Chapter 1

Junior year, my rich boyfriend bought me an apartment.

It sat in the most expensive development downtown, right next door to the love nest his childhood sweetheart had bought for her working-class boyfriend.

The first day I moved in, he gave me my orders.

"You've got one month. Break them up, or get out."

I nodded like my life depended on it, then chose my words carefully.

"The HOA fees on this place are too steep, I can't keep it up. Once it's done, could you switch it to cash instead..."

He frowned, thoroughly put off.

"Whatever you want."

I pressed my lips together and gave him my word.

"Don't worry. Once it's done, I'll disappear completely."

He looked at me like I was an idiot.

"I only told you to break them up. I never said anything about breaking up with you. Where's your head at?"

I blinked.

But once this semester was over, I was going abroad to study.

If we weren't breaking up, was I supposed to keep him around for the holidays?

01

Samuel Gilbert had a bad temper.

I thought it over and decided not to correct him.

Once he had his little sweetheart back, there'd be no more use for a prop like me anyway.

"What are you standing around for? Hurry up and take a picture, post it."

"Don't forget the location tag."

The man on the couch shot me a sidelong look, then tossed a phone at me.

The newest model on the market, no screen protector, no case.

I fumbled to catch it.

Then I snapped a few shots of the view outside and the room inside, and paired them, out of practice, with an over-the-top caption.

【Loving someone is like tending a flower. Thank you, my Sam, for giving me the first real home of my life~】

The second I posted it, the phone wouldn't stop buzzing.

I didn't have to open it to know eight out of ten were snide little digs.

The rest were pure venom.

Nothing to be done about it. The phone was Samuel's doing.

Everyone in it was either some snob of a young master or young lady like him, or a bootlicker like me.

And those were exactly the people who could carry the news, with perfect aim, to the ears Samuel wanted it to reach.

Sure enough, half an hour later, the doorbell rang.

Lena Fisher was here.

Samuel went to answer it. I was in the kitchen, staring blankly at the chicken soup bubbling on the stove.

The two of them said something at the entryway, too low for me to catch.

Until the woman's voice came closer and closer.

"...Where is she? Three months in and you buy her an apartment? I'd love to see what kind of woman slipped you this love potion..."

I took a deep breath and walked out of the kitchen.

And ran straight into Lena, fury blazing.

The instant she saw me, she froze.

Two seconds later, she suddenly laughed out loud.

"Samuel, have you lost your mind, or have you been reading too many body-double stories? Where did you dig up someone who looks this much like me?"

The man stood behind her, his gaze settling heavily on her, but he said nothing.

I wiped my hands awkwardly on my apron and forced out a smile.

"Hi, you must be Lena? Sam's mentioned you a lot. I..."

Before I could finish, Lena's fingers had already clamped onto my chin.

Those almond eyes, seventy percent like mine, brimmed with careless malice.

"No wonder people in the circle say you're all groveling and pretense, yet you won't post a single clear photo of your face. Turns out you just don't have the face for it."

"This face cost quite a bit, didn't it?"

My chin ached under her grip. All I dared do was throw Samuel a pleading look.

He only glanced coolly at the hand on my chin and sighed.

"Lena, don't. What if you break the nails you just had done?"

Lena let go.

The next second, a slap landed on my face, not light, not hard.

I froze. She smiled.

"Tsk. Pretty convincing."

"Go on, tell me. With a face like that, how much are you planning to milk out of him?"

My left cheek stung faintly.

I thought, out of nowhere, of childhood, of doing something wrong, of my mother's ruler always coming down across my face.

Harder than this. Louder than this.

But the pain was the same.

"Answer her."

The man's voice pulled me back from the strange drift of my thoughts.

I looked into those eyes, dark as a deep pool, and couldn't tell what answer he wanted to hear.

Maybe all I had to do was make Lena jealous.

"Miss Fisher, I'm not with Sam for money. I really do care about him."

As if she'd heard a great joke, she started laughing.

Then just as quickly she stopped, her eyes rimmed with red.

"Samuel, back when we broke up, you were the one who said a good dog doesn't block the road, a good horse doesn't turn back to old grass."

"What now, you're worse than an animal these days?"

"Let me tell you, I have a boyfriend now. Stay out of my life..."

Samuel let out a cold laugh.

"A boyfriend? That poor climber who takes you to the dining hall when he treats you to a meal?"

"Still better than you!"

...

I quietly backed into the kitchen.

Rich people really did know how to play.

Even a long-awaited reunion needed a throwaway stand-in as a backdrop.

If this were a novel, someone in my position would've had to make a scene for three hundred rounds before exiting.

But I saw it differently.

After all, from the very start, it was never him I'd come for.