Chapter 3

The next morning, Silvia showed up in the hallway with Paige and Bianca, hauling a big bag of snacks.

This time, Silvia had gotten smart.

The snacks were still near their expiration date, but at least she hadn't bought knockoffs again.

They went door to door, handing out snacks, buying goodwill everywhere.

"Take some, everyone, don't be shy. It's all on Silvia."

Paige and Bianca trailed beside her, taking snide little digs.

"That's our Silvia for you. Not like some people, who are rotten to the core."

"See? Look how generous Silvia is."

As luck would have it, I ran into them coming back from outside.

Silvia sidled right up and pressed a pack of cookies into my hand, her face all apology.

"Jenny, I'm really sorry about last night. We shouldn't have lost our tempers."

"Don't be mad, okay? Have some snacks. Call it my apology to you."

Paige rolled her eyes off to the side.

"Silvia's just too kind. Some people love playing the victim."

I couldn't be bothered to argue with them and turned to go pick up the package my aunt had sent me.

Inside was a full set of top-tier imported skincare, plus a whole stack of sample packets from the same brand.

The second Paige and Bianca stepped through the door, their eyes locked onto the samples on the desk, practically glued to them.

Something in me went tight. Without a word, I gathered everything into my cabinet and locked it.

By the time I got back to the dorm, the lock on my cabinet had been pried open.

The full-size set was untouched, but the whole pile of samples had vanished.

Silvia stood surrounded by a crowd of girls, every one of them holding one of my samples.

I stood there, my eyes going cold.

Each sample would sell for at least thirty dollars on a resale platform.

She'd handed them out one by one, and in a few minutes they were all gone.

When Silvia saw me, she came right over, her face all apology.

"Jenny, we saw you had so many samples in your cabinet, so we took them out and shared them with everyone."

"You don't mind, do you?"

Paige rolled her eyes off to the side.

"Oh come on, Jenny, they're just some worthless samples."

Bianca smiled, smug all over her face.

"Look how happy everyone is. You wouldn't care about that, right?"

I looked at their smug faces, one after another, and I was shaking with rage.

Teeth clenched, I forced one word out through them.

"Fine."

Silvia let out a breath and smiled wider, more pleased with herself than ever.

"I knew you weren't that petty."

I stormed into the stairwell and immediately messaged my aunt to vent.

【Aunt Vivian, my roommates took my stuff AGAIN!!!】

The moment she read it, my aunt called.

"Aren't they the greedy ones who love freeloading?"

"There's a Chinese medicine, this foul stuff, that clears heat and detoxifies. It's a top-grade cleanse. Since they've got filthy mouths and rotten hearts."

"I'll pay. You go buy them the best medicine there is and cool them right down!"

The words had barely left her mouth when my phone buzzed.

【Payment received: five thousand dollars.】

My eyes lit up.

Right. Weren't they the ones who could never get enough freebies?

They'd stuffed themselves till they were puking from both ends and still wouldn't stop. They had to be burning up inside.

In that case, I'd play the good guy for once, cool them right off.

I went straight out and bought a dozen huge, plump Musang King durians, then made a run to the Chinese herb shop and picked out a few pounds of that strong-smelling foul concoction.

And let me tell you.

The two things smelled and looked exactly the same.

Without a close look, you really couldn't tell them apart.

That strange stench, all mixed with the medicinal smell, had me wrinkling my nose right through three layers of mask.

Then I called a courier and had the dozen "special durians" delivered to the dorm.

At the door, I turned on the voice recording on my phone.

The instant the durian came through the door, all three of them, Silvia and the rest, lit up like starving wolves catching sight of light.

"Oh my god! Jenny, a durian this big! That's gotta be a Musang King!"

"It smells amazing already. It must be so sweet!"

I deliberately set the durian in the most obvious spot on the desk and said, taking my time, "Yeah. The shell's a real Musang King."

"But it's not for you to eat."

"I've got a use for it, so don't go touching it."

All three of their faces soured on the spot.

Bianca was the sourest of all. "Fine, we won't. Like anyone wants your stuff anyway."

Paige chimed in too. "Right. You think we can't afford our own?"

Watching them say things they clearly didn't mean, I gave them a bright smile.

"Good, don't eat it, then."

"I just worry you'll get a craving and sneak a bite."

With that, I pulled a newly bought throw pillow from my bag and tossed it onto my bed.

"You all carry on. I've got something to take care of. I'm heading out."