Chapter 2
After leaving school, I got into my Rolls-Royce, while Yasmine hopped into her Maybach.
Back then, thanks to the plot, Yasmine and I were just side characters in Sergio's story. Our whole world revolved around him, and no one else mattered.
We were always jealous of each other over him, constantly at odds, and little by little, we became people we couldn't even stand ourselves.
But now that we'd been given a second chance, we were not about to lose sight of all the good things in life just for some guy.
Instead, we were teaming up to make the most of every opportunity together.
"Yasmine," I spoke up before the car pulled away. "You've got a great vibe. My family's company is looking for a campus ambassador for one of our products. Interested in giving it a shot?"
Yasmine's ears flushed, and from across the way, she flashed me a sincere smile.
"Thanks, Sydney. Honestly, no company can grow these days without social media. I actually know a bunch of influencers with millions of followers. They're amazing at selling stuff, and they're all my girls. I'll DM you their info later," she said.
I nodded, practically buzzing with excitement.
One of the biggest reasons Sergio was able to crush my family's company in my previous life was that our growth got totally stuck.
We barely upgraded our business, and never managed to really open up the market.
This was the era of the Internet. If I didn't own the internet, I'd be out.
No way I was making the same mistake twice. The first thing I did was call my dad and tell him we had to go all-in on the internet business.
By the time I got back to campus that evening, the news was everywhere. Sergio's team had been crushed so badly it was painful to watch.
He'd gone all out, inviting his friends and family to see him shine, but in the end, the guys from the vocational school next door absolutely humiliated them.
To rub salt in the wound, the other team's captain made a point of walking up to Sergio during the awards ceremony and flipping him off right in his face.
"You've got zero skills. All you ever do is hide behind women, you spineless loser," he sneered.
That only made Sergio even more furious.
During the break between evening classes, Sergio came storming back to campus, looking absolutely pissed off as he marched straight over to confront me.
"Sydney, is this what you wanted? I lost, happy now?" he demanded.
I spread my hands and leaned back against my desk, totally unfazed.
"Did I tie your hands behind your back or something? You lost the game, and now that's somehow my fault?" I shot back.
He snapped, "You were the one who started stirring up trouble from the get-go, making everyone uncomfortable and bringing bad luck to our team.
"And with all your supposed skills, for all we know, maybe you bribed the ref to help the other team cheat."
I shot him a cold look. Truth was, I really had bribed the ref before.
In my previous life, Sergio should've lost fair and square, but I dropped a huge wad of cash to buy off the ref and fixed the match so he could win.
That move ended up getting me targeted by those vocational school thugs, and for ages, I was stuck in a living hell.
This time, without me pulling strings for him, it was only natural that Sergio lost.
But he couldn't accept that he just wasn't good enough.
He believed he got into the gym on his own skills, and blamed me for his loss.
I enunciated every word. "Sergio, if you're sick, go see a doctor. Quit thinking everyone's out to get you with your paranoia."
The whole class heard us, and at first, everyone just froze. Then, they started snickering and gossiping.
"What's up with Sydney? She's actually talking back to her crush today. Is she mad because she can't win him over?" Someone snickered.
"She's making all of us girls look bad. I've never seen anyone simp this hard before," another chimed in.
"Bet Sydney's loving this. Sergio actually came running to her for once," someone else teased.
"Girls just love the attention. She's totally baiting Sergio," another student added.
"Look at Sydney. She's pretending not to care, but she's probably secretly thrilled."
Sergio gave me a sarcastic look, as if he could see right through me.
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and said, "Forget it, I'm not going to stoop to your level.
"The staff at the venue are hounding me to pay the rest of the fees. Just hand over the money already and quit messing around. I'm not going to tolerate this much longer."
I scoffed inwardly.
I honestly had to hand it to Sergio. He really took shamelessness to a whole new level.
"Sergio, let's be real. With your skills, you never would've even set foot in the finals venue if I hadn't flexed my cash power to get you in.
"Here's the deal. If you beg me and say 'Sydney, I was wrong,' then maybe, out of the goodness of my heart, I'll cover the rest of the 200 thousand for you," I said coldly.
Just then, someone barked from the doorway.
"Seriously, how could you treat someone like that? That's just low."
The voice was so close it was almost in my ear. I narrowed my eyes.
It was Tatum Lawson, the heroine of this story, the self-proclaimed justice angel, always playing the hero for the underdog. She'd only just transferred here.
She wore her hair in tight twin ponytails, lugged a backpack made from a woven sack, and had that look of pure justice on her bronzed face.
She marched right into the classroom, planted herself between Sergio and me, her voice booming across the room.
"This is supposed to be an age of equality. Who do you think you are, pushing people around?
"So what if you're loaded? We don't need your charity. Your cash is worthless next to our pride," she snapped.
The more she talked, the more fired up she got. Finally, she slammed my books off the desk with a single dramatic gesture, yanked Sergio away, and marched out like she owned the place.
Sergio looked at Tatum, his eyes lighting up with excitement, his shoulders trembling just a bit.
I almost burst out laughing.
They'd finally met. Now let the world watch as their reputations crumbled to dust.