Chapter 1
After three years of shamelessly chasing after my crush, Kristian Mason, he finally said yes to having dinner with me.
Suddenly, a system popped up in my mind.
[The 'Simps Never Prosper' system has been activated.]
[Give a guy the cold shoulder once, and your looks level up by one.]
[Refuse a guy's request once, and you get 35 thousand dollars.]
Kristian showed up two hours late and shamelessly expected me to pay for everything.
I glanced at him, with pathetic little affection left, and just flipped the table right then and there.
"Why don't you just eat dirt?" I shot back, not bothering to hide my annoyance.
As I turned to leave, my phone buzzed.
[35 thousand dollars has been deposited into your bank account.]
Staring at my glowing reflection in the mirror, it finally hit me.
The less I cared about men, the easier life became.
*****
It was my twenty-third birthday.
I spent the whole day preparing a table full of Kristian's favorite dishes, along with a beautiful strawberry mousse cake, all made with the salary I'd saved up from two months of my internship.
By seven in the evening, he still hadn't shown up.
By eight, he was still a no-show.
At nine, the door was finally slammed open.
Kristian stumbled in, reeking of booze, with three rowdy buddies trailing behind him, all laughing and joking.
He turned my carefully prepared dinner table into a poker table, plopped down, and jerked his chin at me.
"Emily, why are you just standing there? Pop open a few beers for us and slice up some fruit," Kristian said.
He sounded so casual, like he was bossing me around as if I were a waitress.
I clenched my fists, rage bubbling up inside me.
The blond guy behind him laughed even more obnoxiously. "Kristian, your girlfriend's got skills. She can cook. Guess she's our resident chef from now on."
Kristian didn't even try to deny it. He just flashed a smug grin.
He grabbed the fancy fork I'd set out, dragged it carelessly through the strawberry cake, scooped up a glob of cream, and shoved it into his mouth.
With a look of pure annoyance, he muttered, "Way too sweet. It makes me sick."
Then, without a care, he plunged the fork, covered in his spit, right into the middle of the cake.
In that instant, something inside me just snapped.
[Warning: Host is about to act like a simp. If you choose to swallow your pride, your looks will drop by five points, and you'll gain ten pounds.]
The cold, mechanical voice exploded in my mind.
I stared at my reflection in the mirror, my face dull and tired, looking from all those late nights and stress, dark circles under my eyes that never seemed to fade.
Then I glanced at the guy in front of me, acting like he was entitled to everything I'd done for him.
Three years of being a pushover and worshipping him turned out to be nothing but a joke.
I walked over, grabbed the birthday cake he'd messed up, with Kristian's stunned gaze fixed on me.
"You like it?" I asked.
Before he could answer, I flicked my wrist and smashed the whole cake right onto his self-important, supposedly handsome face.
Cream was dripping from his hair, strawberries slipping right down his collar.
Kristian totally froze.
His buddies suddenly went silent, their laughter cut short.
"Get out." I pointed at the door, my tone so cold that it could freeze the air.
Kristian wiped his face, cream blinding him, and shouted furiously, "Emily, have you lost your mind?"
I didn't even bother to respond. I stormed into the kitchen and pulled out the trash bag I'd stashed earlier.
Making sure they saw every second of it, I tossed every dish from the table into the trash bag, one after another.
There were fried chicken, beef steak, and lobster.
These were dishes I'd spent ages learning to make, failing over and over before I finally got them right.
But now, looking at them, they might as well be garbage to me.
Kristian's face went from red to pale, then turned green with rage.
"Emily!" he yelled, reaching out to grab me.
I hefted the heavy trash bag and sidestepped him, dodging his grasp.
[Gave him the cold shoulder. Looks improved by one point, and skin got smoother.]
[Turned down his ridiculous request. Bank account has an extra 35 thousand dollars.]
I walked to the door and tossed the trash bag hard at Kristian's feet.
"You and all this garbage, get out of my house," I said.
With that, I slammed the door shut.
Finally, it was quiet.
I walked up to the mirror. The girl staring back at me looked more defined, her features clearer, and her skin even had a bit of a glow.
I smiled.
Damn, flipping the table felt so good.
The next morning, I was jolted awake by my phone buzzing nonstop.
It was Kristian.
There were dozens of unread messages, each one a long rant. The gist was that I'd gone too far last night, embarrassed him in front of his friends.
And he wanted me to send him 1,500 dollars right away so he could take them out to dinner and make up for it.
His logic was next-level ridiculous.
I looked around, taking in all his stuff scattered everywhere.
He loved to flaunt those limited-edition sneakers, saying he could only show them off because I bought them for him.
That gaming keyboard blew half my paycheck.