Chapter 1

I’m the heiress to an ultra-wealthy family.

On a whim, I confessed my feelings to a poor boy.

I never expected his childhood sweetheart to say in that syrupy, manipulative tone:

"This is nothing more than a rich girl’s little game of love, Alex. Don’t let her fool you."

Alex froze for a moment, then timidly accepted my confession.

Perhaps he realized that we belonged to different worlds, because after we started dating, he worked desperately to make money, doing everything he could to fit into my social circle.

I watched him and gradually grew touched by his sincerity, so I decided to give him a hand.

That was until his childhood sweetheart’s scholarship was canceled.

Alex came to confront me, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"How could you cancel her scholarship? Do you know how important it is to her?"

He had no proof of anything, yet he still came to question me, and I was so angry that I laughed.

I didn’t explain a single thing and simply turned around and left.

Six years later, when we met again, Alex had already become a rising tech tycoon.

Facing me in a basic business outfit, Alex assumed I had fallen into poverty and began targeting me at every turn.

He had no idea that I was only conducting a surprise inspection at one of our branch offices that day.

After leaving my advisor’s office, the class group chat posted the list of scholarship recipients.

I had never paid much attention to this kind of news, and I was about to swipe past it when Alex’s message covered the screen.

He asked me to meet him by the lake behind the school.

When I arrived, Alex’s childhood sweetheart was clinging to his side and crying.

Whitney’s nose was red, and she was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe as she slipped into his arms.

A flicker of pain crossed Alex’s eyes, and he moved his arm, but in the end, he didn’t push her away, even gently patting her back to comfort her.

Alex and Whitney had grown up together and had been accepted into the same university after high school.

Quite a few people around me had advised me that childhood sweethearts like them often didn’t know how to keep their distance and were only playing around, so I shouldn’t give them my true feelings.

I had merely laughed it off.

True feelings?

Did I even have any?

At that moment, looking at the embracing couple, amusement flashed through my eyes.

I approached them while clapping, my tone full of mockery.

"What a perfect… couple."

Alex spun around and, upon seeing me, quickly pushed Whitney away and hurried to explain himself.

I didn’t look at him, instead noticing Whitney’s fingers, clenched so tightly that they had gone pale.

Alex rambled on and on, but I raised my hand and cut him off before asking sincerely:

"Did you ask me here to book a room for the two of you?"

Whitney’s face turned red as a cooked lobster, her embarrassment mixed with an innocent expression.

"Wren, how could you think that about us?"

"Alex and I are just friends. That’s all!"

Three parts coyness, two parts smugness, and five parts embarrassment and anger.

Listening to her made me want to throw up.

I raised my eyebrows and turned to Alex.

"Do you think so too?"

I blinked, my lashes fluttering.

Alex froze for a moment. When our eyes met, he nodded.

Whitney bit her lip. Seeing that things hadn’t gone as she expected, she grabbed his sleeve and began changing the subject.

"Alex, you’re Wren’s boyfriend. Could you… ask her to give my scholarship back?"

Her voice was soft and gentle.

Alex calmly shook off her hand and glanced up at her.

After letting out a breath, he said indifferently, "I remember that, given your circumstances, you don’t need to apply for a scholarship."

Although Whitney and Alex were childhood sweethearts, her family was several times wealthier than his.

Still, I narrowed my eyes in discomfort at his words.

He hadn’t denied that I had manipulated the selection process behind the scenes.

"Can I borrow Alex for a while?" Whitney asked timidly.

She clearly had something to discuss with him.

Alex looked at me too, a trace of pleading in his eyes.

Whatever was happening in her family had nothing to do with me.

Five minutes later, Alex’s brows were tightly drawn together.

"Wren, you…" he began, carefully choosing his words.

Whitney hesitated, then tilted her head and glanced at me. Her expression grew even more innocent and helpless, as if she had already decided that I was responsible.

I stared steadily at Alex.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.