Left the Abyss for My Golden Dream

Synopsis

Louise Turner and Simon Hayes were campus legends at Royal College, and their story of a girl chasing a guy had been retold in countless ways. Louise was the pampered heiress who barely passed high school, scraped through the SATs, and basically bought her way into Royal College by donating two buildings. Simon was the campus heartthrob and genius, winning gold medals in competitions since high school, got into Royal College on a full scholarship, but came from a poor family and was famously aloof and unapproachable. Anyone who saw them together would say they were from completely different worlds. But Louise had to go after Simon, no matter how tough it was. She cooked for him, took care of his health, and set up a special scholarship to motivate him. Wherever Simon showed up, she was always right there, like his shadow. When she saw him working late in the lab and getting sidelined, she spent 30 million dollars to build him his own private lab. But that only got her labeled as "clingy" and "cheap". She thought maybe it was time to give up. But that very night, Simon reached out to her. Louise never imagined that someone so cold could have such soft lips. They'd been together for five years, and today was their anniversary. Louise had booked a fancy music restaurant for a surprise, but the message she sent that morning still hadn't been replied to by ten at night. She called Simon thirty times, but all she got was a cold, automated voice telling her his phone was off. By the time the restaurant closed, the waiter gave her a look that was both awkward and full of sympathy. "Miss, if he doesn't value you, maybe it's time to let go," the waiter blurted out as he locked up. Louise's fingers froze, but she refused to back down and drove straight to Simon's office. As soon as she parked, her phone buzzed. Simon, who'd been MIA all day, finally replied: [Working.] Louise looked up at the pitch-black office building, a bitter smile tugging at her lips. Then, out of nowhere, a familiar account popped up in her feed with a new set of photos. She couldn't help but click on it. It was Haley Carter, Simon's junior, who posted nine photos about hiking and eating out, and Simon was in every single one. The caption read: [Simon promised he'd spend every initiation anniversary with me, and he's never missed a single one.] In the familiar background, Louise spotted the name of that trendy restaurant everyone was talking about. It was only one street over from the place she'd booked. While Louise waited alone at the restaurant until closing, Simon was spending the evening hiking and having dinner with Haley.