Cade Archer, the crown prince of Atherton University’s elite, confessed his feelings to my roommate. Helicopters rained down a shower of flower petals, stunning the entire campus. But my roommate, Tessa, was conflicted. She asked me, “The thing is, I just see him as a friend… What do you think? Should I say yes?” I said, “Go for it. He’s rich and handsome.” She narrowed her eyes, and in the next second, she shoved me toward Cade. “Cade! I think my roommate has a huge crush on you!” I stumbled, collapsing at Cade’s feet, a sharp pain shooting through my knee. Cade ignored me, his gaze fixed on Tessa. His dark eyes were heavy, a flicker of pain in their depths. “Are you made of stone? How could I possibly be interested in… this? Don’t you know who I like?” Tessa tilted her head, feigning ignorance. Her beautiful eyes curved into crescents of pure innocence. “Wow, you two look so good together! Cade, I’m totally shipping you guys now. Mom, Dad, I’m born!” Cade gritted his teeth. For a moment, no one dared to breathe. The scene was dead silent. But I have a severe case of people-pleasing personality disorder. I never ruin the mood. So I said, “Yeah, yeah, we look great together! Hubby, hubby, gogogo, our baby is born! Haha.” 1 The color drained from Tessa’s face, her smile freezing on her lips. Cade was stunned. He lowered his head to look at me. I couldn’t help it. My people-pleasing is extreme. How extreme? I even try to please cats. When I was little, my cat brought me a dead mouse as a gift. To avoid hurting its feelings, I forced myself to take a bite of the mouse. I only spit it out after the cat had left. Now, in college, my roommate Tessa asks me to fetch her meals, write her essays, run her errands, and clean her shoes. I never refuse. I complete every task perfectly. Cade’s shock lasted only a moment before he cracked a smile. He bent down and offered me the bouquet he was holding. He deliberately avoided looking at Tessa, the girl he’d intended to confess to, and focused his gaze intently on me. Amidst the swirling storm of cherry blossom petals, his long, beautiful eyes reflected my own plain, unremarkable face. He said, “Alright. I think we look good together, too. So, will you be my girlfriend?” I said, “Haha, sure, sure! I’d love to!” Suddenly, there was a loud thud. Tessa’s phone had slipped from her hand and hit the ground, the screen spiderwebbing with white cracks. 2 Back in the dorm, I was packing my bag to go to the library when, a second later, my neck was yanked tight. Tessa had grabbed my collar. She glared at me, her delicate features twisted into a snarl. “Chloe, who do you think you are, stealing my boyfriend? God, you must be desperate for a man. Can’t live without one, can you?” I never argue with anyone. So, I immediately agreed. “Haha. You’re right, totally desperate. You’re so perceptive! The brain on you! Your humble servant bows before your genius!” I even threw in some internet slang. It was a little dated, but I hoped it was still funny enough to make her laugh. For some reason, it only made her angrier. Her lips were trembling. “You! How dare you…! Say one more word, I dare you!” Just then, our other roommates returned. Tessa instantly let go of my collar and lowered her voice, making sure only I could hear. “You, be Cade Archer’s girlfriend? You’re not worthy. Someone as poor and ugly as you? He’d probably puke just looking at your face. Besides, he’s just doing this to spite me. The second I beckon, he’ll dump you in a heartbeat.” I gave her a goofy smile. “Haha. Wow, that’s a good point! You’re right, you’re right. Do you need me to break up with him? I can text him right now.” Tessa choked on her words. She ground her teeth. “What kind of question is that! Of course I don’t! I told you, I only see Cade as a friend! Do you think I’m like you, throwing myself at any man I see? But… if… if you insisted on breaking up with him yourself, I suppose I could reluctantly accept it.” I nodded vigorously. “Haha. Okay, okay. As long as you don’t need me to. Your decision-making skills are fire! So awesome, I’m so impressed I could just sprout a beard! Haha.” Strangely, that didn’t make her laugh either. She looked even angrier, the red flush creeping up her neck. “You!” Sigh. Why was she so mad? Was the joke that outdated? I suppose I’ve been so busy studying I forgot to memorize new memes. One of our roommates looked over, her voice laced with concern. “Chloe, what’s wrong? Is she bullying you?” Tessa exploded. “You think I’m bullying her? Are you kidding me? It’s more like she’s bullying me! I don’t know what kind of act she’s putting on!” Another roommate rolled her eyes at her. “Everyone knows Chloe is the nicest person alive. How could she possibly bully anyone? Tessa, cut the high school drama. If you mess with Chloe again, I’ll make a goddamn PowerPoint of every shitty thing you’ve done and post it on the student forum. You’re the campus belle, after all. I’m sure it would get a lot of attention.” Tessa seethed, slammed a cup down, and climbed into her bed, yanking the curtain shut. She told us all to shut up because she was going to sleep. I immediately grabbed my phone and switched it to silent. That’s when I saw the message from Cade, sent a minute ago: 【Cade: Downstairs. Now.】 3 I was sitting with Cade in his stretched limousine. The chauffeur was driving; he and I were in the back. He was leaning back lazily against the seat. The city’s vibrant nightlife streamed past the window, a blur of neon ribbons. The chaotic light flickered across Cade’s face, highlighting his sharp, sculpted features and the strong bridge of his nose. Haha. He really was one of God’s favorites. Cade suddenly spoke, his voice cool and weary. “You’re a quick one. I actually confessed and you actually accepted.” I said, “Haha. Yep, yep, that I did.” He shot me a surprised look before continuing. “You’re roommates with Tessa, right? Don’t move out. Stay in that dorm until you graduate. Stay by her side. If she runs into any trouble, you tell me immediately, understand? I tried to buy her an apartment off-campus, but she told me not to insult her with my dirty money.” I nodded. “Okay, okay, no problem. Haha.” But that seemed to displease him. “Hey! Why are you staring at your phone while I’m talking to you? Can’t you tell I’m in a bad mood? What’s so damn important?” A true prince, complete with a terrible temper. I immediately put my phone down. “Sorry, sorry, I was just checking on my Travel Frog. Haha. My bad, really. How can I compensate you for my transgression?” That only made him angrier. “What the hell are you talking about? What’s so great about Travel Frog? Do you have any idea that with a snap of my fingers, I could have you expelled?” The air in the car was cool, but I could see the chauffeur’s back was slick with sweat. The young master’s anger was truly terrifying. He seemed like a man who meant what he said. I explained, “Well, my phone is out of storage, so I have to uninstall the game. But I have to wait until the frog leaves to do it. So I have to keep watch to see when it goes.” He got even angrier. “Who are you trying to fool? You can uninstall it whether the frog is there or not! Why do you have to wait until it’s gone?” I said, “Because I can’t bring myself to uninstall it right in front of the frog… It would feel like I’m betraying it. So I wanted to wait until it went on a trip before deleting the game. Haha. I’m sorry, sir.” That’s how we people-pleasers are. We even try to please a virtual frog. He just stared at me for a moment, a look of profound shock on his face. I felt a pang of anxiety. If I got expelled, my parents would probably marry me off to some rich old guy for a payout (not that there’s anything wrong with old men, necessarily, or with my parents). I said, “Sir, I’m sorry, please don’t be angry—” Before I could finish, he snapped out of his shock and leaned forward, bursting into laughter. “Hey, how can someone as dumb and clueless as you exist in this world? You even care about a frog’s feelings?” I was a bit stunned. The young master was truly moody. So this is what they mean by ‘serving a king is like serving a tiger.’ The next second, he pulled out a hard, rectangular box and tossed it to me. “Don’t uninstall it. Keep your frog.” I looked down. It was a brand-new iPhone box. An iPhone 16 Pro Max, the latest model, with 1TB of storage. He was right, I wouldn’t have to uninstall it now. But I hesitated. I’d only ever used hundred-dollar phones from secondhand shops. This iPhone probably cost over a thousand dollars. It was too much. I said, “I—” The chauffeur interrupted me, a warm smile in his voice. “Miss Chloe, when the young master gets angry, he tends to smash his phone. So we keep a lot of new ones in the car as backups. There are plenty more. Please, accept it.” I said, “Haha. Okay, okay, thank you so much. I’m so moved, my inner dude just did a backflip and turned back into a dudette.” The chauffeur stared, dumbfounded. Cade froze. Oh, right. The upper class probably doesn’t spend their time scrolling through trashy memes on the internet. Cade covered his ears and ordered, “Are you insane? Don’t pollute my ears with that stupid crap! Got it? It’s not even funny!” I looked at him. He was scowling at me, his face a mask of annoyance, but I could see the ghost of a smile in his beautiful eyes. He couldn’t hide it. I smiled too. “Okay, okay, sir.” The chauffeur chuckled. “The young master wasn’t in a good mood today, but he seems much better now.” Cade snorted, leaning back lazily again. He unclasped the watch from his wrist and tossed it to me, his chin lifted in a gesture of pure arrogance. “It’s yours. Tomorrow, you’re having lunch with me. And you’re going to keep me happy. Understand?” I caught it. “Okay, okay, no problem, no problem. Thank you, sir.” The chauffeur took us to dinner, then drove me back to my dorm. Once I was back in my room, I looked up the price. The watch was a Patek Philippe, and it sold for over a hundred thousand dollars. Because it was a limited edition, the resale value was even higher. Mine, in its like-new condition, could probably sell for over one hundred and fifty thousand. The shock was a bullet through my brain. I stood there, stunned. I gripped the small watch, my mind a complete blank. Then I immediately loosened my grip, afraid I’d break it by holding it too tight. But a second later, for some reason, my hand started to tremble… I quickly and gently placed the watch in my innermost pocket. The average starting salary for a graduate in my major is about sixty thousand a year. This tiny watch would take me six years of work, without eating or drinking, to afford. Who says you can’t put a price on youth? This watch could buy six years of mine. When I thought about it like that, the world seemed so cruel. Oh my god, I’m finally ready to be the bad guy, because I just can’t take it anymore. Haha. 4 The next day at noon, Cade took me to lunch. We were in the car, and I started giving him my report on Tessa. Cade and I are both twenty and sophomores at Atherton, but he doesn’t live on campus and rarely attends class, so he doesn’t know much about Tessa’s life at school. I reported meticulously, “Sir, Tessa hasn’t encountered any other difficulties recently, but she often skips breakfast and gets stomachaches. She was having some stomach pain in class today.” As I spoke, I rubbed my eyes. The onions had gotten to me. Now my eyes really were stinging. Because just before this, back in the dorm, Tessa had asked me to make her a low-calorie meal. She said she was trying to lose weight, and once she got down to 110 pounds, she’d be even more beautiful. Then, she would ask Cade out to dinner. She said that on that day, when Cade saw how gorgeous she was, he would definitely dump an ugly creature like me and confess his love to her all over again. I had nodded along, saying, “Oh yeah, he’ll definitely dump me,” while I prepared her diet food. When I was chopping the onions, my eyes started tearing up, and they were still a little red. Cade had one arm resting on the open car window, listening absently as I detailed Tessa’s stomach problems. The wind tousled his black hair, messing it up and letting it fall over his strong brow. When he glanced at me, he froze. 5 Cade never expected this. He had only asked her to report on Tessa’s recent situation, but she was so heartbroken about it that she had cried her eyes red. He was stunned for a moment, then a huge possibility struck him like lightning— Could it be that Chloe liked him? Of course! No wonder she had agreed without hesitation yesterday when he’d confessed out of spite. She had even called him husband! And she had said “gogogo!” She used three “go”s. She must have been waiting for this for a long time. Cade pondered this, and soon, he found more clues— For example, she was always trailing after Tessa, carrying her bags, fetching her food, picking up her packages, all without a single complaint. He hadn’t understood it at the time, but now he did. She was only following Tessa around to get a few more glimpses of him! It made sense. Since he was a child, a three-digit number of girls had confessed their feelings to him. It wasn’t strange that Chloe would be smitten too. Thinking of this, Cade felt a pang of guilt. Chloe liked him so much, and yet, he had made her report on Tessa’s every move. No wonder she cried. Who the hell wouldn’t be upset by that? Sigh. He was such a bastard. Sigh. Chloe was so dumb, so clueless, so pitiful. 6 I continued my detailed report on Tessa’s life. But for some reason, Cade didn’t seem to be listening. He seemed lost in thought, his expression constantly shifting. First, confusion, then dawning realization, then guilt. Finally, when he looked at me, his gaze was filled with pity. He said, “Chloe.” I looked at him. He sighed, his expression complicated. “You don’t have to report to me about Tessa anymore.” I was completely baffled, but I nodded and agreed anyway. 7 For the next few days, Cade didn’t contact me. No texts, no calls. One day, I was in the library, studying from morning till night. When I was done, I planned to grab a late dinner at the cafeteria. But just as I left the building, someone blocked my path. I looked up and saw my brother, Mark. He had his hands in his pockets, a smirk on his face. “Sis, I hear you’ve landed a sugar daddy.” He took a step closer, cornering me. “Give me eighty grand. I’m buying a car. A girl like you doesn’t need to save money. I’m the one who has to get married someday.” I said, “Haha. I don’t have eighty grand. Would you like the national scholarship I just won? It’s eight hundred dollars. With my savings, I have one thousand one hundred and thirty. Is that okay?” He shoved me, hard. “That’s it? The Archer family didn’t give you any money? Figures. An ugly thing like you, Cade probably pukes just looking at you. He probably has to turn off the lights to even sleep with you. Fine, transfer me the thousand one hundred and thirty now! And hey, if you can’t make real money, why don’t you go sell yourself on a street corner?” He still wasn’t satisfied. He raised his hand to slap me. But in the next second, his neck was caught from behind in a textbook submission hold. The person holding him was Cade. Mark made a choked, gasping sound, his face turning red. Cade looked utterly annoyed. He raised his leg, driving his knee into the small of Mark’s back, and applied pressure with his hands. I heard a sharp crack. Mark’s back bent backward at an unnatural angle. It must have fractured. “AHHH—!!!” Mark let out a piercing scream of agony that made my eardrums ring. The world dissolved into a roar. I suddenly remembered Tessa boasting about Cade in the dorm— “My Cade has been learning martial arts since he was a kid. His teacher was a former mercenary from overseas, super tough. Do you even know what that means? Chloe, you’ve probably never even seen anything like it in your entire life, have you?” The world was roaring, and I was looking at Cade. His features were cold and sharp, a handsome, chiseled face. But his eyes, he must have gotten from his mother—they were exceptionally elegant and beautiful. Right now, they were glittering with cold stars and a chilling smile. In the next second, he released his grip, and Mark slid to the ground, a boneless heap at his feet. Mark twitched on the ground, screaming, unable to even crawl. Cade didn’t even glance at him. He kicked him aside and held out his hand to his side. Someone immediately handed him a bottle of golden-orange liquor. He tilted his hand, pouring the entire bottle over Mark’s head. The gesture was pure arrogance. Mark was instantly soaked and pathetic, all the swagger from when he was insulting me gone. Cade crossed his arms, looking down at him coldly. “From now on, every time you come near her, I’ll beat you. I’ll beat you until you’re dead.” Mark’s face was twisted in pain. He was desperately begging for mercy, babbling things like, “I won’t do it again,” “My back is broken, it’s really broken,” “Please let me go,” “You’re my grandpa, you’re my ancestor,” and “She’s my grandpa, she’s my ancestor.” Wow, what a promotion. Cade seemed tired of listening. He just grabbed my arm and pulled me into the car. 8 In the car, for the first time ever, Cade didn’t speak to me. He seemed to be in a foul mood. I suddenly remembered hearing Tessa mention to someone the date of Cade’s mother’s death anniversary. It was today. No wonder he was in a bad mood. No wonder he had come to find me. I felt like he saw me as his new toy. The last few times, I’d managed to make him happy. He probably hoped I could make him happy today, too. But I really didn’t know what to say. I’d been so busy studying, I hadn’t memorized any new jokes. At the restaurant, I could only watch him drink in silence. He downed glass after glass, bottle after bottle, drinking until he was sick of it. Then I helped him to a hotel room. The presidential suite on the top floor had been reserved for him in advance. The moment I pushed the door open, I was shocked. I had always thought a hotel room was just a bedroom and a bathroom. But this presidential suite had a living room, a bedroom, a terrace, a dining room, a bar, a walk-in closet, and even… a private cinema? My eyes widened. So this is capitalism! I didn’t understand how Cade could live a life like this and still be in so much pain. If I could live his life, I’d be cheerful even if my entire family dropped dead. (This is just an exaggeration, not that I don’t like my family, or that I wish they were dead. Even though my parents are alcoholic gamblers who favor my brother, want to sell me off for a bride price, and have been abusive my whole life, and my brother insults and beats me and constantly demands money, I still wish them a long and healthy life, so we can all be one big happy family.)
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