Chapter 1

The night my online crush wanted to meet in real life, I was about to beg my roommate to go instead of me.

But in the very next second, I suddenly remembered the original plot.

I'd used my roommate's photos to catfish online, and she'd called me out right then and there.

She played the justice card, got my online crush, William Carter, to sue me, and made me pay back every dollar he'd sent me, otherwise, I'd end up behind bars.

But I'd already blown through all the money, so I had no choice but to sell my body to survive, and in the end, I died alone in some run-down motel, forgotten by everyone.

Meanwhile, she and William ended up happily ever after, all thanks to my twisted fate.

I glanced at the address William had sent me on my phone, then looked over at my roommate, who was waiting for me to say something. I couldn't help but smile.

With a swift move, I changed the meeting place to a hotel.

My roommate Emily Liorand asked, "Sophie Marvelle, are you really going to meet him?"

When Emily asked, she was still holding my phone.

She had gotten out of the shower, her long hair still damp, her white nightgown clinging to her shoulders. She looked so clean and innocent, like the heroine straight out of a campus poster.

If I hadn't remembered the plot, I probably would've begged her to go for me because I felt guilty.

I would've begged her to go meet him for me.

I would've begged her to cover for me and smooth over the lie.

Then I'd watch her sit across from William in the café, her eyes rimmed with tears, saying, "I'm sorry, the photos were mine, but I wasn't the one you were talking to online."

William's heart would go out to her.

My roommates would feel bad for her.

Everyone in the world would feel sorry for her.

But me? I'd be the greedy, vain, catfishing supporting character who totally deserved to get crushed and left in the dust.

I glanced down at my phone.

At the top of the chat window was a message William had sent half an hour ago.

William: [Tomorrow night at 7 PM, the café downstairs at Grandview Hotel.]

William: [I want to see you.]

I'd been chatting with him online for three months.

The photos he fell for were Emily's.

The voice he heard was mine.

All the comfort and support he got came from me.

I was the one who stayed up late talking to him, listening to his messed-up family drama, and comforting him when his dad called him a useless rich kid.

And all the money? He sent it straight to me.

Every single transfer, one after another.

The notes on the transfers went from "For iced latte" to "Happy birthday" to "Don't be mad, baby."

I spent every last cent.

Cosmetics, dresses, bags, rent, and even installment payments for cosmetic procedures.

I thought as long as we never met in person, the lie would never be exposed.

But then, out of nowhere, William insisted on meeting up in real life.

In the original storyline, I completely lost it, panic hit me like a truck.

I grabbed Emily's hand, crying, "Emily, please, help me this once. I really can't lose him."

At first, Emily shook her head and refused, her face all cold and distant.

But in the end, she still went.

Not because she was kind.

Her eyes sparkled when she saw William's photo.

A young heir of the old-money Carter family.

Young, handsome, fresh-faced, filthy rich, and he'd never been fooled by a girl before.

What a perfect male lead.

What a perfect stepping stone.

I sat up in bed and snatched my phone back from her.

"I'll go myself," I said.

Emily paused, stunned.

"Are you out of your mind? You used my photos, he'll know it's not you the second he sees you," she said.

"Let him find out then," I shot back.

"He's going to call the police on you."

"Yeah. I know."

I opened the hotel app and booked a new room.

A deluxe king room.

Floor-to-ceiling windows.

A bathtub.

Not cheap at all.

I charged 1,200 dollars out of the last roughly 1,270 dollars in my bank account.

Emily's face fell.

"Sophie, what are you trying to do?" she asked.

I looked up at her.

This body was twenty-one years old.

Not as innocent or jaw-dropping as Emily's looks.

But the girl in the mirror had a killer waistline, slender shoulders and neck, and a lazy, seductive vibe in her eyes.

The original Sophie never appreciated it; to her, only Emily's kind of beauty counted as real beauty.

She only ever envied Emily.

But I know how to value myself.

Before I ended up here, I'd been around the block with men.

I'd seen every kind of genuine heart there is.

I'd heard every lie in the book.

Someone like William, raised with money but never truly hurt in love, wasn't actually afraid of being fooled.

What really scared him was knowing he'd been fooled and still not being able to stop himself from coming back.

I sent William a message.

Sophie: [Don't bother with the café.]

Sophie: [Come straight up.]

There was a ten-second pause on his end.

William: [Are you sure?]

I replied.

Sophie: [What, you chicken?]

Soon, the room number was sent over.

Emily stood next to me, her face going pale.

"Sophie, that's shameless," she said.

I snorted.

"You didn't stop me from using your photos earlier, did you?" I shot back.

She bit her lip.

"I wanted you to come clean on your own," she said.

"Yeah, right," I replied.

I placed my phone facedown on the table.

"You were waiting for me to beg you," I said.