Chapter 1
In our third year together, my boyfriend, Dustin Foster, went bankrupt.
When we were down and out, we lived in a tunnel and ate near-expired instant noodles.
Instead of leaving him, I chose to be by his side and see him rise again.
On the 85th day of living in the tunnel, I sold my late mother's belongings and bought him a birthday present. Full of joy, I was going to give him a surprise.
Emily Blake, Dustin's neighbor and childhood sweetheart, suddenly sent me a link.
[Click to check. Surprise!]
It was a Prank Live-streaming Station, specifically designed to entertain the rich kids of the upper class.
Unexpectedly, live-stream on me ranked first.
I trembled as I clicked on it.
In the split-screen display, on one side was me pathetically staying in the tunnel, shivering in the chilly wind, while on the other side was Dustin wining and dining in a five-star hotel.
[What a fool! Dustin just took a second look at that watch, and Caroline actually sold her mother's precious belongings to buy it.]
[The tenth time she got tricked, she was thrown into a forest. The twentieth time, she drank until she had gastrorrhagia while trying to help her "drunk" boyfriend. She's really hard to "kill"!]
[Dustin made a bet online that if she could survive a hundred such pranks, he would marry her.]
[Only the last three times left now! Will she finally be killed by Dustin, or will Dustin swallow the humiliation and marry her?]
[Three million! I bet she can't survive Dustin's pranks in the end, lol.]
Today was Dustin's birthday.
I sold my last precious possessions so I could make him a birthday celebration.
Even so, the birthday dinner was modest—a cake, three homemade dishes, and a birthday gift I'd carefully picked for him.
With everything set, I clutched the pregnancy test report I received that morning, my heart brimming with anticipation as I waited for him to walk through the door.
After three long years together, we were finally going to have a child.
I couldn't stop picturing the look on Dustin's face when he found out.
I slipped the pregnancy report under his birthday present. It was my secret surprise for him.
I just wanted Dustin to know, no matter how hard life got, I'd always stand by his side and face it all together.
Just as I was lost in happy daydreams about our future, a post on my feed caught my eye.
[Happy birthday to me!]
The photos showed a massive dining table loaded with lobsters, crabs, caviar, and different fancy foods.
Countless bottles of champagne and red wine crowded the scene, and he was surrounded by people who used to be close to him but had turned against him.
But what really made my heart sink was seeing Emily right there at his side.
Emily was Dustin's next-door neighbor, his childhood sweetheart. Back when his stepmother was making his life unbearable, the Blake family gave him shelter and warmth.
Dustin was deeply grateful to the Blake family, and he spoiled Emily to no end, treating her even better than his own kin.
But sophomore year in college, Emily fell for a guy who ended up pursuing me instead. From that day on, she swore to hate me and made me her sworn enemy.
To be with me, Dustin broke ties with Emily and both the Blake and Foster families, along with their network of old allies, all joined forces to crush him.
If it hadn't been for all that, someone born with every advantage like Dustin would never have ended up living in the tunnel.
But there he was, raising glasses and partying with all of them, as if all those old grudges had just vanished into thin air.
The post disappeared as quickly as it came, making me wonder if I'd just imagined the whole thing.
[Wanna know the real story? Enter this site. Here's the invite code.]
Emily's message suddenly popped up on my phone.
I stared at her message numbly for a moment, then, almost like a robot, I went through the motions—clicked the site and entered the code.
The words "Prank Livestream" popped up on the screen, bold and impossible to miss.
Below, a snarky little line read, [Crushing the wannabes who dare crawl toward high society.]
At the very top of the homepage, a banner read, [Race to the only 100-prank livestream on the internet! (97/100)]
Other prank livestreams usually wrap up after just 20 or 30 pranks in a couple of months, but this one had been going strong for three years, and it was the only channel on the whole site close to hitting a hundred pranks.
I recognized that cover image, which had popped up on Dustin's computer more than once.
He always said it was a record of our love story, something he'd play for everyone at our wedding.
When I saw that familiar interface, my hands trembled as I clicked on the site.
In the split-screen display, on one side was me pathetically staying in the tunnel, shivering in the chilly wind, while on the other side was Dustin wining and dining in a five-star hotel.
The comment section was buzzing with posts from all the big-name heirs in the circle.
[What a complete moron! Dustin's out feasting on gourmet meals every day, and she actually thinks he's out making business moves or meeting investors.]
[How long has she been living off instant noodles? Eighty days, maybe more? Ever since they started living in the tunnel, it's been nothing but instant noodles for her.]
[Totally, two meals of instant noodles every day, and she actually gets all emotional, secretly stashing an egg for Dustin. I swear I could die laughing! Is this what these lowly bugs call romance?]
[Last time, Dustin just glanced at that watch, and she really sold her mother's last memento to buy it for him.]
[Remember when they dumped her way out in the middle of the woods? Or that time she downed drink after drink, trying to protect Dustin when he was just faking being drunk, and wound up with a bleeding stomach? Man, what an idiot!]
[Can she really be that dumb? Seriously, who but a wannabe social climber would actually end up living in a tunnel? Does she honestly believe that suffering through all this with Dustin is gonna earn her a spot in the Foster family?]
[Hey, it might just work! Back then, we literally threw down an online bet—if she survives a hundred pranks, Dustin has to take her home as his wife!]
[Only the last three times left now! Will she finally be killed by Dustin, or will Dustin swallow the humiliation and marry her?]
[Three million! I bet she can't survive Dustin's pranks in the end, lol.]
[She's impossible to finish off! Three million dollars says Dustin bites the dust!]
[Dustin, it's not too late to back out. As long as you don't hit the hundred-prank mark, you don't have to marry her!]
"I'll marry her..."
Dustin's voice came out of nowhere. My eyes locked onto him, unable to look away.
[Dustin, don't tell me you're actually catching feelings for her?]
Dustin just flashed a subtle smile and kept swirling his wine glass, choosing to stay silent.