Chapter 2

"Alex, forget it." Whitney couldn’t bear to watch him struggle. "I can make money. I can get a job or deliver food. I’ll definitely be able to earn enough…"

Alex’s eyes suddenly reddened as he remembered his painful past.

"Whitney, you don’t have to do that. I’ll get justice for you."

He said those words while looking directly into my eyes.

I smiled indifferently, my voice cold.

"So you think I’m behind this?"

Alex neither nodded nor denied it.

But his silence was an admission.

Whitney bit her lip.

"Alex, don’t trouble yourself."

Alex suddenly grabbed my hand.

"Wren…"

Whenever Alex needed something from me in the past, he had worn this same expression.

I shook off his hand and stared at Whitney, suddenly finding the whole thing ridiculous.

"Do you really think I care about three thousand dollars?"

My mocking tone instantly ignited the inferiority buried in both of them.

Whitney pressed her lips tightly together, tears gathering in her eyes as if they might fall at any moment.

But she forced herself to hold them back, like a stubborn little flower.

"Yes! Three thousand dollars might mean nothing to you, but to me, it could save my entire family!"

I snapped my fingers.

"Fine. Let’s go see the advisor."

Whitney immediately wilted, gripping her hands tightly and looking utterly wronged.

When Alex couldn’t see, however, she gave me a meaningful look.

I raised my eyebrows, grabbed her arm, and started dragging her toward the advisor’s office.

"The heiress likes playing games. I’m enough to keep her company by myself."

Alex laughed, wearing a smile I had never seen on his face before.

It was strange.

A mocking laugh.

A sarcastic laugh.

There was a barb in his voice.

"Everyone knows the heiress is close to the advisor."

"And besides, you just came out of the advisor’s office. Don’t tell me you really didn’t know about this?"

I was speechless.

I had no time to play along with his ridiculous performance of protecting his childhood sweetheart.

The selection criteria were written clearly in black and white, and the students who had participated in the evaluation were all in our class.

There were countless ways for him to verify the truth.

Yet he had chosen the most absurd one.

People who don’t believe you will never believe you, no matter how much you explain.

"Believe whatever you want."

I strode away.

Alex lost his temper and shouted behind me, "Someone like you could never understand how much a scholarship means to people like us!"

The winter wind was bitter and fierce.

I had come out too quickly, and my face had turned purple from the cold, so I couldn’t help sneezing.

Jason appeared from somewhere and threw a fur coat at me, teasing me.

"It’s rare to see Miss Wren looking this pathetic."

I elbowed him.

"If you have something to say, say it."

Jason flashed an obsequious smile.

"Lend me some money."

I knew it.

After fiddling with my phone, I headed toward the apartment.

"You really are as generous as ever." After checking his phone, Jason shouted at my back, "Thanks, sis!"

Jason ran into Alex, who was hurrying over.

He looked at Alex with obvious disdain, walked around him, muttered something under his breath, and left without even sparing him a glance.

Alex watched me walk away in the fur coat, then lowered his head and looked at the shabby jacket in his hands.

A wave of self-mockery rose in his heart.

But he still ran up to me and apologized in a low voice.

"Wren, I didn’t disbelieve you. I just…"

"You just have a problem with me," I interrupted, covering my mouth dramatically. "Oh, no! You’re prejudiced against people like me."

Alex lowered his eyes and tried to grab my hand, but I dodged him.

I understood his pride, but I cared more about how I felt.

He made me uncomfortable.

I looked him over from the corner of my eye.

The only attractive thing about him was his face.

Back then, it was because I had fallen for that face that I tolerated Whitney’s syrupy manipulation.

"It’s not like that."

His words fell into the cold wind and disappeared with it.

Alex looked dejected, the tip of his nose red and tears faintly shining in his eyes.

There was no doubt that anyone I chose as my boyfriend would be good-looking.

I suddenly remembered when Alex and I had just started dating.

He had worked hard every day to fit into my social circle, saving money just to buy me an expensive necklace.

The necklace was ordinary among my many pieces of jewelry, but Alex had spent an entire month coding to afford it.