with something on the spot, he was full of holes and couldn''t find a suitable reason.

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"I know you two are well-matched and childhood sweethearts. You don''t need to explain anything to me. I won''t spread it around. From now on, you go your way, and I''ll go mine. Let''s part on good terms so it won''t be awkward when we meet again," Lucas''s voice trembled, and tears streamed down his face.

He always thought that with his peculiar temperament, he would never find someone he loved or someone who loved him. But when he met Harold, this vibrant boy used his energy to give him warmth and sunshine, making his withered heart bloom again with life. But now, his beautiful dream was shattered, and he was harshly pulled back to reality, suffering a terrible fall.

He hung up the phone, hugged his knees, and let his tears fall onto the floor and his clothes, soaking them. He drifted off to sleep curled up on the sofa.

Unsurprisingly, the next day, Lucas arrived at school with swollen eyes. At first, he attracted too much attention, so he had to wear sunglasses, but the discussions continued unabated.

"Isn''t that Professor Lucas?"

"Hey, is that him?"

"Probably is."

Lucas thought the students were just gossiping about why he was wearing sunglasses. But the further he walked into the classroom, the more he realized something was off. Everyone was pointing at him, and the topic seemed to involve Harold.

At this moment, he received a friend request from Cody, with a note saying: "Don''t go to the classroom. Go back to your office. Photos of Harold and Holly are on the forum, and everyone is talking about you."

Seeing this, Lucas smiled. He had never been afraid of gossip; otherwise, he wouldn''t have been known as the quirky bookworm. He had read so many books and walked so many paths, yet he still couldn''t understand people''s hearts.

He turned off his phone, took off his sunglasses, and walked into the classroom. The students were all indignant on his behalf. "Turns out he was just a playboy. I knew no one was good enough for our most beautiful Omega professor, Lucas!"

Lucas smiled, "There''s no such thing as being good enough or not."

A student snapped back to reality and looked at him intently, "Professor, are you okay?"

The students all echoed, "Professor, are you okay?"

He said he was fine, but his swollen eyes were evidence enough. He wasn''t sad about Harold or that Omega girl; he just found it laughable. Or maybe he felt sorry for his wasted time.

"Remember this, everyone: there are plenty of fish in the sea."

An Alpha male student chimed in, "Why focus on just one person?"

Everyone laughed, including Lucas.

"When facing separation, we must be rational. On the road of life, we walk and part ways continuously. The only one who will always be with you is yourself. So, love yourself first before loving others. Loving others is not as important as loving yourself."

An Omega male student shouted, "Professor, do you still believe in love?"

Lucas looked at him, hesitated, and then said, "I always believe in love, always believe in true love, but I don''t believe it will happen to me."

As he said this, a student squeezed into the back of the classroom. It was Cody, wearing a flashy burgundy long shirt and camouflage cargo pants, exuding the charm of a young Alpha male. The Betas and Omegas around him screamed, "Cody is so handsome!"

Lucas was used to his behavior. "I hope some students can attend class on time in the future. Being late or skipping class will cost you credits. If you want to retake the course, pretend I didn''t say anything."

Cody knew Lucas was talking about him. He stared at Lucas, noticing his slightly swollen eyes. So, he still felt sad for Harold? What was so good about that jerk? Next time, I''ll beat him up every time I see him. Cody laughed at his own thoughts. He wasn''t the one who got cheated on, yet he felt a sense of shared pain.