Joshua had gotten into a fight.
When Ivy received the call from the police station, it was already eleven o'clock at night.
The dormitory had a curfew, and when Ivy was about to leave, she was given a hard time by the dormitory manager, Auntie Helen. In the end, the Auntie Helen seemed to sigh at the decline of the world's morals: "Nowadays, university students, especially girls, really don't know how to take care of themselves..."
She knew Auntie Helen misunderstood something, but she had no heart to explain. She quickly left, braved the heavy snowfall at the school's side gate to hail a taxi, and then went to the police station.
Bailing Joshua required some paperwork, mainly filling out forms and paying fees.
The policeman asked Ivy: "What is your relationship with Joshua?"
After hesitating for a moment, Ivy answered, "We're childhood friends."
The Smith and Martins families had been close friends for a long time. When Joshua’s grandfather was alive, he even arranged for their grandchildren to be betrothed. There were no objections from their parent's generation, and it was assumed that Ivy would become their daughter-in-law.
Of all of them, Joshua's attitude was the most ambiguous. He couldn't be said to oppose the arrangement, as he only smiled when teased about it. Yet, he didn't seem to agree, either, as he never talked to Ivy about being together.
Though he was always good to her, he seemed to always keep his distance.
His attitude sometimes made Ivy feel a bit anxious. But she was a girl after all, and her cheeks were thin. Although she liked Joshua very much and had accepted the arrangement between their families, she never dared to take the initiative to say anything about it. Even now, she could only call herself his childhood friend.
"There's only one emergency contact in his phone, which is you. I thought you were his family," the police officer seemed a bit surprised. "He smashed a bar for his girlfriend."
Ivy paused, doubting her ears. "What... girlfriend?"
"Yes, a girl named Maria. When they were out at a bar, some punks harassed Maria, and Joshua hit them directly on the head with a bottle," the policeman clicked his tongue, "He's pretty ruthless. The man is still in the hospital undergoing surgery, and the bar was affected too. You guys need to figure out how to handle this matter, or you might end up in court."
Ivy was completely stupefied. She and Joshua communicated almost daily, either by Instagram or phone call. He had never mentioned having a girlfriend.
Upon finishing the procedures, Joshua was escorted out by the police.
It was only when Ivy looked up that she noticed a new scar on his forehead.
A full three centimeters in length, slanting across the corner of his left brow, a freshly healed scab was quite noticeable on his handsome face.
This was not Joshua's first fight.
His history of quarrels can be traced back to middle school. As a spoiled Heir from a rich and powerful family, his vocabulary never contained words like "compromise" or "retreat". For years, he had lived in sheer abandon and arrogance.
He came to Ivy and called her, "Little girl."
Those close to Ivy would call her Baby Girl. Only Joshua insisted on adding the word "little" in front. A subtle difference, but it carried a hint of familiarity and intimacy.
At this moment, Ivy was still in a daze, staring at the wound on his forehead. Naturally, she wanted to ask if it hurt, but when the words came to her lips, she changed her question: "Who is Maria?"
Joshua was taken aback for a moment. He gently tugged at her sleeve and led her out of the police station, "Let's talk outside."
Tonight's weather forecast predicted a blizzard. But the brutality of the weather far exceeded expectations.
Ivy's figure was slim. She felt as if she was about to be blown away. She regretted that in her rush to leave, she had grabbed a woolen coat that was hardly capable of warding off the wind and snow.
Joshua led her across the street to the hotel opposite.
With her mind in turmoil, Ivy clenched her coat and followed him. Her brain, almost frozen stiff, kept wondering, who was Maria?
When they entered the warm hotel lobby, she finally felt revived and managed to unclench her stiff fingers.
Without heading to the front desk, Joshua took her straight to the elevator, and said, "Maria is my girlfriend. I was planning to introduce her to you soon, but I didn't expect things to turn out this way... She's in the room upstairs."
Ivy was still stunned, she felt numb with cold, and only when she stepped off the elevator did she manage to ask a question, "If she's your girlfriend, why didn't she bail you out from the police station?"
"She was harassed by a thug and was greatly scared," Joshua explained as he walked, "Besides, the snowstorm outside is so heavy..."
He only realized his words might not be appropriate when he said them out, " Ivy, sorry for the inconvenience today. Once everything is settled down, I'll treat you to a meal."
Ivy felt like the snowstorm of the night had penetrated her heart, how could it be so cold?
Joshua knocked on the door. Someone arrived swiftly and flung herself into Joshua’s arms as soon as the door opened.
Maria spoke with a sob in her tone, "I was so scared...You're so impulsive; why did you fight with those guys? Are you hurt? Is it painful?"
"I’m fine." Joshua held Maria's hand that was reaching toward his forehead, and cleared his throat to hint her someone was there, "This is Ivy Martins."
Only then did Maria realize there was someone else in the room? She turned to look at Ivy.
Ivy possessed the kind of slightly cold beauty, her natural face wasn’t dull. However, compared with Maria who had makeup on, she seemed much more delicate.
"You must be Ivy. Joshua has often mentioned you. Nice to meet you."
Maria extended her hand, and Ivy paused before shaking hands with her out of courtesy.
Joshua closed the door behind them and sat on the couch, and Maria moved over, intending to clean his wounds with a tissue.
Ivy felt uncomfortable and stood still in her spot.
Joshua pushed Maria away, "Stop it, I'll clean up later, first I need to arrange a place for Ivy, the dormitories at the school are probably locked by now."
Joshua picked up the hotel phone to call the front desk, hanging up after only a few words.
In extreme weather conditions, the hotel was fully booked.
Maria pouted, "There's no way we can book a room now. This double room was booked by me for us this morning."
The first thought that came to Ivy's mind was that these two had booked a room in the morning - a double room, no less.
She didn't know how her attention could be so diverted, but the more she tried to suppress it, the more uncontrollable it was to think, had they already progressed to this stage? How long had they been dating?
Joshua had managed to keep this a secret so well.
About a month ago, when she met him at the Smith family home, Grandpa Smith half-jokingly asked him when he planned to marry Little Girl, she blushed deeply, and she distinctly remembered what he said.
He answered Grandpa Smith: "Grandpa, you're too eager. We should at least wait for Little Girl to graduate before we discuss this."
Her misunderstanding deepened gradually in his ambiguous attitude, often feeling differently about him.
But now, she felt that he had played a huge joke on her.
She couldn't laugh, took out her phone, and looked down, "It's okay, I'll look for other hotels nearby."
Maria suggested, "Let's help you find one on the phone, you go down quickly to see if there is another hotel nearby. If we find one, we will call you. It's more efficient if we work from both ends."
Ivy was not a fool. It was clear that Maria was rushing her out.
She also didn't want to stay, so she turned around and left.
"Wait, let me send you..." Before Joshua could finish speaking, Maria already pulled him back.
"You're injured, why are you running around? Rest instead..."
She didn't hear the rest of what he had to say, she left and closed the door.
Walking out of the hotel, the cold air hit her face, as if the world was covered by a swirling white veil.
Ivy wrapped her coat tighter. Snowflakes landed on her long eyelashes and fell when she blinked, like a teardrop.
