Chapter 3

Luke turned around.

"Nancy, quit being jealous. This money is to help kids in poor mountain villages. Give it back to me, now."

I actually laughed, that's how angry I was. The way Luke said it, you'd think I was the one who'd taken his money.

The others started pointing at me.

"Nancy, you're unbelievably petty. Luke buys something and you have to control that too?"

"Ha. Rachel's out here doing something noble, giving back to her hometown, and you're standing here sulking over jealousy. People really can't be compared."

Rachel's eyes went red, and she looked at me like I'd wronged her.

"Nancy, this money is the only hope those village kids have to go to school. Please don't make it hard for Luke, okay?"

For a second I was too furious to speak. I looked at Luke.

"Give it back? Luke, is this money yours? Why should I give anything back? You want to play the generous saint, so you force me to foot the bill? How do you even have the nerve to say that?"

The others went blank.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Luke's face turned ugly, and he grabbed my arm, trying to shut me up.

I threw his hand off and pulled out my phone.

"The money Luke used to play the big generous guy came out of my linked payment account. I didn't feel like being a sucker, so I shut the account down.

Luke roared at me.

"Nancy, shut your mouth. What are you talking about?"

I let out a soft laugh.

"I'm talking nonsense? Am I wrong?"

Rachel stepped up and said gently,

"Nancy, Luke just wanted to do a good thing. This money can get more than a dozen kids in our mountains out of there. He has a big, generous heart."

Luke nodded hard in agreement.

"Rachel's right. Nancy, you need to have some kindness in you. Learn from Rachel a little. Stop being so selfish and calculating all day long. Now hurry up and turn my linked payment back on."

I couldn't help rolling my eyes.

"No. It's my money. You don't get to decide that. You want to be the big philanthropist, use your own cash."

Luke glared at me.

"Nancy, you know perfectly well my family's ordinary and can't pull together that kind of money, and you're deliberately making it hard for me. When did you turn into someone this hateful? You're such a disappointment."

I smiled, then swung my hand backward and slapped Luke across the face.

"Have some shame. You eat on my money, drink on my money, spend my money, and now you want to use my money to butter up another girl and look like a saint. Do you really take me for an idiot?"

Luke clutched his face and stared at me, stunned.

"Nancy, are you insane? You actually dared to hit me."

Then Rachel suddenly dropped to her knees in front of me.

"Nancy, it's all my fault. Don't blame Luke. I just wanted the kids in our mountains to have one more chance at school. This money is nothing to you, but it's the hope of the children in my hometown. Please, help them."

Luke's eyes filled with heartache, and he pointed at me, cursing at the top of his voice.

"Nancy, just because you've got a little dirty money, you force Rachel down on her knees. You're pure poison!"

The other classmates couldn't stand it either. They grabbed the books off the desks and hit me over the head with them.

"Nancy, Rachel only wants to give back to her hometown, and here you are throwing your weight around. How did we end up with a classmate as vicious as you?"

The person beside me flung a bubble tea straight into my face.

"Your family's so rich. What's the harm in helping Rachel? Being this cold-blooded, watch out you don't get what's coming to you someday."

Someone even kicked my desk over, sending my books scattering across the floor.

"You rotten little capitalist. Your kind bleeds regular people dry, and now you won't even part with a little money to help kids in the poor mountains. With a heart that black, aren't you afraid heaven strikes you down?"

I took out my phone, pulled up 911, and warned them coldly,

"Touch me one more time and I'm calling the police right now."

Seeing that, the others quickly let go.

A flicker of triumph crossed Rachel's eyes.

"Nancy, as long as you're willing to help the mountain kids, I'll slave for you the rest of my life to repay the kindness."