It had been two months since I broke up with Julian after our cold war, and he still hadn't sent me a single text. I couldn't take it anymore. I was ready to cave and apologize first. But that very day, I suddenly received a confession from the school's poorest student, Hudson. I was about to reject him when a wall of text—like a livestream chat—flashed before my eyes: "LMAO, the side chick actually thinks Hudson likes her." "He just lost a bet with the female lead. He's forced to confess." "Poor male lead. Just realized his crush is pushing him away, and now he has to get rejected by this shallow, gold-digging prom queen." "Must be heartbroken!" "It's okay, it's okay! Once he gets reclaimed by the billionaire Harper family in New York, worth billions, our female lead will come running back!" ...Wait, what? The Harper family from New York? The super rich one? Hold up! Pause the makeup session. I want this broke boy! 1 I am a gold digger. But I'm good at hiding it. Usually, I treat all my classmates equally and with kindness. Except when it comes to dating. My bottom line is non-negotiable— He has to be rich. And, of course, hot. Julian was the closest thing to my ideal in my eighteen years of life. His family is loaded, old money. Rumor has it they're second only to the Harper family in New York. Of course, a family like the Harpers is out of my league. Julian was arrogant, cold, and high-maintenance. I chased him for months before he finally agreed to be my boyfriend. But once we were together, he constantly complained that I wasn't clingy or caring enough. He'd threaten to break up over anything. "Let's just end it. You only chased me for my money anyway." "I saw you talking to the basketball captain. Interested in him now?" "Don't let that used McLaren fool you; it's worthless." "Block his number right now, or I'm done!" This happened all the time. By now, he'd practically monitored every good-looking guy in my contacts. Two months ago, Julian picked another fight. The reason? I was twenty minutes late to his birthday party. "This shows you don't value me!" "You weren't late to the school assembly! Am I less important to you than the principal?" "Let's break up. We need to cool off!" Same old routine. Are they even comparable? I'm not a trust fund baby like him. I can't just offend the principal whenever I feel like it. I was getting tired of it anyway, so I just went along with it. "Fine. Break up then." "Don't contact me." 2 That day, Julian's face went pale. He glared at me for a long time before smashing a bottle of wine worth thousands on the floor. And true to his word, he never contacted me again. Two months passed. I calmed down. Let's face it, Julian was the ceiling of what I could reach. Who doesn't love money? My family is average. My parents favor my younger brother and give him everything good. I want out. But I'm not smart enough. Even studying my butt off only gets me into the top 80 of my grade. My biggest asset is this face... So what if I use my looks to get ahead and satisfy my ambition? What's wrong with that? Thinking like this made me feel better instantly. School was just letting out. Julian had been playing basketball every afternoon lately. I packed my bag and headed to the courts. I planned to intercept him, apologize, act cute, and smooth things over. But just as I reached the gym entrance, someone unexpected called my name— Hudson. 3 Hudson. Our school's famous genius. Always number one in the grade. He's 6'2", super hot, and once narrowly beat Julian for the title of School Hottie— One of those votes came from me. No ulterior motive. Hudson is just exactly my type. My Libra nature demanded fairness, so I gave him a vote. But aside from that, I had almost zero interaction with him. He kept to himself, barely speaking to anyone. Rumors said someone saw his mom scavenging for vegetable scraps at the market. Others said his dad died young, and his grandma was sick, costing tens of thousands a year in medical bills. Basically, Hudson's family was struggling. He applied for financial aid every year and worked part-time at a boba shop and a convenience store. In the cafeteria, he only bought the two cheapest veggie dishes. Even the girls wouldn't be full on that, let alone a growing boy. Once, feeling generous, I took fifty bucks from my allowance and secretly slipped it into his pencil case. Anonymous. Now, at the gym entrance. When Hudson called my name, I frowned— Did he find out about the fifty bucks? In those cliché novels, these poor but proud scholars usually have massive egos. He probably thinks I was trying to humiliate him. Is he here to pick a fight? Before I could come up with a defense, his next words stunned me. "Sophia." "I like you." "Will you be my girlfriend?" 4 I was dumbfounded. The gym entrance was crowded. I looked back toward the basketball courts. Julian had walked out without me noticing. He must have just finished playing; sweat was dripping from his forehead. A few of his friends were around him, all looking at us with interest. They were talking loudly, not bothering to lower their voices. "Hey, isn't that Sophia, Julian's ex?" "Ex? Watch your mouth, bro. Ex-girlfriend!" "Haha, right! Ex. Gotta say, Sophia's got backbone this time. Two months! Usually, she'd be crawling back by now." "Did she find a rebound?" "Oof, Hudson. The scholarship kid." "Julian, you think she'll say yes?" Hearing them, I felt awkward. I instinctively looked at Julian. I wanted to give him a look, tell him not to misunderstand. But he never even looked my way. He just bounced the ball, looking bored. Like he was watching something completely irrelevant to him, he smirked mockingly. "Hm?" "Why would I care? Hudson's a top student. If he likes Sophia, she's punching up." My heart sank. Julian really didn't like me much, did he? He only accepted me because I chased him so hard. Agreeing to break up must have been a relief for him. That's fine. Not trying to get back together saves me some dignity. 5 Even though I wasn't planning on getting back with Julian, I wasn't going to say yes to Hudson either. We'd spoken maybe twenty sentences in three years of high school. Starting a relationship out of nowhere seemed irresponsible to both of us. Just as I was about to reject him, a wall of text floated before my eyes— "Here it comes! The drama! The male lead confesses to the side character!" "Haha, look at her face. Does she really think Hudson likes her?" "It's just a dare he lost to the female lead. Forced confession." "Sigh, poor guy. Just realized his crush doesn't like him and is pushing him to someone else. Now he has to get rejected by this shallow girl." "Must hurt!" "Don't worry! Once he gets reclaimed by the billionaire Harper family in New York, worth billions, our female lead will come running back!" ...What? The Harper family? New York billionaires? My heart rate spiked. I knew some gossip about the Harpers. Rumor had it Mrs. Harper was frail and only had one child. But due to a business rivalry, that son was kidnapped at four or five. Lost. Never found. Over a decade later, despite expanding their empire, the Harpers never stopped looking. The text kept scrolling. "Almost there! Three months until Hudson gets found!" "The Harper family is abroad right now. Once they meet the kidnapper in London and get the info, they'll fly back immediately..." "Our boy won't have to suffer anymore!" Three months. Okay. For someone who loves money as much as I do, how could I let a golden ticket slip away? I crinkled my eyes into a perfect smile. "Sure." "I accept, Hudson." I was so shocked by the floating text that I didn't notice Julian behind me. I didn't see his face go pale or his fingers tremble. 6 "What? She said yes?" "No way! Isn't she a gold digger?!!!" "She only dated Julian for his money. Total snob." "In the plot, she's supposed to regret it only after Hudson becomes rich!" "Exactly!" "Besides, what about our Wendy?" Wendy. Hudson's childhood friend. The "female lead" the chat was talking about. They said Wendy made a bet with Hudson to make him confess to me because she liked Julian (the "second male lead") and wanted to kill any chance of Julian and me getting back together. In the original story, I rejected Hudson, and Julian didn't take me back. Instead, this "pure" childhood friend went to comfort Hudson immediately. Hudson didn't have feelings for me, but being rejected publicly is awkward. Wendy, the mastermind, played the innocent flower. She kept Hudson on a hook while spreading rumors that I was a shallow girl who looked down on poor people's feelings. But secretly, she chased Julian. Until Hudson was found by his rich family. Then she finally "accepted" his feelings. Happy ending for everyone. 7 I had to admit, this girl was good. If she hadn't dragged me into this stupid bet and spread rumors about me, we might have been friends. But not anymore. I wasn't going to be nice to someone who wished me ill. I glanced at the corner. Wendy looked shocked that I said yes. She froze for a second, then looked delighted as she turned to Julian. Rumor had it I pestered Julian into dating me, and he was sick of it. Now that he was finally free, he must be happy, right? But as I stepped forward and took Hudson's hand, the crowd gasped— Julian slammed the basketball onto the ground. Face blank, he pushed through the crowd and stormed out without a word. His friends chased after him, apologizing to the people he shoved. "Sorry, sorry, urgent business." "No, he's not mad! Julian's in a great mood!" "Why the scary face? Maybe he didn't play enough... hehehe..." "Don't ask, we gotta go! Bye!"
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