Chapter 2

I looked at her ridiculously exaggerated smoky makeup and casually waved my hand like I didn't care.

"I'm good. I'll just wash up and sleep. It's all about genes anyway. I know what I look like—I'm nowhere near your level," I said.

That comment made Victoria extremely pleased. She patted even more powder on her face, then casually grabbed my designer perfume and sprayed it all over herself.

Only then did she sway her hips in satisfaction and walk out the door in her little high heels.

It was almost curfew time, and Victoria still hadn't come back.

That's when I remembered she had mentioned earlier that Adam's parents were both away on business this week, and the nanny had gone back to her hometown.

It looked like without my interference, those two were getting along just fine.

With a loud "bang—", the dorm door was slammed open. Victoria rushed in, tossed her bag onto the bed, and shouted with a face full of joy.

"I knew it! Seducing an inexperienced little puppy like him is way too easy for me!"

Another roommate, Sophie Young, had just come out of the bathroom. Hearing that, she rolled her eyes, pushed past her, put away her toiletries, and slammed the cabinet door shut with a "bang."

"It was just a bit of your perfume," Victoria spat at her back. When no one paid attention, she didn't care at all. She flipped her hair and continued bragging to me.

"Rachel, he was so easy to fool! I just said he was a high school senior and needed to relax a bit, and he followed me happily like a little puppy!

"You know, the first time we met he was completely hooked. He kept staring at my face until I reminded him to snap out of it," she said.

"Even when we went out, every time I caught him looking he'd blush. I took him for barbecue and he kept sneaking glances—then the spice hit him hard and he started coughing with tears in his eyes!"

I looked at her makeup that was already a total mess and held back my laughter for a long time.

Victoria didn't notice at all. She was still lost in the joy of her first successful step and kept talking until lights-out.

"Alright, I'm done talking to you. I need to sleep early tonight and get in the right mood to keep working on this little puppy tomorrow!" she said.

She kicked off her high heels in a few quick moves, grabbed her toiletries and makeup remover, and headed to the bathroom. Halfway there she stopped, patted her chest, and said confidently,

"Rachel! I guarantee it—within three days, he'll be completely mine!"

The next day during class, Victoria was suddenly called away by the advisor.

I made up an excuse and quietly followed her.

In the advisor's office, an elegantly dressed and refined middle-aged lady stood with her arms crossed, questioning them sharply.

"Do you even know who my son is? How could you arrange a woman like that to tutor our Adam?" she snapped.

It was Sibyl White, Adam's mom. In both lifetimes, this was the first time I'd ever seen her.

I remembered in my previous life hearing Victoria complain more than once about her strong controlling nature—she even scheduled every minute of what Adam studied and ate.

One of my own tutoring students was in the same class as Adam, so I asked him and learned that Adam had taken leave because of acute gastroenteritis and was getting IV fluids at the hospital.

"On the very first day she fed my son all kinds of random junk!!" Sybil snapped.

The advisor didn't look too pleased either.

Our university had an official tutoring center packed with solid resources.

Victoria had been their golden pick for Sibyl, so what she pulled was straight-up dragging the whole center through the mud.

Just when I thought she was 100% getting kicked out, with a loud "thud" Victoria dropped to her knees right in front of the advisor and Sibyl.

"I'm so sorry, Mrs. White! I only did it because I wanted Adam to like me!" she begged, voice cracking.

"Please don't fire me! This job is all I've got to survive on. I swear it'll never happen again!"

The advisor had no clue what was really going on. To him Victoria had always been a model student, so he looked completely lost.

"Well... Victoria's always been one of our top students. She gets financial aid every semester, and that's exactly why our tutoring center recommended her so highly to you," the advisor explained, trying to smooth things over.

"Mrs. White, we're really sorry your son had to go through this. Maybe there's just been some kind of misunderstanding?"

I had to admit—Victoria's acting was Oscar-worthy. Her tearful, pathetic sobbing even made Sibyl's eyes start to soften.

With the advisor backing her up too, after a long silence Sibyl finally let out a heavy sigh.

"Fine. You can finish out the semester," she said.

Victoria looked like she just won the lottery. She scrambled up, tears still streaming, thanking Sibyl over and over without even wiping her face.

But I caught her shooting Sibyl a couple of pure hate glares the second Sibyl turned away.

Because Sibyl started dropping by to sit in on lessons every now and then, Victoria actually behaved herself for a while.

But she wasn't about to quit. After thinking hard, she decided to bond with Adam over gaming.

Since Sibyl didn't let Adam use any electronics after 9 PM, Victoria figured she'd just buy him a brand-new phone.