Chapter 1
You won’t believe this.
Me, a small–time influencer who plays the innocent damsel online, was summoned by Crestwood’s wealthiest couple. They slid a
$50M black card across the table, begging me to marry their son.
Why? Their heir, Aiden Graham, threw away his future simping for some broke campus queen.
Mrs. Graham seethed: “That witch says no but leeches off him, funding her joke of a family like a vampire! If he likes her type, fine -we’ll find someone better at the game.”
Insulting? Sure. But when that $50M card landed before me, I accepted my mission: Save the Simp Heir.
Then I opened the target file–and laughed.
The “broke queen” was my little sister Clara, the amateur whose tricks I used to dismantle for fun. My long–forgotten rival.
1
The love story of Aiden Graham, the prince of Crestwood, and the so–called campus queen, Clara Bernthal, was the stuff of legend at Crestwood University.
One was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, a man who had everything, yet he humbled himself, worshipping the ground she walked on. The other was dirt poor but carried herself with an air of untouchable purity, staging a grand drama of rejecting the city‘ s most eligible bachelor nine hundred and ninety–nine times.
This bizarre, third–rate novel plot had somehow earned the freak couple a legion of die–hard fans who had even started a fan club for them. The entire campus was obsessed with their “epic romance,” waiting with bated breath for the day the high–and–mighty queen would finally grant him her “yes.”
Because of this, any woman who dared to get close to Aiden instantly became public enemy number one, torn to shreds by the verbal onslaught of his rabid fanbase.
But I’m not just any woman.
On my first day as a transfer student, I had someone leak a little message across the entire campus network: “Aiden Graham’s official fiancée has arrived.”
1
And so, the second I stepped into the classroom, the welcoming party I’d expected was there to greet me a bucket of ice–cold water, tipped from above the door, drenching me from head to toe.
Soaked hair and a soggy mask plastered to my face, the sticky, disgusting feeling making me want to gag. The classroom erupted in piercing laughter.
Just then, Clara glided in from the hallway, her signature wide, innocent eyes fixed on me.
“Oh my god, are you okay?” she asked, feigning concern. “It’s all my fault. My classmates just adore me so much… they can’t accept you yet. That’s why they did this. Please, please don’t take it to heart.”
One of her minions immediately jumped in, her voice dripping with disdain.
“Clara, you’re too kind. Why are you even talking to this homewrecker? She’s here to steal your man!”
A few guys stepped forward, forming a protective wall in front of me.
“We’re the ones who threw the water! It has nothing to do with Clara!” the leader announced righteously. “You’re a parasite trying to ruin a good thing, so don’t expect us to be nice!”
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Chapter 1
If it were any other girl, she would have already run out of the room crying.
I, however, just sighed internally.
All these years, and Clara’s little frame–up schemes were still so painfully amateurish.
Fine. I guess big sister will have to step in and teach you what a real master of the game looks like.
In the next second, with trembling, pale fingers, I slowly peeled off the wet mask. I gently swept the dark strands of hair from my
cheek to reveal a face so delicate, so exquisitely pitiful, it silenced the room.
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd as they saw me clearly.
Clara’s face went white as a sheet, as if she’d seen a ghost.
My eyes welled up, a perfect shimmer of tears forming as I bit my lip. My voice, thick with emotion, cracked as I spoke.
“I… I truly never meant to get in the way of your relationship. This engagement… it was arranged by our elders. I’m just a girl, I have
no power… How could I possibly refuse?”
“You don’t have to worry, Clara. I won’t fight you for him. I… I couldn’t win anyway.”
I lifted my gaze, my misty eyes scanning the faces of the boys in front of me, my voice laced with a profound loneliness.
“I just wanted to come to the city, get a good education, maybe make a few friends… But it seems like… like everyone here hates
me… What am I supposed to do?”
The classroom fell into a dead, heavy silence.
The boy who had been so hostile just moments ago–Jake, I think his name was–turned the color of a boiled shrimp, stumbling
over his words.
“I–I’m sorry! My name’s Jake… I mean, I–I’d be happy to be your friend!”
Even Clara’s minion seemed to soften.
“Hey… don’t cry. We didn’t really mean it like that…”
Clara was completely stunned. She couldn’t fathom how I, with just a few simple words, had not only defused her attack but turned
her own followers against her, making them pity me.
She glared at me, the string of her composure finally snapping as she let out a twisted, venomous hiss.
“Aurora! You bitch! Why are you here? Why won’t you just disappear from my life!”
I immediately flinched like a startled rabbit, shrinking behind Jake for protection.
“What’s wrong with her? Does she… does she really hate me that much?”
Jake looked at the unhinged Clara, his brow furrowed in disapproval as he instinctively shielded me more tightly.
“Clara, what the hell is your problem? This isn’t her fault! Stop taking it out on her!”
That protective gesture was the final trigger. Clara lunged forward like a wild animal. The sharp crack of her hand across my face echoed through the silent room.
As my body tilted backward, a figure shot toward me out of the corner of my eye.
Heh. And just like that, the fish is on the hook.
