Ficorpio
Chapter 1
My finger hovered over the phone screen for three full seconds. I stared at Ethan Westbrook’s exclusive payment access limit of 99,999, then finally typed in 100.
When the transfer success notice popped up, I let out a long breath and then immediately rolled my eyes.
Ethan Westbrook, the Westbrook heir, was the textbook rich brat. Because his family had money, he had set up a private scholarship program at school. On the surface, it was for helping students in need. In reality, it was a selection pool for pretty girls.
His ex had been dumped without mercy, and even her scholarship had been cut off. From what I heard, she had ended up dropping out and working to get by.
And me, Chloe Bennett, I had spent a month surviving on instant noodles and worn a faded white dress I had saved up to buy, with a no-makeup makeup look that was supposed to be invisible. I had walked straight into his hunting ground.
Two months had been enough to make that arrogant rich kid fall hard.
He was cocky, flashy, and spent money like water. Anything he gave me could have paid my living expenses for half a year. But I had a deep resentment toward the rich. On the outside, I played the gentle, sensible scholarship girl; on the inside, I quietly skimmed a little from his exclusive payment access every day. One hundred yuan at a time. Not more, not less. I was afraid that if I got greedy, he would notice the crack in my act.
At one in the morning, the dorm was quiet except for the even rise and fall of my roommates’ breathing. I was wide awake, my head full of ways to wring one more benefit out of Ethan Westbrook. My thumb wandered aimlessly across social media, and then a hot post suddenly slammed into view. The title was blinding and ridiculous:
[My girlfriend won’t leave me even if I give her 1 million. I’m so troubled.] Posted by: gooddog.
I snorted. In this economy, there were actually people running toward a money truck? I tapped in, and every line in the post reeked of smugness.
“There’s a huge class gap between me and my girlfriend, but she really loves me. Not even 1 million could move her. The only thing is, she wants my mom to accept her. Honestly, that’s the hardest part.”
The comment section had already exploded:
[1 million? I’d pack my bags and run in the middle of the night, then still kneel and thank you three times!]
[Don’t be naive, man. This girl is definitely planning something big. She wants to lock you down first, then take more later!]
[What if your girlfriend just doesn’t know how much 1 million actually is?]
The poster replied almost immediately, his tone full of absolute confidence, and even tossed out a screenshot of his balance. The endless string of zeros made my eyes hurt.
[You guys are just jealous! You don’t know how good my girlfriend is to me! She saves the leftover cake for me, writes me handwritten letters, knits me scarves, and even remembers to add an extra starch sausage when we get spicy noodles. That tastes better than Michelin food!]
Chapter 2
[For my birthday, she gave me an old pajama set she’d worn before. It still carried her scent. Wherever that pajama is, that’s my safe little nest!]
[My mom even wanted to use 1 million to drive her away. Ridiculous! Let alone 1 million, even if she offered 10 million, my girlfriend still wouldn’t leave me! If my mom keeps messing around, I’ll just refuse to inherit the company!]
I stared at the screen, and the smile on my lips slowly froze.
The description sounded more and more like Ethan Westbrook.
The leftover cake? That was from last week, when he insisted on stealing the cheesecake I hadn’t finished. I had been about to throw it away. The handwritten letters were something I had paid someone online to ghostwrite for me - fifty yuan for three pieces. The scarf was a finished one I had bought on a discount marketplace for ninety-nine yuan and deliberately aged a little. The noodles and spicy soups were all charged to his exclusive payment access. I had only conveniently bought him a portion while I was at it. As for that old pajama set…
I sat up so fast the mattress creaked, then fumbled for my phone and sent Ethan a WeChat message: [Bone JPG.]
He replied instantly: [Coming, Master JPG.]
I texted back: [Are my pajamas with you?]
Ethan: [Yeah, they’re in the bag you used when you gave me your last present~]
Right after that, he sent a photo. Sure enough, inside the bag lay my faded pink pajamas, the ones I had apparently dropped in there by accident when I took him his birthday gift last time.
I was about to explain when he sent another picture.
In the dim room, Ethan was wearing my faded pink pajamas. The neckline had slipped loose over one shoulder, revealing a sharp collarbone and half an ab. The pajama top was too short on him, barely covering the tops of his thighs, and he had even bitten the hem between his teeth on purpose. His eyes were all soft and wet, and the caption underneath read, “The baby’s pajamas smell so good. This puppy loves them so much~”
I stared at the photo, and for some reason my heart skipped a beat.
The Westbrook heir who was so arrogant in front of everyone else turned into a wagging puppy when he got to me, clingy and obedient. But then another thought hit me. What was he trying to say with that post? Was he really planning to give me 1 million just so I would break up with him?
I left a comment from a throwaway account: [Why don’t you just give your girlfriend the 1 million first? That would make her feel secure, and then she naturally wouldn’t listen to your mom.]
Not long after, my phone buzzed. An unfamiliar account transferred 10,000 yuan, with the note: “Thanks, bro!”
Then an Alipay deposit notice popped up: [Alipay deposit: RMB 1 million].
My pupils shrank. I stared at those numbers and almost laughed out loud.
Chapter 3
Ethan’s voice message came through right after, his tone sticky and coaxing. “Baby, I noticed you don’t really spend much from my exclusive payment access, and I was worried you’d feel awkward, so I transferred 1 million to you all at once. It’s not much, but you have to take it, okay?”
“And from now on, if other people try to give you money, you can’t take it. You can only take mine. Got it?”
The next second, I saw him post the transfer screenshot to the thread, with the caption: “Took the advice! I transferred 1 million to my baby, so now she’s definitely not leaving me!”
The comment section laughed itself sick:
[Don’t comfort yourself like that, bro. She accepted that money faster than anyone.]
[Baby, you have to take it. (Translation: baby, please don’t leave.)]
[What a hopeless love-brained idiot.]
I promptly moved the 1 million into an investment account, and I still kept up my habit of transferring 100 yuan a day from his exclusive payment access.
After all, slow and steady. If I could take one more day, I would take one more day.
But plans always ran into reality.
Friday night, I had wanted to go to a bar and drink myself loose for a bit. The moment I stepped inside, I ran straight into someone I absolutely should not have seen.
Ethan was sitting at the bar, a glass of whiskey held lightly between his fingers. The line of his profile was hard and cold. Across from him stood a girl in a washed-out T-shirt, her eyes red-rimmed with tears. It was Ethan’s ex, Vanessa Cross.
Vanessa had been a scholarship student too. She had once received support from the Westbrooks, and after Ethan dumped her, her scholarship had supposedly been cut off as well. Her life had been tight ever since.
“Ethan, can’t you show me a little mercy?” Vanessa’s voice shook with tears, and the drops only came faster. “I’ve been eating instant noodles every day lately. Aren’t you even a little bit sorry for me? If Chloe Bennett had eaten instant noodles for a month, would you just ignore her?”
Chloe? Me?
I really had eaten instant noodles for a month, but only because I had been pretending to be pitiful so I could reel Ethan in.
As she spoke, Vanessa looked like she wanted to throw herself into Ethan’s arms. Her voice had gone soft and limp. “Can we get back together? I promise I’ll be good from now on. I won’t make a scene anymore.”
I instinctively ducked behind a nearby pillar, my heart pounding hard against my ribs.
Watching Vanessa’s ending, I could almost see my own future.