Chapter 324

The group dispersed to their respective rooms.

Harrison placed her suitcase by the bed and pulled out her phone. A notification flashed - Nathaniel's friend request stared back at her from the screen.

They were divorced now. He had Isabella. Harrison refused to reopen that chapter of her life. She declined the request without hesitation.

Stepping into the hallway, she collided with Lucas Harrington emerging from the opposite suite. His lips curved into an easy smile. "Harrison, I'm right here if you need anything."

She returned the smile briefly. "Noted."

The students regrouped in the lobby, venturing out into Wintervale's expansive landscape.

"Harrison, look!" Lucas pointed upward as the first snowflakes began their graceful descent. Like powdered sugar, they dusted the deserted streets, transforming the world into a monochrome wonderland.

Beyond the shore, cerulean waves clashed violently with the snowy coast - nature's perfect dichotomy of fire and ice. Breathtaking. Devastating.

Harrison tightened her white parka against the biting wind. Her porcelain skin flushed crimson at the nose and eyelids, yet she pressed forward relentlessly.

Wintervale's snowscape unfolded exactly as her father had promised. Beautiful. Brutal.

"This place is incredible!" The other students scattered like excited children.

A film of moisture clouded Harrison's vision as she approached the roaring shoreline. Cupping her frozen hands around her mouth, she shouted into the gale, "Dad! I made it to Wintervale!"

The lighthouse trembled under the ocean's assault, its answering roar vibrating through Harrison's bones. For the first time since his passing, the weight in her chest lightened.

Lucas observed her silently. No winter scene could rival her ethereal beauty in that moment.

One of the male students elbowed him. "Stop staring and go to her, man. This is literally a romance novel moment."

Lucas's eyes lit with sudden inspiration. "Give me five minutes." He sprinted back toward the hotel.

Harrison extended her palm, catching delicate snow crystals. They melted instantly against her skin, each one a fleeting moment of joy.

Then - darkness. A black umbrella materialized above her head.

"Lucas..." Her smile faltered as she turned.

Nathaniel stood there instead.

Impeccable in his charcoal overcoat and slate turtleneck, he might have stepped from the pages of a luxury magazine. The snowflakes swirling around him only enhanced his aristocratic bearing.

Harrison's breath caught. He'd claimed he wouldn't come to Wintervale. Yet here he was, materializing at the most cinematic possible moment.

His gaze traced the cold-induced blush across her delicate features, the way her eyes shimmered like frost-kissed glass. The corner of his mouth lifted as he adjusted the umbrella.

"Your hands must be freezing."