Hearing Linda's words made Nicko nervous, the other students were also silent. No one dared to refute Linda's words, because what Linda said was a fact that no one could deny.

After talking like that, Linda then went back to enjoying her sandwich without guilt. Anne was just silent. Actually she felt bad for Nicko, but what Linda said was true. She didn't have much time to prepare food like that.

​​

Not long after, Professor Simon entered the class. Vince, who was in charge of collecting assignments, immediately went around to each student's table. When Vince finished suddenly Anne's classroom door was knocked from outside by one of the campus administration workers.

"Excuse me to interrupt your time, Professor Simon. I came here to ask for Marianne to come to Professor Gilbert's office," said a polite middle-aged woman named Frea.

"It's okay, Mrs. Frea, please Anne, go to Professor Gilbert's office. Don't make him wait." Professor Simon ordered Anne to leave the class.

"Yes, Professor, excuse me," said Anne politely as she got up from her chair and walked out of her classroom to Professor Gilbert's office.

Anne walked without any suspicion at all, until finally when she arrived at Professor Gilbert's room she was surprised by Leon's presence.

"Hi, Miss Marianne," Leon greeted Anne shamelessly.

Seeing Leon in front of her eyes made Anne petrified. It felt like she wanted to leave the room immediately, but she couldn't do that because of Professor Gilbert's presence. Anne had to mind Professor Gilbert's feelings by holding back her annoyance. Anne walked in and approached Professor Gilbert who was already sitting opposite Leon.

"What do you need to call me, Professor?" asked Anne politely.

"Sit down, Anne," Professor Gilbert asked quietly.

Without arguing, Anne then sat in the chair in front of Leon and the professor. She tried to refrain from exploding in front of the lecturer.

"What's the matter, Anne?" asked Professor Gilbert quietly.

"Problem? What problem, Professor? I don't understand," answered Anne, confused.

"Here, why did you refuse the contract given by Mr. Ganke? Are there any points that are not pleasing to you?" Professor Ganke asked again, handing her a contract of cooperation agreement between Ganke Inc.Porduction and the campus represented by Anne.

Anne smiled when she saw the contract letter in front of her. She forgot that Leon was close to Professor Gilbert. After exhaling slowly, Anne then turned to Leon, who had been staring at her without blinking and made Anne disgusted by being constantly stared at like that.

"I've explained everything to Mr. Ganke directly, Professor," Anne replied slowly, trying to calm down.

"Mr. Ganke has explained to me before Anne, it's just that I still feel amazed. Why do you reject an extraordinary offer like this, Anne? Many other students who want your position Anne," said Professor Gilbert back.

"Then just give this valuable opportunity to others, Sir. I feel inadequate and unworthy. Besides, I am only a first semester student who still needs to learn a lot, it feels like this position is very hard for me, Sir. I feel that I can't take the responsibility. I can't work for Mr. Ganke's company. I don't want to disappoint anyone, be it the campus, you and Mr. Ganke, of course," said Anne at length, trying to find as reasonable an excuse as possible.

"Heavy responsibility?" asked Professor Gilbert, confused.

"Yes, Prof, have you read the contents of the contract? It is stated in the written contract that I will be the head of the fashion illustration division in this new project. To be honest, I can't afford it, Sir. I don't have any skills to take on such a big position," said Anne quickly.

Thump!

Leon, who had been silent and listened to Anne speaking, immediately realized that he seemed to be in Anne's game.

Professor Gilbert who had not read in detail the contents of the contract then began to read it carefully. After nearly two minutes of reading, he looked confused. The reason was that Leon did not say earlier that Anne would become a department head.

"I really can't, Sir, I'm sorry. Once again I'm sorry, maybe I really am not destined to work at Mr. Ganke's company," said Anne quietly with a triumphant gaze. Anne was able to read the lecturer's expression, which looked shocked after reading the contents of the contract in his hand.

"But Miss Marianne, weren't you willing yesterday? Then why do you suddenly refuse the position?" Leon asked quickly. He could not help but ask Anne.

"Yesterday I didn't say that I agreed to join, Sir, yesterday I just said I wanted to read the contents of the contract first before signing it. And because I've read that, I refused and returned the contract to you, isn't it my right to refuse the offer from your company, Sir?" Anne asked back softly, staring at Leon with a cold gaze.

Leon was speechless when he heard Anne's answer. He did not think that his ex-wife was so good at talking like this. While in the past the woman in front of him was very afraid of him and never argued with his words. Anne did not dare to even raise her face to talk to him. That's why Leon was very surprised by the drastic change in Anne's attitude.

"I was right, wasn't I, Professor? I have the right to refuse a job offer from anyone, right? As long as I don't sign anything, I'm still free, right?" asked Anne back to Professor Gilbert.

"Yes, what you said is true Anne, people who are not bound by a contract are free to choose," Professor Gilbert replied quickly.

"Therefore, in this case I am innocent and do not have any responsibility, so I hope you don't bother me again, Mr. Ganke. Since my business is over then if you'll excuse me, Sir, I must immediately return to Professor Simon's class," Anne said. She slowly said goodbye to Professor Gilbert while glaring intently at Leon. After saying that, Anne then got up from the chair then left Professor Gilbert's office.

Seeing Anne leaving, Leon was silent. He could not do anything because what Anne said was true. As long as she hadn't signed anything, no one could tie her and Leon was very aware of this, so he tried to ask Professor Gilbert for help by coming to the campus. However, it turned out that his efforts were in vain because Anne was smarter than he thought.

"Sorry, Sir, I can't force her. If Anne refuses, then we can't do anything about it. After all, what Anne said earlier is true. The position as head of fashion illustration is very tough for a first semester student, Mr. Ganke. Why did you give her that position?" asked Professor Gilbert in surprise.

"I feel she has the ability to fill that position, Professor, so I offered her the position," Leon lied. He could not possibly say that last night Anne asked him to change the position previously stated in the contract, because if he told Professor Gilbert the truth, his reputation would be ruined for meeting a student privately.

"Anne is indeed one of the smartest students among her peers, but still, the position as head of the division that you offered her is too much for her, sir," said Professor Gilbert again.

"Then how about this, Professor, I am very interested in hiring Miss Marianne for the position of fashion illustration at my office. Can you help me?" Leon asked pleadingly.

Hearing the request of a colleague who had provided many benefits to the campus made Professor Gilbert uncomfortable. He couldn't possibly refuse the request of Leonardo Ganke, who had provided many job opportunities for students of the London University of Arts. After exhaling a deep breath, Professor Gilbert agreed to Leon's request to allow Anne to work at Leon's Ganke Inc Production.

Meanwhile, Anne, who had returned to class, still looked annoyed with Leon, who forces her to work in his office. Seeing Leon again annoyed her. She, who wanted to avenge Leon's treatment, suddenly lost her enthusiasm. She really didn't have that desire anymore. What she wanted right now was trying to get away from Leon.

"Looks like you're right, Jack, I have to give up what was passed and try to live my life well now," said Anne to herself as she looked at the whiteboard where Professor Simon was giving an explanation.

* * *

Connery Corporation

Aaron had not contacted Anne since the day he had lunch with her at the restaurant. He still felt a little disappointed at Anne who kept her true identity a secret from him. Although in fact this was not entirely Anne's fault because she also did not ask Anne directly about Anne's status, as he believed Anne was still single.

"Why am I like this, God? Why am I so hurt when I know all this reality? I have no problem you're not a virgin, Anne, but I'm still unable to accept your married status, Anne," Aaron said to himself as he continued to regret Anne's true status. .

Aaron had bad memories with a widow. When he was young decades ago, his father had an affair with a childless widow. And it was the result of this affair that his mother had to die out of heartbroken, thinking about his father's affair. Since then Aaron had a bad perception at widows. For him, a widow was no less than another woman's household flirt and now he must come to terms with the fact that the woman he loved was a widow, a title he hated so much for years.

To be Continued