Chapter 1

After graduation, Alex Foster asked me where I was planning to go to college.

I thought about it for a moment before answering, "Camdon University, I guess."

He nodded and walked away.

Before the fall semester started, I clutched my offer from Fischer University and boarded a flight to Isonland.

When I landed, my phone lit up with more than fifty missed calls, all from Ethan.

I frowned, pulled out my SIM card, and dropped it into the nearest airport trash can.

*****

Three years later, I was working at a hotel in Angelon City.

"Check in!" WIth those words, two passports were pushed across the counter toward me.

I looked up and met Alex's icy, expressionless face.

I froze for a moment and was about to greet them.

Sophie, holding onto Alex's arm, looked me up and down, clearly unimpressed. "Emily, so this is what you came overseas for? To work the front desk? Honestly, when I heard about it, I couldn't believe it."

I raised an eyebrow, bit back the greeting I was about to offer, took their passports, and processed their check-in swiftly.

As I handed them the two room keys, Alex returned one to me.

He slowed his speech, his voice deep. "We only need one room. Sophie and I will stay together."

Sophie broke into a smile, her face glowing with excitement.

Before getting into the elevator, Sophie purposely turned back to look at me, her eyes brimming with smug triumph.

At one in the morning, the front desk phone rang.

Alex's voice was icy as he said, "Bring up some clean sheets."

I hung up and got housekeeping to swap out the sheets.

At three in the morning, the phone rang again.

Alex's voice came through. "Change the sheets."

I replied flatly, "Sorry, Mr. Foster, housekeeping's already off duty."

Alex snapped, "Then you do it," his tone brooking no argument.

So I knocked on their door, sheets in hand. Alex opened it with a towel around his waist.

Sophie was showering.

When she heard me come in, she purposely opened the bathroom door, poked her head out, and shot Alex a bashful glance.

Then she turned to me and said, "Emily, I'm really sorry for making you come all the way up so late. Don't worry, we'll do our best not to trouble you again tonight."

I quickly stripped off the old sheets and, as I put on the new ones, replied, "No need. Late-night cleaning counts as a special rush job. Just pay me thirty dollars for each as required."

Both of them went stiff for a second.

Alex smirked, turned around, and threw the cash at me from his wallet.

He sneered, "Emily, you really haven't changed. Still all about the cash, huh!"

I didn't say a word. I crouched down, picked up the cash from the floor, and slipped it into my pocket.

Then I grabbed the dirty sheets and walked out.

Inside the elevator, the doors were about to close when someone pushed them open again.

Alex stood there, his Adam's apple bobbing, frustration simmering in his eyes, barely holding back his anger.

He stared at me, his voice slow. "Emily, aren't you angry?"

I shot him a deadpan look. "Angry about what?"

His pupils contracted, clearly stunned.

"You seriously don't care at all that I'm with Sophie now?" he pressed.

"Nope. Hope you two have a great life together," I replied.

With that, I hit the close button again.

But my answer clearly didn't sit well with him. He yanked me out of the elevator and pinned me against the wall.

He leaned in. "Why did you lie to me back then?"

I frowned and gave him a hard shove.

Then I pointed at the security camera above his head and warned, "Mr. Foster, you're making me uncomfortable. If you keep this up, I'll call the police."

I stepped back into the elevator. Outside, Alex stood there, head down, looking at me with a wounded expression.

"Emily, why did you lie to me back then? Why did you leave me behind and go overseas?" he asked.

I kept my emotions in check and replied flatly, "Because I don't like you anymore."

*****

Three years ago, the night before the SATs, I went to Alex's place to give him a good luck charm I'd gotten from the church.

At his doorstep, the voice of Alex's father, Daniel Foster, boomed with authority, "Alex, I heard you've been getting close to that girl Emily from your class. Don't tell me you've caught feelings for that broke girl?"

Alex replied with a dismissive tone, "No way, Dad. I'm just messing around with her. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

That was the moment I finally saw how he really saw me all along.

I almost changed my plans for the future because of him.

Good thing fate gave me a chance to turn things around at the very last moment.

Back in middle school, I ranked first in the entire city on the entrance exam.

The school gave me a full tuition waiver and a three-year scholarship.

Everyone in my class, except for me and Sophie, was pretty much a second-generation rich kid from Riverdale.

Like something out of a TV drama, the moment Sophie and I walked into that classroom, we got totally frozen out by the trust fund kids.

They figured, out of all the schools in the city, if we chose this fancy private school, we must be up to something.

And the one who targeted me the most, and seemed to dislike me the most, was Alex.

But I didn't let it get to me. I wasn't sad or bitter, and I didn't care what anyone thought of me.

All I knew was that I had to seize this opportunity, study hard, earn scholarships, and escape that backward, sexist family as soon as I could.

My parents spent all day plotting to marry me off once I turned eighteen so they could use the wedding gifts to help my brother get a wife.

So if I wanted out, studying was my only way. I had to work hard for three years, earn enough scholarship money, and then leave the country to study abroad, never coming back.

For those three years, I was grinding at my studies and hustling for cash every chance I got.

Cafeteria shifts, shelving books in the library, scrubbing down the pool. If there was a gig, I'd be there.

In a school full of rich kids, I was a total misfit.

Even Sophie, another broke kid, told me to stop chasing money all the time.

She said that just because we were poor, didn't mean we should lose our backbone or get so obsessed with money we forget who we are.

But I didn't buy it.

After that, we became total opposites; one obsessed with money, the other proud and aloof.

When the first final exam results came out, I ranked first in the grade.

Slowly, some of the other students started to drop their prejudices and came to me with questions about their studies. I answered every one of them patiently.

Some asked to borrow my notes, others wanted tips on how to study, and I shared everything without holding back.

Later on, Alex's two friends dragged him over to ask me for tutoring. The fee they offered was an absolute fortune to me, so I agreed without a second thought.

After a semester of tutoring, I helped them jump over two hundred spots in the rankings.

Suddenly, I went from the money-chasing girl everyone avoided to the smartest girl in school. Everyone wanted my help.

Alex and I grew closer through all those tutoring sessions.

During the winter break of senior year, he confessed his feelings to me.

Honestly, except for being a little immature, Alex didn't have any flaws. After three years together, I'd caught feelings for him before I knew it.

But I didn't give him an answer right away. I only told him, if he could get into the same university as me, then I'd tell him how I really felt.