Chapter 2

I knew what Winona was talking about.

About a month ago, on a night when I was a little tipsy, I had my arm around Winona and said jokingly, "My family's buried in assets."

But my words were slurred. She thought that I said "debts."

After giving her everything I'd got for the past three years, it turned out that it was outweighed by one misunderstanding.

A strange urge suddenly bubbled up inside me.

I decided to test her, deliberately going along with her misunderstanding.

I said, "Yeah, my family really is drowning in debt. I'm not worthy of the future you deserve. But..."

On the other end of the line, Winona let out a loud, unfiltered scoff.

She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "Yeah, I think so too. Let's break up.

"My bestie was right. We were never really a good fit.

"You're way out of my league. It's almost May and you're still struggling with your thesis, while I've already landed a job offer. We're just on totally different levels, and that gap's only gonna get bigger.

"If you keep hanging on, it's just sad."

I was about to say something else, but she just hung up on me.

When I tried calling back, I was notified that she had blocked me.

She'd also blocked me on WhatsApp.

I got dumped just like that.

However, what I actually said back then was that my family was buried in assets.

Three years together, and I never let her pay for anything.

I wondered why she ended up thinking I was broke.

I still hadn't finished my thesis because I had chosen the most challenging topic.

I love pushing myself. I'd rather take it slow and nail it than rush and settle for less.

I didn't understand why she had such a big misunderstanding about me.

After being together for three years, she never really knew me at all.

After the breakup, I felt really messed up inside, so I called up my friend and asked him to go out for drinks.

I spilled everything about the breakup.

He covered his mouth and cracked up for a good while.

He said, "Honestly, Neil, you're the most low-key rich kid I've ever met."

I swirled my drink and shrugged, "As long as life's comfortable, what's the point of chasing after fancy brands?"

He gave my shoulder a firm pat and said, "Getting dumped sucks, but honestly, it's a good thing to walk away from someone so materialistic. Just wait. When she finds out who you really are, she'll be kicking herself."

I gave a wry smile and shook my head. "She's already blocked me. How's she ever gonna find out?"

My friend raised an eyebrow. "Did you even look at her job offer? The company she's joining is one of your family's subsidiaries."

I froze for a second, then it hit me. "No wonder the name sounded familiar."

My friend burst out laughing. "I get it. You've got so many businesses that you can't even keep track, right?"

I didn't say anything. I just tipped my head back and downed my drink in one go.

After being together for three years, Winona dumped me off so decisively.

The irony was ridiculous.

As I was starting to feel the buzz, my phone suddenly vibrated.

I squinted at the screen and opened the message, stunned for a moment.

It was from Winona's bestie, Lucy Morrison.

Lucy: [Neil, are you okay?]

I frowned and just sent her a question mark.

She instantly replied with a screenshot. It was a post Winona had just put up on her social media feed.

The caption wrote: [Happy breakup, hello future.] A flawless selfie was attached underneath.

Since I didn't reply, Lucy shot me a voice message.

I tapped it open, and her voice was all cutesy and sweet, almost playful.

Lucy said, "Winona is just way too stubborn. Did you guys really break up? Did she block you? If you want me to pass a message to her, just let me know."

Then she added a cute cat sticker at the end.

I stared at the screen and scoffed.

Lucy was always the one stirring up drama among Winona's friends.

She was the loudest one egging Winona on during the call, and now she thought I wouldn't recognize her just because she was faking that sweet little voice.

I replied: [I don't need it.]

Then I blocked her without a second thought.

Now that I'd finally seen Winona's true colors, there was no point in keeping any ties with her phony friends either.

I didn't dwell on it.

Winona still crossed my mind sometimes.

But the deadline for my thesis was coming up.

Every day, I was juggling my thesis, experiments, and my advisor's endless feedback.

When I was running myself ragged, I didn't have the energy to dwell on a breakup.

Before I knew it, June rolled around.

All over campus, grads were out in their caps and gowns, taking selfies and group pics. Most people already had their next steps lined up.

My friends who shared a dorm with me were splitting off, too. Some scored gigs at big-name firms, others were prepping to go overseas for grad school.