When my childhood crush told me he was breaking up with me because my family was too poor, I breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God I was just acting broke, not actually broke. He had no idea my mom made me pretend we were poor because she was afraid he would be intimidated by our wealth. It was exhausting playing poor. Now I finally don't have to anymore. Chapter 1 Jake Chen was destined to be my future husband. My mom spotted him on the street when he was a kid and immediately declared him the most devastatingly handsome child she’d ever seen—he had to be our son-in-law. To ensure I could snag Jake’s heart early, Our entire family moved from our luxurious penthouse downtown to a rundown apartment next door to his house. Jake and I naturally became childhood sweethearts. After befriending Jake's family, my mom stopped her regular spa appointments, quit mahjong and golf. She spent her days elbowing Jake’s mom at the supermarket, fighting over discounted eggs and clearance produce. She gave up her socialite life, all for this future son-in-law. I told my dad, My mom was so nuts she’d be canceled by the internet. My dad just quietly pocketed the Rolls-Royce keys. He pulled out the scooter keys and drove me to school. Ugh. My dad is just like me. He has no say in this family. I once asked my mom when I could finally be my true self around Jake. She said adolescence is when self-esteem is most fragile. What if Jake found out how rich we were and got insecure? I don't know about Jake getting insecure. But I was going crazy. One night, I couldn't handle it anymore. I marched into their bedroom. I confronted my mom: “Is Jake your secret love child?!” “I don’t care if he is! Just let Dad and me move back downtown!” “We’re willing to accept the secret love child!” The answer was a synchronized beating from both my parents. My butt hurt. Fine. I’ll just suck it up a little longer. Chapter 2 Thankfully, I finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. The day Jake fell for someone else. After school today, Jake refused to take the public bus with me. “Stella, my family’s old house was demolished. You know that.” “Do you know how much the payout was?” He gestured with his hand. “Thirty million dollars.” “I won’t be taking the public bus anymore.” “You know what that means, right?” Honestly, I didn’t. I replied blankly: “Sure. Let’s take an Uber then!” Jake sighed dramatically. “It’s not about the Uber fare.” “Then what is it about?” Jake’s tone suddenly felt unfamiliar. “My mom said we’re moving out of the old neighborhood in a few days.” “I mean, I’m basically an A8 family now. What about you?” “What about me?” Jake sighed again. “I didn’t want to be blunt. Why are you so slow?” “I believe everyone has the right to pursue better things. You can’t stop me from moving on to someone better, right?” “So, Stella, you get my point?” After all that rambling, I finally understood Jake’s point. His family just got a massive payout. And I, his girlfriend, was no longer good enough for him. He was dumping me. “Fine.” He looked surprised that I agreed so quickly. I got nosy. “Who’s the ‘someone better’?” “Summer Lei.” “I think she’s the most suitable match for me right now.” Oh, the school beauty, gorgeous and from a good family. “Got it.” I pulled out my phone. “I agree to the breakup, but you have to tell my mom yourself.” Jake frowned. “Stella, we’re adults. Why involve our mothers?” My attitude was firm. “She won’t believe me if you don’t tell her.” He sighed again. “Fine.” “Breaking up with poor people is such a pain.” Poor people? Is he talking about me? I dialed the number. My mom was excited when she heard Jake’s voice. “Jake, sweetie, want to come over for dinner tonight?” “Your mom hasn’t answered my calls or texts all week. I wonder what she’s so busy with.” Jake was silent for two seconds, sounding slightly guilty. “Auntie, I called to tell you something.” “I think we need to focus on our studies right now. We shouldn’t be distracted by romance.” “So, Stella and I have decided to break up peacefully.” “What peaceful breakup?!” I screamed into the phone. “Jake, why don’t you tell the truth!” “Mom! His family got rich, and he thinks I’m not good enough!” “He’s dumping me to chase the school beauty!” Jake hung up the phone. “Stella!” This was the first time he had ever yelled at me. “Can’t you be mature about this?” “Why do you have to leave a bad impression on my aunt?” Me: ??? What a jerk. “Whatever. It’s over now.” “I’m officially pursuing Summer starting tomorrow. Please tell the class we’ve broken up.” I watched Jake walk away. I was suddenly glad my mom made me pretend to be poor. How else would I have seen his true colors? But what made me happiest? I finally didn’t have to pretend anymore. And no more riding the public bus. Chapter 3 Today, I splurged and took a private car home. The moment I walked in, my mom interrogated me frantically. “What happened with you and Jake? Did you fight?” I shrugged helplessly. “Can’t you see? His family got rich, and he thinks we’re too poor for him.” My mom was in denial. “No way. Jake’s not like that.” “Do you think... he has a terminal illness and is breaking up with you so he doesn’t drag you down?” I rolled my eyes. “Stop reading romance novels. They’ve ruined your brain.” She insisted. “We’ll spend everything we have to save Jake!” My mom grabbed my arm, dragging me out the door. Jake’s house was right across the hall. After knocking several times, his door finally opened. Jake’s mom looked awkward seeing us. “Oh, you’re home.” “You promised we’d go fight over discounted eggs this afternoon. Why didn’t you answer my messages?” My mom has an incredibly high tolerance for rejection. She didn't notice that the other party clearly didn't want anything to do with her. She continued: “Jake called to say he was breaking up with Stella.” “I wanted to know if something was wrong.” Suddenly, Jake’s mom became incredibly snobby. “What could be wrong? Are you cursing my Jake?” “They broke up because he doesn’t like her anymore. What’s the problem?” She was about to close the door. But she added one more thing. “Oh, right, Stella’s mom.” “I forgot to tell you, our old house was demolished. We got a thirty-million-dollar payout.” “We just picked up a Porsche today and are moving to a place that costs fifty thousand a square foot next week.” “So, this is where our story ends. No need to keep in touch.” The moment the door slammed shut, I swear I heard my mom’s heart break. My mom still couldn't believe she misjudged him. Until she saw that her chat window with Jake’s mom had a red exclamation mark next to it (Blocked). That night, she shook me awake. “Stella, let’s move back downtown.” “The penthouse, the concierge service, the luxury spa. I miss them.” I bolted upright in bed and nodded, relieved. It took forever, but my mom finally saw the light. My dad and I drove the Rolls-Royce straight back to the penthouse that very night. We finally didn’t have to pretend to be poor anymore. My custom clothes, luxury bags, limited-edition blind boxes. I bet you missed me. I’m home! Chapter 4 The next day, I walked into the classroom wearing my limited-edition sneakers. Summer Lei scoffed loudly. The other students looked over. “Stella and Summer are wearing the same shoes.” “It took me one second to guess who’s wearing the fake ones.” “Stella bought knockoffs? No wonder Jake dumped her. She’s so shallow.” “I heard Stella is still harassing Jake, clinging to him even after his family got rich.” “She was wearing eighty-dollar sneakers yesterday. Now she’s in twenty-thousand-dollar shoes? Who’s going to believe that?” Summer played the generous angel. She pretended to be understanding. “It’s okay. Stella probably just doesn’t know about brands.” I slapped her hand away. “Who the hell doesn’t know about brands?” Summer was embarrassed but couldn’t show it. She forced herself to look hurt. “Why are you so mean?” “If you’re mad because Jake is chasing me,” “I just won’t say yes to him.” ??? Who’s mad about that? Jake swooped in like a hero, protecting his potential girlfriend. “Stella, we’ve known each other for years. Don’t I know exactly who you are?” “You know the most about two-dollar street food and seven-dollar instant noodles. You know anything about designer sneakers?” The class erupted in laughter. “I saw Stella arguing with an old lady over fifty cents! She’s desperate!” “She thinks wearing the same shoes as the school beauty makes her one? Or is she trying to win Jake back?” “No matter how hard she tries, the school beauty’s style is still low-budget on her.” Maybe the thirty-million-dollar payout gave him confidence. Jake decided to test me. “Since you claim you know shoes.” “What’s the name of the founder of this brand? What’s his birthday?” The name and model number were on the tip of my tongue. You don’t ask the brand name? You ask about the founder and his birthday? My face was red with fury. Before I could explode, Jake assumed I was humiliated. “Enough. I know breaking up with me hit you hard.” He pulled a meal card out of his pocket. “There’s five hundred dollars on this. It should last you one semester.” Seeing me refuse, he shoved it into my hand. “Stop pretending. I know you need it.” “Consider it compensation for the breakup.” I rolled my eyes and threw the meal card back at him. I sat back down in my seat, only to realize Jake had moved. He moved next to Summer, claiming he was helping her study. But everyone knew his real motive. Jake was gone. No one wanted to sit next to me. But a poor student in the class, Chloe Xie, took pity on me and silently moved to the empty seat. As Chloe moved, Summer leaned on my desk and sneered: “The whole class hates her now. Moving next to her? You know what that means.” Chloe still moved next to me. I asked her why. She said she couldn’t stand Jake and Summer using their money to bully people. I felt slightly offended. It’s still TBD who’s using money to bully people.
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