"Sex."
Philip said it in a very serious, deadpan manner.
The room fell into complete, uncomfortable silence at his word.
Lucas froze mid-motion, his body going rigid as he slowly turned to stare at Philip in utter disbelief. Meanwhile, Odette's face was starting to show visible signs of panic, her eyes widening.
"I'm kidding, of course," Philip continued quickly, breaking the tension.
"Ehem—Lucas, shall we leave now?" Philip said, clearing his throat awkwardly.
His badly delivered joke didn't receive any applause or even a polite chuckle from anyone.
Lucas opened the door with more force than necessary, and they both exited into the hallway.
Odette, still confused and processing what just happened, could only weakly wave goodbye at them without saying a single word.
"What the fuck were you thinking?!" As soon as they closed the door behind them, Lucas shouted, his professional composure completely shattered.
They'd grown so comfortable with each other over the years that Lucas often couldn't maintain his strict professionalism around Philip anymore.
"I was trying to lighten the tension!" Philip shouted back defensively at the same volume.
"By suggesting you sleep with her?!"
"What the fuck was I supposed to say then?"
"Uhh... I don't know, maybe answer like a normal human person? That might suffice!" Lucas threw his hands up in exasperation.
Lucas would normally simply tell Philip in a calm voice that what he'd said was inappropriate and that he shouldn't say such things.
But whenever Philip found himself in an awkward social situation, he would randomly blurt out completely inappropriate comments like this.
These situations would make Lucas scold him every single time without fail.
And every time, Philip would always have some ridiculous defense for himself instead of just owning up to his mistake.
They would then spiral into these unserious arguments that went nowhere.
For Philip, this was basically a simple rage-baiting process that he found entertaining.
Although he didn't intentionally say these things to provoke Lucas—
Seeing Lucas's mild outburst and flustered reaction was always an enjoyment for him.
Other than times like these, Lucas was always so reserved and professional, maintaining that perfect assistant vibe.
"For fuck's sake," Lucas muttered, feeling utterly helpless at how his employer still couldn't learn basic civic sense no matter how much time passed.
Lucas stormed off towards the stairs, not even bothering to wait for the elevator to arrive, leaving Philip standing alone in the hallway.
"Are you that angry?" Philip called out in a playful tone as he quickly followed behind.
"I'm sorry," he added, though his tone suggested he wasn't particularly sorry at all.
The echo of their voices rang through the empty concrete stairwell.
Odette, who had been quietly listening to their entire exchange through the apartment's ring camera intercom, couldn't help but chuckle at their bizarre interaction.
They didn't even appear to be boss and employee to her at all.
More like two brothers with completely distinct personalities constantly bickering.
As they finally left the building and silence settled back into the apartment, Philip's terrible joke rang in her head once more.
She recalled the exact feeling she'd had when she first heard Philip say it so seriously.
Was she really about to agree to it for just a split second?
She violently shook her head, trying to physically clear the thought, and firmly decided not to think about it anymore.
---
Back at Ashford Global campus.
Philip and Lucas had both arrived back at the main campus entrance in their car.
And this time they drove straight through without stopping to admire it.
The inside of the campus was just as architecturally magnificent as the grand entrance had been.
An open courtyard stretched before them, its floor meticulously designed with expensive marble tiles, and an ornate fountain stood proudly at the center of it all, water cascading down.
A large, impressive building slightly raised from the ground level stood directly up front. "Administrative Building" was written in large letters on a sign placed prominently at its entrance.
Philip confidently led the way into the building, and Lucas followed a step behind him.
Inside, an old lady with a perpetually grumpy expression and reading glasses on a chain around her neck sat behind the front counter.
The counter itself was built in such a way that only visitors' shoulders and above could be seen from her position.
And with the old lady's deliberately lowered seat, she could only see their necks and heads.
The old lady caught sight of the two figures entering the building in the corner of her eye but didn't bother looking up properly.
Her eyes remained completely glued to the romance novel she was reading.
Not paying them any attention whatsoever, as if they didn't exist.
"Good evening, ma'am. I'm here for my dorm assignment," Philip asked politely, his voice echoing slightly in the empty lobby.
A few long seconds passed in silence before the lady finally closed her book with an audible snap.
"Why are you so late? Don't you see the sign?" she said irritably, pointing a wrinkled finger at a laminated notice stuck to the counter.
"No service will be provided after 7 PM," she recited.
"Come back tomorrow morning," she dismissed them curtly as she immediately continued reading her book.
Philip looked at the sign, then down at his expensive watch.
It was already past 8:30 PM.
His brows furrowed in visible disappointment.
But he wasn't really in a rush anyway—he was already four days behind schedule, so he didn't particularly care about spending tomorrow morning settling into the dorm.
He could still attend the afternoon and evening classes without issue.
With this resigned thought in mind, Philip shrugged his shoulders and turned to leave without argument.
"Wait," Lucas said firmly before Philip could start walking away. He leaned in close to the counter.
"Madam, we enrolled late this evening, so we would really appreciate it if we could check in tonight."
"Here is the student ID," Lucas said smoothly as he slid Philip's ID card across the counter, where it fell onto her desk with a soft clatter.
The old lady noticed the ID that had been basically thrown at her and felt deeply annoyed by the disrespectful gesture.
She wanted to throw it right back out and give them both a piece of her mind.
"Like I told you, you canno—" Her sentence abruptly stopped as she stood up from her low seat, about to throw the ID back at them.
In her seated position, she could only see their necks and faces—not what they were actually wearing below.
But now, having lifted herself from her chair, she quickly noticed that one man was wearing an immaculate black suit with a white silk tie.
And the younger one standing behind wore a beautifully tailored three-piece suit and an expensive-looking golden cufflink that caught the light.
Why would someone dress to such an extent just to check into a basic student dorm?
With growing hesitation, she actually inspected the ID card she'd been about to throw back.
And to her genuine surprise, the name printed on it read "Philip Whitmore."
She didn't need anyone to tell her who that family name belonged to. And based on their refined appearance, she was quite certain this wasn't just someone with the common last name "Whitmore."
She quickly smoothed down her wrinkled dress, grabbed the official dorm register book, and hurried out from behind the counter.
"The dorm is this way. Please follow me," she said with sudden politeness, pointing towards the building's entrance.
Her entire demeanor and facial expression had completely changed and was now far more pleasing to the eye.
It was a well-known fact across campus that Ashford Global's main source of substantial income came from the massive donations they received yearly from multiple corporate sectors.
This was precisely why the institute could afford to take in so many scholarship students without going bankrupt.
The scholarship students with exceptional talent would then be recruited directly by those same companies after they graduated.
It was a win-win situation for both parties involved.
Large companies helping brilliant students in financial need while simultaneously investing resources in their own future employees.
And among all the generous donors, Whitmore Corporation was consistently one of the top contributors every single year.
The old lady hadn't been scheduled on shift for evening hours and genuinely didn't expect someone like the heir of Whitmore Corporation to show up at the dorms.
If she had known, she wouldn't have acted like she did earlier.
---
The three of them walked along a smooth marble tile path that ran alongside the administrative building and curved around it.
The entire path was illuminated with artificial lights planted sparsely but strategically across their way, creating dramatic shadows.
The old lady—Donna—pointed out every significant landmark along the route, detailing their historical significance with the enthusiasm of a tour guide.
She'd been working this job for many years and had learned to be extremely thick-skinned when dealing with students.
If neither Philip nor Lucas intended to point out her poor service from earlier, she certainly wasn't planning to bring it up or apologize.
After about a ten-minute walk from the administrative building, they finally arrived at their destination.
A three-story building stood before them, with the same architectural structure and design as Odette's dorm building.
Several similar dorm buildings were spread strategically across the massive campus.
Each one was placed close to its respective academic department for convenience.
Philip had enrolled in the global trading and e-commerce department, so his assigned dorm was placed quite far from the main entrance.
"This is your assigned dorm," Donna said as she double-checked the register book.
"You can call or report to me for anything you need."
"I'm Donna Blair," she declared, her voice much friendlier now.
Contrary to their first awkward interaction, Donna was now acting more like a helpful concierge than a grumpy administrator.
"Thank you. I think I can take it from here," Philip replied with a polite nod.
Donna headed back towards the administrative building, leaving Lucas and Philip standing at the entrance of the dorm.
"You too, Lucas," Philip said, turning to face him.
"I think I can take it from here," Philip repeated while staring up at the structure of the building.
"Really? Don't you want me to come in with you?" Lucas asked, surprised.
"No need."
"You already had all the necessary things delivered here, right?"
"That is correct," Lucas confirmed.