Sophomore year, I sent my boyfriend a box of gifts. He was happily video chatting with me when his roommate suddenly interrupted: "Why are you showing off that cheap junk?" My boyfriend turned to him, teasing, "You treat that raggedy charm like a treasure too. Won't even let anyone touch it." The next second, my ex-boyfriend's face appeared on the screen. I immediately remembered my senior year of high school. I was framed for stealing exam papers and lost my guaranteed admission spot. The bad boy who once promised to be my shield looked at me impatiently and said: "What is she, and what are you? Do you really have to provoke her?" Chapter 1 I froze for a second before recognizing the face on the screen. It was Caleb. I hadn't seen him in a few years. He was even more handsome now. No longer pretending to be a poor kid in front of me, he was back to being the wealthy young master, just less flashy and raw than before. The moment he glanced at me, the cigarette in his hand trembled. Ash fell onto his hand. He looked away quickly and scoffed: "That's it?" Liam's face went cold instantly. "If you can't say anything nice, get lost. My girlfriend is the best in the world." "The best? Who knows if she's just after your money." Caleb leaned back against the headboard, his eyes unreadable. Liam turned back to me, grinning brightly. "Babe, what else do you like? Anything money can buy is no problem. You know I'm so rich it hurts." "Please, let me spend some money on you." He acted cute towards the camera. I looked down at the floor. Caleb suddenly sneered. "Isn't this what you've been waiting for? Hurry up and ask for it." Liam only had a good temper with me. He couldn't stand anyone badmouthing me. He turned around and kicked the table. "Did the Gu family go bankrupt? You're so sensitive about money!" Finally, Liam frowned and roasted him again: "Are you on your period? You've been shady to my girlfriend all day." As soon as he finished, Caleb's face turned black. His chest heaved, but he couldn't say a word. He stormed out, slamming the door. Liam acted like he didn't hear a thing, continuing to lie on the desk talking to me. "Babe, I'm sorry. I don't know what his problem is. Don't be unhappy. I'll take you to see some houses." "My family's new development is finished. Want to go see? I reserved the best units for you." He rambled on, carefully watching my expression. If anyone else saw the pampered prince of the Shen family talking to a woman like this, their jaws would drop. I looked up and gave him a reassuring smile. "It's okay." "Let's talk about the houses later. Class is starting soon." "Okay, wait for me. I'll come pick you up right away." Honestly, I was prepared to run into Caleb when I came here. But I didn't expect him to be roommates with Liam. When I was fighting tooth and nail to climb up, I always thought about showing Caleb that leaving him only made my life better. But now that I saw him, I didn't feel anything. Chapter 2 It started raining when I came out. I leaned against the dorm entrance reading a paper, waiting for Liam. "You've gotten bold, Penny." "Where's Liam?" I looked past him, gazing into the distance. Caleb suddenly reached out and pulled me under his umbrella. "Can't I pick you up?" One sentence dragged me from the Ivy League campus back to the damp slums. Heavy rain poured outside the window. The power went out in the classroom. Other students were celebrating getting out early, but I was calculating how much extra I could make delivering food in this weather. I had no choice. I was an orphan. If I didn't make money, no one would. Plunging into the rain, I was soaked instantly. Afraid of getting a complaint, I took off my raincoat to cover the delivery box on the back. Before I could celebrate earning some money, my electric scooter skidded and crashed heavily. My leg was scraped badly. I tried for a long time but couldn't stand up. Helpless, I called my childhood friend to pick me up. But instead of him, Caleb came. Back then, Caleb was still a delinquent. Wearing jingling accessories, looking like a walking hardware store, he ran through the wind and rain to my side. "Where's Kevin?" "Can't I pick you up? I'm your good friend too." He helped me lift the scooter and then picked me up. A faint smell of herbal medicine surrounded me. I lay on his back, watching the young master fumble to start the scooter, cursing the whole time. "Penny, are you sick? Can't you tell me if you need money? Delivering food in this rain, aren't you afraid of an accident?" "Mr. Wang would have a heart attack in front of the whole class if something happened to you." Mr. Wang was our homeroom teacher who took great care of me. I lay on his back, feeling his warmth. Maybe because I found him annoying, or maybe my fast heartbeat was messing with my brain, I reached out and covered his mouth. "Shut up." It was instantly quiet around us, except for the sound of rain and my pounding heart. His breath hit my hand, making my ears burn even more. I, who always valued efficiency, suddenly wished time would stop for a while. But now. I wished time would speed up, letting me escape being with him. "Penny, I'm here." Liam arrived. I couldn't wait to run to him. He pulled me into his arms before looking at Caleb. Caleb stood in the rain, looking lonely for no reason. He clutched the charm in his hand, opening and closing his mouth. Liam glanced at it, his grip on my hand tightening. "Let's go." But Caleb called out to him. "Do you know who gave me this charm?" My body stiffened. Liam turned around with a smile. "Does it matter who gave it?" "Aren't you just pining over a raggedy charm after getting dumped?" Caleb didn't get angry. "But when she gave it to me, she put a safety talisman inside. She begged for it personally." "Liam, has your girlfriend ever given you one?" They stared at each other in silence. Liam suddenly grabbed my arm, revealing the bracelet on my wrist. "I can't bear to let my girlfriend do those things for me, so I begged for one for her." Caleb's pupils constricted. The charm in his hand was crushed into wrinkles. He opened his mouth, then closed it. I guessed he wanted to ask. If the scar on my wrist had healed. Chapter 3 Back then, the day I found out Caleb was in the hospital due to a car accident, I learned what it meant to be scared out of my wits. Kevin took me to the hospital, but I could only watch him through the glass. Caleb lay amidst buzzing machines, tubes all over his body. The doctor was telling the Gu family about his condition. "The patient's situation is not optimistic. Whether he wakes up depends on today and tomorrow. If he doesn't wake up by tomorrow..." "The family should prepare for the worst." I covered my mouth and slowly slid down the wall to the floor. In that moment, staring at the white wall, I thought about praying to gods for the first time. For eighteen years, I had been an atheist. But this time, I wanted to beg the heavens to let me be lucky once and keep him. I guarded the door of his ward all night. The next day, Kevin took me to a temple. It was said to be the most efficacious temple in the area, located on a mountain so high you couldn't see the top. Even though there was a cable car, few people took it. Because everyone thought climbing up the mountain path showed more sincerity. That way, the Buddha would grant their wishes. Kevin silently accompanied me up the mountain. The mountain path was hard, but Kevin and I didn't dare delay for a second. By the time we got up there, we were soaked in sweat. Kneeling before the Buddha, I offered all my piety. "Please, Buddha, let Caleb wake up." A monk beside me handed me a safety talisman and smiled. "Though there are twists and turns, it will end in fulfillment." I joyfully put the talisman into the charm pouch. I practically ran down the mountain. But joy turned to sorrow. I fell, gashing a large cut on my arm. Right then, the hospital called to say Caleb was awake. I cried and laughed, ignoring my injured wrist, and rushed to the hospital. Caleb had just woken from a coma, still wearing a ventilator. His hand kept waving. I thought he was uncomfortable and went to call the doctor. But when the doctor came, he just pointed at my wrist. "Hurts..." "Worry about yourself first." Anxiety turned me into a firecracker, unable to speak properly, but he just smiled good-naturedly. Later, when he was discharged, I gave him the charm with the safety talisman. He had a scar on his back from the accident. I had a scar on my arm because of him. "These are couple scars." Caleb pulled me into his arms, holding the charm. "Penny, let's be together." The messy stitches on the charm hid a girl's secret crush. I agreed, starting a secret campus romance. Back then, I thought Caleb and I would have a happy ending. And now, the scar on my wrist was covered by a bracelet engraved with Liam's name. Chapter 4 After a calculus class, I was energized, but Liam turned into a wilted puppy. He switched to his second personality, clingily leaning on me to act cute. "Babe, I'm so dumb compared to you." I rubbed his head amusingly to comfort him. "Not dumb, not dumb. I'll explain whatever you didn't understand." "No, let's eat first." He pulled my hand and walked out, then stopped halfway. "I left my phone on the desk." "I'll get it, wait for me." He ran off quickly. I leaned against the wall filling out an application form. Recently, there was an internship opportunity in the department, and people were fighting over it. Although I was first in my year, I couldn't slack off. My temples started throbbing again. My hand reached into my bag. "Here." A lighter and cigarettes were placed in my hand. But I took out a piece of candy instead. "Quit." Caleb nodded, an emotion I couldn't read in his eyes. "Do you have to work yourself so hard?" He had said this before, and we fought. Before the college entrance exam, I reached the point of tying my hair to the beam and pricking my thigh with an awl (metaphorically working extremely hard). To stay awake, I learned to smoke. I was ambitious. I had to go to Tsinghua University. It was the first stop of my dream. When Kevin came to deliver food on his mom's orders, he was shocked. But he didn't say anything, just threw me a box of supplements. "Eat, then study." I nodded and ate silently. My phone rang repeatedly. It was a message from Caleb. "Penny, I miss you so much. Come find me, okay?" Below was the address of a famously expensive bar. I didn't want to go, but it was his birthday. I softened. When I entered the private room, Caleb reached out and hugged me. "You haven't been with me for a long time. Stay with me today." "No, I have to go back to do practice questions at ten. After the exam..." Before I could finish, a female voice interrupted. "Forget it. She's a self-reliant straight-A student. Why are you interfering?" I knew the speaker. It was Caleb's childhood friend, Vanessa. She looked me up and down with disdain and sneered. "Tsk, playing hard to get should have a limit. Don't cry when you overplay your hand." Laughter erupted as soon as she finished speaking. Caleb's face went cold. He smashed a glass on the spot. "Say one more shady thing and see what happens?" "What my girlfriend does is none of your damn business." He threw a huge tantrum. Those friends didn't dare say another bad word about me. He dragged Vanessa over to apologize to me. Actually, I knew his friends looked down on me, thinking I was with him for money. But I didn't care about their opinions. I only cared about Caleb's opinion. As long as Caleb believed in me and supported me, I had nothing to fear. That night, Caleb ended the celebration early and personally drove me home. "Don't get too tired. Rest early after finishing the questions." His eyes were bright. Finally, he spoke shyly. "Can you say happy birthday to me?" "Happy birthday. Here's your gift." It was a pair of boxing gloves. It cost me a month's salary. Caleb grinned from ear to ear. "I love it." I took a deep breath buried in his jacket, feeling all my fatigue disappear. In the days that followed, he silently took care of my three meals a day. I studied like crazy. Finally, I found a free day to visit him. But I heard him complaining to Vanessa. "Does she have to make herself so tired?" "Isn't it good to just stay by my side? I'll give her whatever she wants. I don't know why she's being so stubborn." I didn't hear what he and Vanessa said afterwards. I just felt a sudden sourness in my heart. But at that time, I thought he was just concerned about me. I didn't know this was just the beginning of the explosion of conflicts between us.
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "386510", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel