Chapter 5

When the results of the second prep test came out, Mr. Davis and Mr. Miller were ecstatic.

I had jumped another fifteen ranks, and Chloe had secured the number three spot in the entire district.

Meanwhile, Tyler’s scorecard was slammed onto the principal's desk.

He got a 300 on his math section. His overall score was in the bottom tier of the school.

When his mother was called into the office that afternoon, I realized how bad Tyler's situation had gotten.

Skipping school, failing classes, staying out all night—his academic performance had completely collapsed.

His mother sobbed in Mr. Davis’s office, promising she would hire a private tutor to fix this.

When Tyler came out of the office, his face was pale and tense.

Seeing Chloe and me sitting together in the hallway, reviewing a chemistry sheet, he lost it and marched over.

"Chloe, you're going to tutor me."

Chloe didn't even look up. "I don't have time."

"I'll pay you!" Tyler pulled a stack of hundred-dollar bills from his pocket and slammed them onto our study table. "Name your price."

Chloe finally raised her head, her gaze cool and detached. "I don't need your money."

Tyler’s face flushed a deep, angry red. His voice cracked.

"Who are you pretending to be? You wear cheap clothes from Target. You eat the cheapest salads in the cafeteria. Don't play the rich girl with me!"

He pointed a finger at my nose. "Is it because Ethan is your little dog that you tutor him?"

"If you help me get my score up for an Ivy League school, I’ll do whatever you want—"

"That is enough!" Mr. Davis’s voice boomed from the doorway.

Tyler froze, his mouth shutting instantly.

His father, who had arrived late, walked down the hallway and stopped dead when he saw Chloe.

"Chloe?" Tyler’s father gasped.

Tyler was confused. "Dad, you know her?"

Tyler’s father quickly stepped forward, offering his hand to Chloe with immense respect. "This is Mr. Wood’s youngest daughter. I just saw her at her father's private charity gala last month."

The hallway went dead silent.

Tyler's face turned white as sheet. The puzzle pieces finally clicked in his head.

"Chloe!" Tyler lunged forward, grabbing her arm. "I'm your actual e-boyfriend!"

"Ethan is a fraud! He thought Bella was annoying, so he forced me to swap accounts with him!"

I took a deep breath. "You were the one who begged me to swap, Tyler."

"Shut up!" Tyler screamed at me. "You knew Chloe was a rich genius all along! You pretended to know nothing just so she would tutor you!"

"You've been targeting her family's wealth from the start!"

He turned back to Chloe, his eyes bloodshot. "I'm your boyfriend! I'm your first love!"

"We talked for three months! You cared so much about my studies. You can't tell me you felt nothing for me!"

Tyler’s parents stood by, silent but with a desperate spark of hope in their eyes. If Chloe really was Tyler's girlfriend, his grades would be saved, and their family would secure a tie with the wealthy Wood family.

Chloe pulled her arm out of his grip and took a step back.

"Did you honestly think I didn't know you cheated me?"

Tyler froze.

Chloe said, "The very first day I met Ethan, I knew he wasn't the guy I had been texting."

Her voice was ice-cold. "Your business with Bella wasn't a secret. Everyone knew you guys were skipping school to hang out at motels and internet cafes."

"And I know you bragged to Bella about swapping your 'boring nerd' e-girlfriend for her."

Tyler’s face drained of all color.

"I never liked you," Chloe added. "My roommate was the one using my account to text you back then because she thought your profile picture was hot."

"The day I agreed to meet Ethan was the first day I actually used that account myself. From the very beginning, the only person I liked was Ethan."

Both Tyler and I stared at her, utterly stunned.