Georgetown University!
Lake drove from Quantico to the university, and by the time he arrived, it was nearly noon.
He parked.
He turned off the engine.
Lake got out of the car. While waiting for Betty to come out of the classroom building in the distance, he lit a cigarette and took in the scenery of this university known as a paradise for politicians.
Georgetown was one of the finest private elite universities in the entire country. It was also a top-tier school known as a paradise for politicians. Basically, aside from Yale politicians, the most successful ones came from Georgetown.
General Ross must have been cursing inwardly.
Lake had gotten into one of Yale's schools, only to choose not to become a politician and instead join the NYPD as a low-ranking detective.
In General Ross's mind, even federal agents were low-ranking detectives, let alone officers from a local police department like the NYPD.
And his daughter, Betty?
Betty had also gotten into Georgetown, one of the finest schools in the country, but... she likewise had no interest in politics. Instead, she had developed an interest in science.
If there was such a thing as going against the family tradition...
Without a doubt.
Lake and Betty belonged to that category. They attended universities that cultivated politicians, yet somehow neither of them had been influenced into taking an interest in politics.
If Ross had also been a politician, he probably would have cried himself unconscious in the bathroom by now. Fortunately, Ross was a soldier. Though he might have been cursing inwardly, he at least wouldn't cry himself unconscious.
Lake hadn't expected that even though the timeline had changed, Betty would still choose science.
In the original timeline, Betty had chosen science because her mother had died when she was young, so she had attended boarding school throughout her education. Then she had fallen in love with Banner, who was at least ten years older than her and perhaps able to make up for the fatherly affection she lacked, driving General Ross to the point of wanting to chop Banner to pieces.
But things were different now.
Karen was alive and well. Although Betty still loved science, she was at least attending Georgetown University. Presumably, in this timeline, Betty and Banner wouldn't have much of a chance to meet.
Betty certainly wasn't lacking in fatherly affection in this life.
After a while.
Betty walked out of the classroom building with several classmates, chatting and laughing. Her eyes lit up when she spotted Lake by the lawn, and her face filled with surprise. After saying something to her classmates, she scampered straight over to him.
"Thud!"
"Ah!"
"...Sorry, Lake."
"It's fine."
Lake rubbed his lower back, which had struck the car, and shook his head helplessly at Betty, who looked more like a wild tomboy than a goddess. "Dear little sister, I need to remind you that your weight now isn't in the same league as it was when you were little."
Betty had still been feeling somewhat guilty, but upon hearing that, she rolled her eyes. "You could lift me up when I was little. Can you do it now?"
Could her weight when she was little really be compared to her weight now?
Lake raised an eyebrow. "I can still do it now. Don't believe me? Let's try."
With that,
Lake reached out, preparing to hoist the now nearly five-foot-seven Betty into the air.
In extreme anger, an ordinary person could lift a car. In extreme anger, Lake could activate his adrenaline. Lifting someone into the air would be easy; throwing them more than a hundred yards away like a grenade would be no challenge either.
Seeing this, Betty's face flushed bright red. She dodged him and snapped angrily, "Big brother!"
Lake burst out laughing.
Betty looked around. Only after confirming that no one was paying attention did she finally breathe a sigh of relief. If someone familiar had been there and Lake had really lifted her up, Betty felt she would have died of social embarrassment on the spot.
They got into the car.
The car started up and drove toward their home in Arlington County, situated between Quantico and the District.
In the passenger seat,
Betty kept stealing glances at Lake.
Lake pretended not to notice.
But she continued sneaking looks from the corner of her eye.
Lake sighed. "Yes, I've been dumped again. Happy now?"
Betty grinned as if she wanted to laugh, but she quickly covered her mouth. She shook her head, took a deep breath, and asked, "How many is that now?"
Lake gave Betty a speechless look.
How many?
What kind of question was that? What did she mean, how many? Lake had always been sincere when he dated. He had never pretended to be genuine while behaving like a scumbag.
Could he be blamed when relationships fell apart?
Besides,
Putting aside the earlier ones, was this breakup really his fault? They had already been together for half a year. Lake had thought it was finally time to settle down, but then this mess had happened.
Lake sighed. "I think I'm going to die alone."
He had already been saddled with the reputation of being someone who dated one person after another, and not in a harmless way. Did he even still have a chance of finding a partner?
Lake was already considering giving up on the idea entirely and relying on phone girls to satisfy his needs in the future.
Speaking of which...
How did the other transmigrators find partners?
Betty shrugged. "I think Emma and Hermione are pretty good."
She had never met Maureen. However, during the summer vacations the year before last and last year, Betty had met Emma and Hermione. Of course, she had also met several others in previous years, but it was obvious that only those two had left a deep impression on her.
But.
What good was it that Betty thought they were good? He was the one looking for a wife, not her.
Lake rolled his eyes. "A good horse never eats grass that it has already grazed."
Betty blinked. "Do you think it would be hard to win them back, or do you think they already have someone else?"
Lake glanced at Betty. "That's an adult matter. Children should mind their own business."
Go ahead and laugh.
Go ahead and laugh.
If you ended up like you did originally and got involved with Banner because you lost your mind, just wait and see whose side I'll take. If I don't beat Banner until he shits himself, I'll take your surname.
...Wait.
Lake blinked, suddenly feeling that there was something grammatically wrong with that sentence.
Betty said helplessly, "I'm already twenty-five. I'm only five years younger than you. I'm not a child anymore. Besides, even if I don't ask, Mom will ask you when we get home."
Lake: "..."
Karen Ross!
A very gentle blonde woman—or at least, that was how Lake remembered her.
Foster homes could be good or bad. In a good foster home, you would be raised as if you were the family's biological child. Lake belonged to that category.
But there were bad ones too.
Some foster families only wanted to pocket the foster-care payments from City Hall each month. Their method was to take in as many children as possible, then use the money to fund their own food, drinks, and entertainment. As for the foster children, their attitude was simple: whatever they grew up like was up to fate.
Although there were child-protection organizations, they didn't go door to door. They only came after someone reported a case or provided information. The rundown communities in Queens were practically full of situations like that. The foster children didn't even understand what protection meant. Besides, children were naturally timid. After being beaten, who would think to seek help?
So...
From a certain perspective, Lake was very lucky. And although Lake had never changed the way he addressed Karen, she had never complained about it either. That was also why Lake had chosen to save Karen back then.
It was just that...
Whenever he thought of Karen's nagging,
Lake couldn't help but develop a headache.
Before you continue