Later, Evelina and her brother’s subordinates reached a clearing where a row of bulletproof, military-grade off-road vehicles were parked. Regular luxury cars were inconvenient in a remote place like this where most of the roads were unpaved.
Her big brother, Nikolai Vetrov, was already there speaking with his other subordinates.
By just a glance, anyone could tell that he was the leader. He radiated power and danger. His cold expression betrayed no emotions to his own subordinates.
He had green eyes like her, but his were darker and more of an olive colour, while hers were like bright emeralds. Sometimes, his eyes would become so dark that they appeared black, especially when he was in a deadly, predatory mode. Unlike her blonde locks, he had black hair. These dark features made it easier for him to blend into the shadows.
Except for their green eyes which differed in shade, the siblings didn’t resemble each other at all.
Evelina Vetrova looked like an angel with the shining halo of heavenly radiance while Nikolai Vetrov looked like a demon prince whose inner darkness was fathomless.
Nevertheless, as soon as her big brother saw her, his emotionless eyes lit up and filled with gentleness in an instant. Evelina ran faster and then threw herself at him. He caught her easily as if she weighed nothing.
“Ready?”
She nodded, almost trembling with excitement.
“Alright. Let’s head to America.”
[This novel is a contracted work with W e b n o v e l . c o m (remove spaces). If you’re not reading this chapter on W e b n o v e l, it has been stolen. It’s very discouraging to see thieves profitting from my hard work. Please read this novel on W e b n o v e l. Thank you! -Arria]
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The Vetrovs had their own fleet of private aircraft to suit their various needs. At the moment, the siblings used one of Nikolai’s own private jets.
He explained to Evelina that it was a new one and that he was careful not to let their parents know about it. Unlike his straightforward sister who had no qualms revealing her thoughts—which often got her into trouble with their mother—Nikolai was a secretive person. Even Evelina didn’t know the extent of all his secrets.
As usual, they used passports with fake identities. The Vetrovs were the most wanted figures in the world. They couldn’t just openly use their real identities to travel everywhere. As an added precaution, they planted their own people in different airports from all over the world so that they could bypass regular customs screening.
Nikolai and Evelina arrived in Boston, Massachusetts early morning. They were driven to a mansion Nikolai rented beforehand. If he was travelling alone, he would’ve stayed in a hotel but since he brought his beloved sister along this time, he decided that it would be safer to stay in a private property instead.
After eating breakfast ordered from a popular Chinese restaurant, Lu Zihao left the mansion in a hurry to inspect the problem he came to resolve. He left a team of his subordinates to protect Evelina. She was allowed roam outside as long as she stayed with the bodyguards Nikolai assigned for her.
She had been to the U.S. a handful of times before but never to Boston yet. This was her first time. She was excited to explore the city and enjoy the sights.
Her bodyguards wore regular, civilian clothes so as not to attract attention. Only two of them followed beside her while the rest monitored her from a distance. However, they would arrive by her side in a flash if she ever fell in danger.
Wearing a long, flowing, floral dress, she attracted people’s attention of all ages and genders whenever she passed by.
“Wow! That babe looks hot!”
“Is she a model?”
“She looks like a movie star!”
Comments like these were common but she didn’t notice. She was too preoccupied enjoying the unfamiliar place.
Tired of walking, she asked her bodyguards to drive her to the world-famous Ivy League university nearby. It was the oldest institution of higher learning in the U.S. As a Cross Academy alumnus who even revolutionized the legendary school’s computer department into a completely new direction, she was curious about the other top schools in the world below the academy’s level.
She was one of Cross Academy’s youngest graduates in recent history, having been scouted to enroll during her teens. There were younger graduates than her, but those notable figures dated back more than a hundred years ago when the educational systems in many countries weren’t as standardized yet compared to today. The academy was able to recruit those genius individuals back then and directly groom them without any prior formal education.
When they arrived at the campus, Evelina began walking around. Most of the students she saw were around her age. As she strolled, she heard all kinds of conversations from looming deadlines, to exams, to upcoming parties, to public protests, to campus events, and a whole slew of other topics.
“Amazing,” she breathed.
Evelina couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy as she watched the students gathered in their own groups, chatting about their shared interests and simply spending time together.
‘How nice.’
Aside from the other hackers she befriended online, she really didn’t have any close friends. Even those hackers were just people she occasionally chatted with and had never met in person.
She was tempted to walk up to one of the group of students and try chatting with them, perhaps even make some friends, but with the bodyguards monitoring her, she knew that it wasn’t wise. She knew her limits. If she pushed it, even her doting big brother would harden and send her back to their Russian estate before she could fully enjoy this temporary freedom.
Sighing, she turned away with great reluctance and continued walking around.
Some distance away, a particular group of students were eyeing the beautiful young woman.
“Whoa. That girl is gorgeous! She looks around the same age as us. Do you think she’s a student here?”
“I don’t know. She doesn’t look like it. From the way she’s looking around, she should be a visitor.”
“Those two guys walking beside her look hot, too. Do you think one of them is her boyfriend?”
“I know, right? But man, how could a human being be so beautiful? Is she for real? Do you think she got anything done on herself?”
“Nah, she looks natural to me.”
The group of students who were also friends continued talking about the beautiful woman until she disappeared from their view.
“By the way, where’s Liam? Is he still coming with us to eat lunch?”
“Yeah, he should be. Don’t know why he’s still so busy when he already graduated and got his bachelor’s degree this past spring.”
“Because he enrolled in some classes this summer to get a head start for his accelerated MBA degree this coming fall.”
“Damn overachiever.”
