Too Late to Hold Me Back novel Chapter 584

Harvey checked his watch. "It's already eleven. Why don't we grab some lunch before heading back out?"

"Sounds good. Since you're working so hard as our tour guide, lunch is on me. Order whatever you want."

Mira generously offered to cover the tab.

"Oh, well if you're paying, I'm going all out," Harvey joked.

The guy was clearly teasing. A few plates of dining hall food were nothing to a billionaire heir.

"Don't we need a meal plan card first?"

Elara pointed to the students swiping their IDs at the checkout counters.

"Good catch. Let's get our cards sorted so it's easier to pay."

Mira agreed.

Even though the dining hall accepted cash, the cards were far more convenient.

Once their student accounts were loaded, they regrouped near the entrance. "Alright, go grab whatever you're craving."

Harvey naturally jumped at any chance to banter with Mira. "Well, I certainly wouldn't dare refuse an invitation from Boss Mercer. The honor is entirely mine."

"Harvey!"

Mira hissed a sharp warning.

"Okay, okay, my bad. I'll watch my mouth," he chuckled, throwing his hands up in surrender.

She wanted to keep her corporate identity under wraps for as long as possible. The last thing she needed was to be treated like a zoo exhibit by everyone on campus.

"Go on, get whatever you want. I'm swiping my card for this one,"

Mira assured Elara and Leah, noticing their hesitant expressions.

"Thank you so much. The next one is on me,"

Leah promised.

Once they had all loaded their trays and claimed a table, Mira caught a glimpse of Vanessa Voss sitting nearby.

Sensing Mira's gaze, Vanessa looked up, offered a curt, acknowledging nod, and then immediately went back to her food.

Naturally, Mira didn't plan on giving a snob like her a second thought.

"Hey, isn't that Vanessa? Should we go say hi?"

Leah asked, looking eagerly at Mira.

"You can go if you want."

As soon as Leah walked away, the girl sitting next to Vanessa nudged her. "Who was that? She's so annoying."

"My new roommate. What can I do? She comes over to say hi, I can't exactly pretend she doesn't exist."

"Ugh. Those working-class girls are always trying to latch onto us.

You really should just move into our suite. Living with people who have absolutely zero social etiquette sounds like a nightmare."

Her friend looked deeply offended on Vanessa's behalf.

"It's whatever. We're classmates, we can't expect everyone to be on our level. It's annoying, but I'll deal with it."

"You're much too patient, Vanessa."

Back at their table, Leah sat down quietly and focused on her food, her earlier enthusiasm completely deflated.

Mira and Harvey kept up a steady stream of banter, while Elara chimed in with her own blunt observations.

Leah tried to interject a few times, but she simply couldn't find a natural opening in their effortless dynamic.

"Mira! Are you guys grabbing lunch too?"

Just as they were finishing up, Seraphina Quinn walked into the dining hall and spotted Mira instantly.