Chapter 3

I got up, grabbed my brand-new handbag, brushed off the imaginary dust from my clothes, and walked right up to Evelyn.

I said, "I don't care how much you've borrowed online. That little bit of money I asked for last time wasn't enough. Since you say I'm asking you for money, then you'd better prepare a little more this time.

"How about 600 thousand? After all, my husband is willing to pay for you. If the three of you want to be a happy little family, go ahead. As long as you give me enough money, I'll let you guys be.

"Otherwise, once people find out that a teacher is behaving this way, breaking up one of her students' families, your reputation—"

I reached out and gently brushed my fingers across Evelyn's cheek, and couldn't help but laugh. "Your reputation won't survive."

Then I headed upstairs in my heels, humming a little tune as I went, leaving Charles and Jason staring after me in disbelief.

Evelyn remained where she was, her face drained of color, too stunned to react.

*****

After taking a shower, I started working through the graduate-school application stuff I had downloaded online.

I came from a small town, and since I wasn't gifted academically, I had always relied on hard work to make up for it. That was why I chose the liberal arts and eventually majored in foreign languages in college.

According to my educational records and other information, my primary major had been Dynash, and I had also taken Mozerish as a minor.

Throughout my four years of college, whenever I wasn't memorizing vocabulary or doing internships, I was studying for one exam after another.

Thankfully, I recognized most of the words in the textbook. Otherwise, grad school would have been wishful thinking.

That night, I printed out three practice exams online to see where I stood.

I had just finished the first one when I reached for my phone to check the time. That was when I saw a message from Charles, whose notifications I had muted. [I wired you 600 thousand.

[Don't you dare go mouthing off, or I won't let you get away with it. There is nothing going on between Evelyn and me. We're friends.]

I glanced at the bank notification, remembered what the lawyer said, and sent the money straight back.

Charles was confused.

I was busy typing when he fired off another message. [Even if you want to apologize now, I won't forgive you. Mia, you're nuts.]

I frowned, hunting for the right keys.

It took me a while, but I finally finished typing. [If you're transferring the money, please state clearly that it is a gift. Otherwise, I won't accept it.]

After I sent that, Charles went silent for more than ten minutes.

I got bored and jumped back into studying.

By the time I finished the second test, I checked my phone again.

There was another transfer from Charles. [20 million. It's a gift to Mia.]

I smiled in satisfaction and accepted it.

The withdrawal fee was 600 dollars. That hurt.

After thinking it over, I decided to leave the money in my account and use it straight from there to rent a place in Ashford, close to the suburbs.

I found the apartment online. The landlord used a young man's profile picture, and he didn't say much, but the apartment itself was excellent.

It was a standard two-bedroom, two-living-room, and two-bathroom apartment. The listing said there was already one tenant, so technically, we'd be sharing the place.

However, the apartment was spacious enough that, aside from the front door, we barely had to interact with each other.

Most importantly, the rent was less than half the price of a nearby one-bedroom apartment.

Therefore, I didn't hesitate and transferred the money right away.

The landlord didn't waste any time either. He confirmed the payment in under two minutes.

Then I tossed my phone aside and got back to studying.

While I was at it, I went ahead and applied for grad school online.

After the practice tests the night before, I realized my brain was still working just fine.

Maybe it was because I had never stopped learning over the years after getting married. After looking over the admissions requirements for a few graduate programs and testing myself on some practice materials, I realized I was academically capable of getting in.

I couldn't understand why I had spent all these years letting my education stop at a bachelor's degree when I had such good conditions to go further.

I was such an idiot.

For the next few days, I quietly studied while packing up my things.

Since I liked studying at night and sleeping during the day, my schedule was the opposite of Charles and Jason's.

While they were at school or work, I was usually sleeping in late. I used the money Charles gave me to hire a housekeeper who took care of all my meals and kept the place spotless.

After all, I was only eighteen inside. Who would want to spend the rest of their life chained to housework and a kitchen? Paying for some peace was an excellent deal as far as I was concerned.

At night, I studied like crazy, worked through practice questions, and took exam after exam.

For the next month and a half, the three of us lived under the same roof without crossing paths once.

Three days before the competition that could earn me a spot in a graduate program, I finished packing my last suitcase and left it by the door, ready to be shipped out.

Right then, Charles came back with Jason.

The moment Jason saw me, his face soured. "Don't tell me you're pulling another disappearing act. Dad and I are going to the amusement park with Ms. Carter. Even if you leave, we're still going."

Jason gave my suitcase a hard kick.

I frowned and looked up at him. "Relax. I'm packing up some old stuff."

Charles walked over. Maybe it was because we hadn't seen each other much lately, but he was much less hostile than before.

He said, "Jason's got finals coming up, so his teacher has been coming over a lot lately. Once summer break starts, the three of us can hang out together."

I nodded. I didn't feel like talking to him any more than necessary. I only wanted to know why the delivery driver I'd called still hadn't shown up.