I handed in a blank answer sheet for the SATs, and my dad was so furious he kicked me out of the house. Just like that, a billionaire heiress was reduced to hauling bricks at a construction site, barely able to afford a meal. I latched onto the hottest guy on the site, clinging to his leg just to score free food. I even fed him wild promises, swearing that the moment I returned home, I’d reward him with a literal mountain of gold. He just rested his chin on his hand and smiled at me. "I don't want any of that. I just want you." I patted his handsome face. "Hahaha, are you dreaming? A scrub like you trying to land a supermodel?" But the moment an acceptance letter from MIT was delivered to the construction site, it finally hit me. I was the scrub who was completely out of his league. 1 To a lot of people, the SATs are the ultimate stepping stone to changing your destiny. To me, they were just a joke. My family is loaded. Even if I bombed the SATs, my dad could just write a massive check to get me into an Ivy League school or send me to Europe. Feeling rebellious, I bubbled in a smiley face on my scantron and handed in a blank test. I didn't expect my dad to actually explode and kick me out. "Avery Preston! There is no child of mine who brings shame to this family like you do!" "It’s just a test, Dad. A little money fixes everything... don't have a heart attack over it." "You’ve been too comfortable your whole life! If you don't go out and taste real human suffering, you’ll never learn how to appreciate anything!" And just like that, I was swept out the front door. Is life on the outside really that hard? I went to Whole Foods and tossed a bunch of expensive snacks into my basket, ready for a feast. But when I went to check out, every single credit card declined. They were all frozen. The cashier crossed her arms and glared at me with absolute disdain. "Hurry up. There’s a huge line waiting behind you." I looked back. Everyone was tapping their feet impatiently. I forced a dry smile and apologized. "I'm so sorry, I don't need any of this anymore." It was the first time I had ever felt so humiliated. The second I walked out of the store, I called my dad to confront him. "Arthur! Are you seriously heartless enough to cancel all my cards? What am I supposed to eat?" My dad's emotionless voice came through the speaker. "You have hands and feet. Figure it out yourself." He hung up instantly, denying me any chance to argue. Wow. The old man was playing for keeps. Did he really think I couldn't survive without him? I refused to believe it. A high school grad with no degree and no experience—finding a job was a nightmare. A trendy boba shop on the corner was hiring. I walked into the interview brimming with confidence. Guess what? I was completely out-talked by the other applicants, and I didn't have the customer service hustle they had. For a moment, I actually regretted not paying attention in my communication classes. It was a total defeat. Then I interviewed at a 24-hour convenience store. I couldn't compete there either. The other applicants were willing to work 12-hour graveyard shifts. I couldn't do that. So, I was rejected again. I finally managed to land a job as a waitress at a diner, but they immediately threw me into the dish pit. After one day of washing dishes, I was physically drained. To top it off, a customer complained about a smudge on a plate, and I was fired on the spot. In that moment, I deeply felt the "human suffering" my dad talked about. Making money is actually this hard... But as stubborn as I am, there was no way I was going to admit defeat to the old man now. Even if I had to beg on the streets, I would never go back and beg him! 2 I wandered around for a whole day, exhausted and starving. I drifted toward a commercial construction site and saw an incredibly hot guy sitting by the road, wolfing down a cheap takeout box. His skin was tanned a dark bronze by the sun, and the smooth, powerful lines of his muscles stretched all the way down his arms. But his brow was noble, and his facial features were sharp and striking. He honestly didn't look like an ordinary laborer. "...Is it really that good?" I crouched by the roadside watching him eat, swallowing hard as my stomach growled. He paused his aggressive eating, looked up at me, and a faint blush actually crept across his tanned cheeks. "Um... do you want some?" I nodded, gulping. I was looking at him like he was my savior. He smiled and stood up. He was wearing baggy cargo pants, and right on the back pocket, there was a tear, giving a peek of his SpongeBob SquarePants boxers. I couldn't help but burst out laughing. Wow, that was actually pretty cute. He went to the food truck nearby and bought another lunch box. He turned around to find me laughing so hard I was bending over. "What's so funny?" "SpongeBob. Your back pocket has a hole in it." He whipped around, the blush instantly spreading all the way to the tips of his ears. "...It probably got snagged on some rebar when I was hauling bricks earlier." He hurriedly handed me the food box, then pulled his T-shirt off in one swift motion and tied it around his waist. Is this free show meant for me? I held the lunch box, completely stunned, staring at the hard, sculpted abs on his stomach that V-ed down low. I swallowed hard again. I sat down next to him, throwing away any pretense of being a lady, and started shoveling food into my mouth in huge bites just like him. Even this greasy street food smelled heavenly. "Thanks for the food. I'm Avery Preston. What about you?" "Leo." I mumbled through my mouthful of rice, stealing a piece of meat from his box while promising him the moon. "Leo? Got it. My dad is loaded. You giving me food today means I will repay you with a literal fountain of wealth later." He looked me up and down, taking in my filthy, dust-covered clothes, and just smiled. "It's fine. It's just a lunch box. You don't need to repay me." I looked down at my grease-stained outfit and sighed. Looking the way I did right now, it was normal for him not to believe me. If I were him, I probably would have thought I was a scammer, too. I wiped the box completely clean. Seeing that he was about to leave, I quickly reached out and grabbed the hem of his shirt. "Um... can I stick with you? I don't have anywhere else to go..." He was clearly taken aback. "The place I live is... in really bad condition. You..." "It doesn't matter! Please! You wouldn't let a girl sleep on the streets, right?" I think my teary-eyed, pathetic look must have touched him. After thinking for a moment, he actually agreed to let me follow him. Someone this kind and seemingly innocent had to be a good guy. I had to latch onto him tightly. If I relied on myself, I was going to starve. 3 Even though I thought I was mentally prepared, I didn't expect his living conditions to be this bad. We navigated through sketchy alleyways into a rundown part of town, up a damp, narrow stairwell, and into a tiny studio apartment that barely got any sunlight. The craziest part was, the bathroom didn't even have a door! But luckily, this tiny space was kept spotlessly clean. The blanket was folded perfectly, and his few belongings were neatly organized. In this tiny place, he had managed to clear a whole wall to make a makeshift bookshelf, packed tightly with books. "You like to read?" He stood awkwardly by the door. "Yeah, I just read whatever when I have free time." "That's good. A young man with ambition." I scanned the room and stood at the bathroom doorway. "So, I'm absolutely filthy. Can I take a shower first?" He reacted instantly, rummaging through a drawer to find an old bedsheet, and rigged it up as a makeshift curtain over the bathroom doorway. The old blue plaid sheet swayed slightly in the draft. Wow. A bathroom where a cold breeze blows right over your butt. This was definitely a new life experience. "Little Leo, do you have any clean clothes I can borrow?" Leo handed me a T-shirt. "This one is new." "Any new underwear?" As soon as I asked, I wanted to slap myself. Even if they were new, could I just wear his? Sure enough, his face turned red again. "I'll go to the convenience store downstairs and buy you some." Then he bought me a pack of massive, high-waisted granny panties. Seriously. What could I do? I just had to make do. "No hot water heater?" I lifted the curtain and poked my head out, nagging so much I wanted to smack myself. Leo put down his book and gave an apologetic smile. "I usually take cold showers. If you need hot water, I'll boil some for you." "How long is an electric kettle going to take to boil enough water?" I started missing the massive jacuzzi bathtub at my house. Using a kettle to boil bathwater—this was a first. He brought over a red plastic bucket, pouring one kettle of boiling water after another into it. I stayed in the bathroom, washing my hair and body. That night, he probably boiled thirty or forty kettles of water. He literally blew the circuit breaker. 4 I got dressed in the dark and walked out. Leo had just flipped the breaker back on. The sudden bright light made us both flinch. He froze, his eyes frantically shifting away, and handed me a dry towel. "Dry your hair. Don't catch a cold." The tiny studio only had one twin-sized bed. He put clean sheets on it for me, and laid out a cooling mat on the floor for himself. A guy who is gentle and meticulous really hits my weak spot. He was totally different from all the rich playboys I had met before. Even though our social statuses were worlds apart, I felt he carried a light they could never match. In the middle of the night, I was woken up by a rustling sound. An unidentified object was crawling up my arm. I screamed in terror, jumping off the bed and scrambling wildly to dive at Leo. "HELP!!!" Leo was startled badly. He pulled me into his arms to protect me, turned on the light, and discovered a massive, juicy cockroach. It was staring at me imperiously, almost as if it was mocking me. I hid behind Leo in terror, wrapping myself around his back like a koala. "Why is there a cockroach that big! Ahhhh!" Leo calmly used the sole of his shoe to send the roach to the afterlife, grabbed tissues to clean up the crime scene, and then disinfected the spot with alcohol. How practiced he looked was heartbreaking. "The weather is damp, so it’s easy to get bugs. I’ll buy a mosquito net for you tomorrow, so they won't crawl on you." I was trembling, too scared to go back to bed. But this guy smirked wickedly. "There are way more cockroaches on the floor." I teleported back to the bed in one second. I didn't dare turn off the light the rest of the night. Because the floor was damp and buggy, when I woke up the next morning and Leo was washing his face, I saw a huge patch of heat rash on his originally smooth back. But no matter what I said, he refused to go to a clinic. "It’s just a minor rash. I’m a guy, I’m thick-skinned. It’ll heal soon." I knew he was just worried about spending money, so he was enduring it. I didn't expose him. Guys need their pride. But in my heart, I silently vowed to treat him better. Much better. 5 If I’m eating his food and living in his place, I have to contribute something. I wanted to go to the construction site with him. Leo rubbed the top of my head and smiled. "The work is too hard. You can't do it." "I totally can! If everyone else can do it, why can't I?" Leo couldn't talk me out of it, so he took me to the site. I didn't expect that after only an hour, I would get a severe sunburn. "Go home. It’s too sunny." Leo adjusted the hard hat on my head, bent down to my eye level, flashed his white teeth, and smiled. "Look, your face is already sunburned." "What are you doing! Instead of working, you’re over here flirting!" The arrogant project manager, Wayne Biggs, was hiding in the shade, constantly yelling at the workers to move faster. Everyone was hot and exhausted. "Coming!" Leo responded, then turned back to me, pulling out a few crumpled bills. "Go buy some drinks you like. Girls shouldn't be out here." Without waiting for my answer, he pushed a wheelbarrow piled high with bricks straight into the blazing sun. His clothes were soaked through with sweat, clinging tightly to the curves of his body. Holding the money he gave me, I felt a lump in my throat. The bills in my hand felt scorching hot. Making money is really, really hard. On such a hot day, forcing workers to toil under the sun at noon—this was pure bullying. "Hey! It’s noon! You should let everyone take a break!" Wayne raised an eyebrow, the cigarette in his mouth wobbling as he spoke indistinctly. "Where did this little brat come from? You think you can teach me how to do my job?" "It’s literally 104 degrees out here. You're still making them work outside? If someone drops dead, can you take responsibility?" Wayne snubbed out his cigarette, revealing a mouthful of nasty yellow teeth, wearing a face that begged to be punched. "If they don't want to work, they can screw off. There are plenty of people who need money right now. Who cares what the job is?" I was absolutely furious. I walked up to Wayne and lowered my voice in a warning. "My dad is Arthur Preston! This development belongs to his company! You better act right!" Wayne froze, then the smile on his face slowly widened. In the end, he actually laughed so hard he bent over. "And my dad is Elon Musk! Hahaha..." "..." For the first time in my life, I felt a sense of complete powerlessness. It was like swinging a punch into a pile of cotton. It turns out that once I stepped out of my dad's shadow, I was absolutely nothing. I called my Uncle Joe—my dad's brother—who spoiled me the most, begging for backup. "Uncle Joe, can you help me out? The project manager at this site is forcing workers to toil at noon, and I..." "Avery, your dad forbade us from interfering. How about this, you just apologize to him?" The old man was really playing for keeps this time. I didn't want to go back to that house anyway. Even if he came begging me, I wouldn't go back! 6 Sure enough, not long after, someone on the site got heatstroke. When he fainted, he almost fell right into the cement mixer. It was Leo who carried him back to the shade. The older worker, Ben, rested for a long while before he recovered. Ben was fanning himself with his hat brim, sighing. "Thank God for Leo. Otherwise, my old life would have been over." I handed him some water. "Uncle Ben, drink some water to cool down." Uncle Ben looked at me in surprise. "You're a pretty, clean little girl. Why did you come to suffer on this construction site?" "I came with Leo." Uncle Ben took a huge gulp of water, shaking his head helplessly. "You're both good kids. Leo just has a hard life. As soon as the SATs were over, he came to the site to haul bricks to earn tuition money. Did you come to earn tuition too?" The question left me completely embarrassed. I hurriedly shook my head. "No, no, I'm just here to make ends meet." I couldn't exactly tell him I got a zero on the SATs and was kicked out by my dad, right? 7 Leo could tell I was in a bad mood, and he tried his best to make me laugh. He said he’d take me to have some good food. A small roadside diner was packed with workers who had just gotten off shift. They seemed very familiar with Leo, smiling and greeting him. "Leo, is this your girlfriend? She’s a knockout." Leo froze. I threw an arm around his shoulders to save him. "We're just bros, okay? Guys, please don't tease our Leo anymore. He's got thin skin." Another round of roaring laughter. Leo, with a smile, pulled me down to sit. "You're really not shy at all, are you?" I smiled and made a funny face at him. "Sister has seen it all." He picked all the meat out of his dish and gave it to me. I protested; the meat was a bit too fatty. "I don't eat fat." He glanced at me helplessly, and picked the fatty pieces out of my bowl. "Then you eat the lean parts, and leave the fat for me." "But my saliva is on this." "It’s fine." Watching him eat so seriously, my eyes got hot. I felt an intense ache in my chest for him. The old me always liked to order a ton of dishes, just taking one bite of each. Such waste. Only now did I realize how many people there are who can't even bear to waste a single grain of rice dropped on the table. "Are you used to the food yet?" I smiled and nodded, but then I spotted a bright green caterpillar in the leafy greens. My scalp immediately went numb. If this had been the old me, I would have jumped up and flipped the table. But right now, the diner's owner was sweating, furiously stir-frying dishes, with a crying baby strapped to her back. Everyone here was fighting tooth and nail just to survive. How could I bear to shatter this peace? I silently picked out the bug, and lowered my voice. "I’ll cook for you from now on. Eating out all the time is too expensive." Leo looked up, the corners of his mouth turning up. "Are you serious?" "As serious as a heart attack." 8 I have no idea where I got the courage to say I would cook for Leo. Before this, I had barely ever stepped foot into the massive kitchen at my house. For the first time, I learned how to keep a budget. I also learned how to haggle over prices at the grocery store. Since our funds were limited, and seeing how exhausting Leo's work was, every dollar spent felt painful. The food I cooked was mediocre, but fortunately, Leo wasn't a picky eater. He managed to eat whatever I made. He couldn't bring himself to spend money on new pants, so I patched the hole in his cargo pants. He held back laughter, teasing my disastrous needlework, but was eager to wear them every single day. Over time, a feeling of being completely reliant on each other grew. I was raised pampered and spoiled; minor acts of kindness shouldn't impress me. But when I saw Leo changing the sheets and curtains to pink, carefully arranging everything to make the tiny room feel warm, my heart would flutter and melt. Especially when I saw him counting his dollars just to get by, but still willing to buy a used AC unit for me. "Don't waste money like this. I really don't need it." "You won't sleep well in the summer heat without AC. I often see you kicking the covers off at night. You'll catch a cold." What could I do? I didn't want to fall for him, but he just keeps smiling at me! What I could do was clean the house spotless while he was hauling bricks. I pulled open a drawer to organize his scattered items, and accidentally found his old high school ID. In the slightly yellowed photo, Leo was smiling at the camera, looking like a guy who could score a perfect 1600. I was smiling as I looked further down— Lincoln High School. This was the absolute best magnet high school in our state. The students there were all gifted prodigies. Every year, the school sends numerous students to Harvard and MIT. In the end, I had totally underestimated this idiot. 9 My dad called. I had been gone for so long, and he finally deigned to call me. "Avery, your Uncle Joe told me everything. You've tasted the hardship now. If you know you were wrong, just come home." I was flipping stir-fry in the pan with a spatula while putting the phone on speaker. "What? I'm doing great. Gotta go, I’m cooking." I hit 'end call' with my elbow, humming a little tune, feeling incredibly satisfied. Trying to make me yield? Never going to happen. I’m going to let Arthur Preston know that without him, I can live a great life. When dinner was ready, Leo still hadn’t returned. I tried calling him several times, but no one answered. The phone rang just as I was about to walk out the door to look for him at the site. "Hello? Why aren't you back yet?" "Avery, Leo is currently being rushed to City General for emergency surgery..." My head went boom. I could barely hear what the other person was saying after that. 10 I’ve always hated the smell of hospitals. In my memory, my mom spent the final moments of her life in a hospital. She was originally stunningly beautiful, but became skeletal from chemotherapy. When she passed, I barely recognized her. When she left, she only left me a custom necklace that has been with me ever since. Still that familiar smell of disinfectant. Still terrifying me to the point of a panic attack. I was so afraid someone I cared about was going to leave me again. When I arrived, Leo was being wheeled toward the OR. The gauze on his head was stained red with blood. His white T-shirt was covered in crimson. His originally ruddy lips were now deathly pale. He was slipping into a semi-coma. "Leo!" He opened his eyes, opened his mouth, but couldn't make a sound. I grabbed his hand, holding back the tears. "I know. Don't worry about the money." The doctor was anxiously pushing the gurney, looking back at me. "Are you family? Hurry up and do the admission and billing paperwork!" "Doctor, you must protect his brain! He still needs to go to college!" The operating room doors closed. Several fellow workers were anxiously waiting outside in the hall. Uncle Ben walked up and pulled my arm. "Avery, don't panic. Leo will be fine." "What happened? He was completely fine when he left this morning!" Uncle Ben viciously slapped his own face twice, tears streaming down his weathered cheeks. "It’s all my fault! If I hadn’t insisted on climbing that scaffolding to unjam the pulley, Leo wouldn't have gotten hit by the falling rebar trying to push me out of the way." "Uncle Ben, don't..." I bit my lower lip, holding Uncle Ben's hand. Even though my heart was bleeding for Leo, I also felt deep compassion for this old man. Uncle Ben pulled out neatly folded, crumpled bills from his pocket, and handed them to me with trembling hands. "Take this money. If it's not enough, I’ll try to pool some more..." The other workers also crowded around, pulling out whatever cash they had in their wallets to give to me. I was stunned. These people, for a few bucks, work themselves to the bone. Yet when someone is in a life-or-death crisis, they offer everything they have without hesitation. Simple and genuine. While my dad's associates in the corporate world flatter each other with fake smiles, plotting to stab each other in the back. Polite and hypocritical. "Thank you, everyone. I can't take your money. I’ll figure something out." This money was their lifeblood. How could I take it? 11 I pulled out the Cartier necklace my mom left me, planning to sell it at a pawn shop. "Mom, will you forgive me? He is really, really important to me." The diamonds refracted a mesmerizing light under the sun. This was the only physical connection I had left to my mother. The pawn shop owner was a middle-aged woman wearing bright red lipstick. She glanced at me with disdain, and took the necklace. She took a jeweler's loupe and examined it closely, then her hand trembled. She pushed her reading glasses up her nose to continue inspecting. "How much are you offering?" She put down the loupe, looked up at me, her eyes revealing a greedy glint. "This necklace isn't worth much. The market price is maybe five or six grand. And this is used. I’ll give you three thousand." "This is a custom-designed Cartier diamond necklace. It is the only one in the world, worth over a million dollars, and you're telling me three thousand?" The owner coughed twice to cover her embarrassment, picking the loupe back up. "Is this really yours?" "Yes. Hurry up, I need the cash for a medical emergency." She nodded, and stood up. "Wait right here." Five minutes later, two police officers walked through the door. "We received a report of suspected stolen property. Come back to the precinct with us." I looked at the owner. She rolled her eyes at me. "I called the cops. There’s no telling how a girl dressed like you got a piece like this. I don't want to handle stolen goods." I swear to God...
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